by Tim on January 20, 2009
Critical Update! Go read my action alert about the Stimulus Package before Congress!
At precisely Noon today, the White House web site officially switched over to the Barack Obama Administration. It’s important that we keep track of policies that directly affect us as parents of autistic children and stay committed to our efforts to advocate not only for our own children but children everywhere. So here are some links you’ll want to be aware of.
The Obama Administration’s statement on disabilities – The statement on Autism is at the bottom of the page (nice to see it mentioned specifically). I don’t think they’ll mind if I post it here too.
Autism
President Obama and Vice President Biden are committed to supporting Americans with Autism Spectrum Disorders (“ASD”), their families, and their communities. There are a few key elements to their support, which are as follows:
- First, President Obama and Vice President Biden support increased funding for autism research, treatment, screenings, public awareness, and support services. There must be research of the treatments for, and the causes of, ASD.
- Second, President Obama and Vice President Biden support improving life-long services for people with ASD for treatments, interventions and services for both children and adults with ASD.
- Third, President Obama and Vice President Biden support funding the Combating Autism Act and working with Congress, parents and ASD experts to determine how to further improve federal and state programs for ASD.
- Fourth, President Obama and Vice President Biden support universal screening of all infants and re-screening for all two-year-olds, the age at which some conditions, including ASD, begin to appear. These screenings will be safe and secure, and available for every American that wants them. Screening is essential so that disabilities can be identified early enough for those children and families to get the supports and services they need.
Source: WhiteHouse.gov
The Obama Administration’s statement on education – The statement on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) – which is the cornerstone, foundation, and the entire building for that matter with regard to the rights our children have to a free appropriate public education – is at the bottom of that page. I’ve included it here too.
Students with Disabilities
Obama and Biden will work to ensure the academic success of students with disabilities by increasing funding and effectively enforcing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and by holding schools accountable for providing students with disabilities the services and supports they need to reach their potential. Obama and Biden will also support Early Intervention services for infants and toddlers, and will work to improve college opportunities for high school graduates with disabilities.
Source: WhiteHouse.gov
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by Tim on November 5, 2008
We now have President-Elect Barack Obama, and the two years of campaigning, all the incessant political ads, tens of millions of votes, the raw emotions of this day, and – regardless of how you feel about the outcome – the history we have now witnessed have quickly turned into just preamble. That’s about how long historic moments last in a country where things are a mess. Shortly, our TVs will return to idiotic erectile dysfunction commercials (which frighteningly I was starting to miss…) and we’ll get back to that sinking feeling of our economy being in the toilet (if we haven’t already) and all the problems the world faces.
He will hear from untold numbers of people representing countless causes. And with respect to autism and parenting and all the issues we face, we better get our crap together and commit ourselves to making sure our children are well-served as part of all of the changes to come. We know the challenges we and our children face everyday. It’s time to get to doing something about it.
For most of my 20s, I was pretty committed to the whole idea of single-handedly changing the world by eliminating poverty, disease, and war, and discovering cold fusion and the perfect cup of coffee during my lunch hour. I was somewhere between an overachiever and a mentally ill person with a savior complex, but at least my heart was in the right place. I crusaded for causes and put myself into voluntary poverty to give much of that period of my life to efforts I believed in. I dreamed really big; I was the poster child for people who wear their hearts on their sleeves.
The details of my life have changed dramatically since then, but though it may now burn with a different color and brightness than in those days, that fire is now like a focused laser. And God help anyone who stands in the way of our work on behalf of the three-year-old bundle of sunshine that fills our lives up to bursting everyday.
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by Tim on October 30, 2008
I had intended to write some sort of analysis of the Presidential candidates and their policies relating to autism spectrum disorders, education, and health care. After I wrote some of it, I realized that’s an epic topic somewhere on the order of “How carbon has influenced the evolution of the Earth.”
So, I’m going to point you to the relevant parts of each candidate’s web site and let you make up your own dang minds. 
I focused the links only on their web sites because 1) so many public political statements spin more than our kids do, and 2) I’m going to assume that their web site statements are considered the official positions of their respective candidates.
If you haven’t voted yet because you don’t live in an early-voting state, or do and just haven’t cast your ballot, MAKE SURE YOU VOTE! NO EXCUSES! I am not a one-issue voter and encourage you not to be either, but I know the issues below are very important to many of our readers.
Regardless of how the whole thing turns out, these policy statements are important to remember for whomever wins the election. We need to keep these issues in front of federal, state, and local governments and make our voices heard when we feel our children are being under-served and shortchanged, particularly when a candidate forgets after they’re elected that they made these promises.
Note: Do not use the comment area to gush about your favorite candidate or flame his opponent. There are a million other places to do that and I don’t feel like dealing with people arguing this week. If you have links to other fact-based information relating to the candidates’ views in these areas or to relevant statements made by the candidates, feel free to post them in the comments, preferably with minimal commentary.
And now, the candidates!
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