A Trip to Chicago -- Autism Style, Conclusion

The conclusion of Laura Shumaker's trip to Chicago with her son Matthew from SF Gate.

A recap of the Trip to Chicago:
a) Matthew's trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a trip he'd saved up for and that he had been talking about for months, was cancelled.
b) Matthew and I decided Chicago might be a great alternative, since it is a big music town and is near states that Matthew has not been to. But who could travel with him?
c)Matthew suggested that I travel with him, even though his original plan was to travel "without my mother."
d)Matthew never gets sick. Fast forward. We check into Hard Rock Hotel, and Matthew is so sick (fever, sluggish, sore throat) that I summon the hotel emergency doctor, who gives Matthew a shot of B12 and an antibiotic. "He'll be fine in a few hours. Want a restaurant recommendation?"
Matthew was not fine in a few hours. He slept through till morning.

A Trip to Chicago -- Autism Style, Part 2

Part 2 of Linda Shumaker's blog from SFGate.com

When we left off (link to Part 1 if you missed it):
a) Matthew's trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a trip he'd saved up for and that he had been talking about for months, was cancelled.
b) Matthew and I decided Chicago might be a great alternative, since it is a big music town and is near states that Matthew has not been to. But who could travel with him?
c)Matthew suggested that I travel with him, even though his original plan was to travel "without my mother."
I asked my friends from the autism community to recommend some good travel sites. Within minutes, I found a great deal: Two nights at the Hard Rock Hotel plus plane fare for just a little over $800 dollars.
Before I clicked the box that said "I want to purchase this travel", I contemplated the travel insurance option, but shrugged it off.

Illinois Won't Let Homes Close

The operators of two group homes in the Chicago area, including one in Evanston, maintain the state has drastically slashed their funding but won't let them close the homes where they say funds are now insufficient to provide adequate care.
Attorneys for the Lester and Rosalie Anixter Center, a long established Chicago-area nonprofit which has provided services since 1919, filed the lawsuit April 1, naming Michelle Sadler, secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services, and Lilia Tennit, director of division of developmental disabilities, as the defendants.

Illinois Moves to Close Nursing Home

CHICAGO -- Saying they wanted to avoid more casualties, state authorities took steps Thursday to shut down the troubled Alden Village North nursing home, where numerous disabled children have died in recent years.
"We don't want another tragedy to occur," said Michael Gelder, the governor's senior health policy adviser.
State officials said they notified Alden that they planned to revoke its license, which would effectively close the facility. An Alden spokesman said the facility would appeal and remain open.
The action follows a Tribune investigative series in October that revealed a 10-year pattern of neglect and death at the North Side facility, which cares for about 90 children and adults with severe developmental disabilities.

Father Sues Doctors Over Autism Treatment

CHICAGO -- The father of a 7-year-old Chicago boy who was diagnosed as a toddler with autism has sued the Naperville and Florida doctors who treated his son, alleging they harmed the child with "dangerous and unnecessary experimental treatments."
James Coman and his son were featured last year in "Dubious Medicine," a Tribune series that examined risky, unproven treatments for autism based on questionable science.
The defendants — family-practice physicians Dr. Anjum Usman of Naperville and Dr. Daniel Rossignol of Melbourne, Fla. — are prominent in the Defeat Autism Now! movement, which promotes many of the alternative treatments the Tribune scrutinized. Both have spoken to groups of parents at autism conferences and trained other physicians in their methods.