Moving Because of Autism

Post from Technorati's Jeremy Robb.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- Lately, there was a news article by the Salt Lake Tribune about families that were leaving the State of Utah because of the lack of insurance coverage for autism. I've maintained that Utah has some stellar programs for children on the spectrum, provided you were in the right places. Those living within the Granite School District had some great support services through the school.
But it's a narrow area in the State that has services. There are also special schools that provide autism services, but they are very expensive, and have such long waiting lists that getting into a school is a practice in patience. For this reason my wife and I made the decision that we needed to move to an area that has better and more available services for children on the spectrum.

Step 1 in Problem Solving: Don't Go Looking for Them

From Huffington Post's Dafna Maor on parenting:

Parents of autistic children, even children who are considered high functioning and therefore have a better prognosis and sometimes need less intensive care, have a real problem. They have parenting challenges bigger than the average parent's. They live with a bigger uncertainty about their children's future in this world. They have to make a much bigger effort to make sure their children are well and happy. They have expenses that are usually much bigger than most parents'. As an added "bonus", some autistic children have physical challenges that require special medical care.

Researchers Successfully Treat Autism in Mice

Researchers at UC and Cincinnati Children's Hospital believe they've made a breakthrough in treating a severe form of autism.
Neurologist Joe Clark and his team say they've successfully treated creatine transporter deficiency (CTD) in mice. CTD is an autism spectrum disorder affecting about 50-thousand boys in the United States.

Kansas Shakes Up Social Service System

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The alphabet soup of agencies that provide social services to Kansans -- SRS, KDOA, KDHE -- is being scrambled in what officials are claiming is the biggest reorganization in the history of Kansas state government.
Effective Monday, several programs will move from one agency to another and agency shorthand titles will change. The result, officials say, will be a more streamlined and efficient way of delivering services to children, the disabled, the poor and the elderly.
The reorganization also is seen as necessary for KanCare, Gov. Sam Brownback's initiative to overhaul the way Medicaid works in Kansas. Brownback called it "a crucial component of KanCare" in announcing his executive order for the shakeup.

Special Education Change Is Pushed in N.Y.

The type of clothing worn in a family's home, the language spoken and other cultural markers could influence whether special-education students receive taxpayer-funded private-school tuition, under a bill passed last month by the New York state Legislature.
Education officials would have to consider a student's "home environment and family background" when deciding the best setting for special-education children under the bill. Currently, decisions about private-school placement have generally been based on academics and the child's disability.

N.J. Teen on Front Line of Autism Clinical Trial

Rebecca Singer is participating
in a clinical trial.

She lives in a world no one else can enter, unable to speak or interact with others. But 16-year-old Rebecca Singer may be playing an important role in science.
Rebecca Singer, 16, is taking injections of a promising growth factor hormone that was shown to reverse in mice some of the deficits associated with autism
 Rebecca has become the first patient in a clinical trial testing a drug that researchers hope could pull her out of her reality and eventually lead to a groundbreaking autism treatment.

Florida Teen with Overcomes Challenges to Become Eagle Scout

LANTANA, Fla. -- Tyler Marsh may have been born with a mild form of cerebral palsy, but he never considered it a disability.
“It just made me want to do more and more every day,” said Marsh, 17.
Still, Marsh didn’t walk until he was 2 1/2. One-third of his tongue is paralyzed, making it difficult for Marsh to speak clearly. He still has trouble walking up stairs and has had to tirelessly exercise the muscles around his mouth to learn how to smile.
But despite living with a brain disorder that effects millions, Marsh on Saturday earned a coveted Eagle Scout award, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America.