Archive
Together, We Can Improve Lives
Jeff Sell, Autism Society Vice President, Public Policy and General Counsel, is featured on Disability.gov for National Autism Awareness Month
April 6, 2011
By Autism Society
As published in Disability Blog:
The prevalence of autism continues to rise, and a growing number of families are facing the reality that there will be dramatic cuts to programs and services – unless we do something –NOW.
The Autism Society estimates that the lifetime cost of caring for a child with autism ranges from $3.5 to $5 million, and the United States is facing almost $90 billion annually in costs for autism. (This figure includes research, insurance costs and non-covered expenses, Medicaid waivers for autism, educational spending, housing, transportation and employment, in addition to related therapeutic services and caregiver costs.)
The direct and indirect costs of autism are staggering. Cost of treatment can be reduced by 2/3 with early diagnosis and intervention – THIS IS THE KEY. If we do not act, in 10 years, the annual cost will be approximately $200 to $400 billion, in light of the increased prevalence.
With tax revenue still declining from the recession and budget reserves largely drained, the vast majority of states are proposing deep and sweeping budget cuts that will hurt families by reducing necessary and proven services. These proposed cuts come at a time when autism is a national health care crisis, which affects every community throughout America. The current service delivery system is typically ineffective, unresponsive, inappropriate and inefficient for providing seamless and quality lifespan services. Nowhere is this more evident than in the adult services sector.
No person with autism should experience a delay in accessing services that can greatly improve his or her life. There is a clear and present need to expand access to treatments, interventions and services. Individuals with autism have the same rights as others to exert control and choice over their lives, to live independently and to participate fully in, and contribute to, their communities and society through full integration and inclusion in the economic, political, social, cultural and educational fabric of society.
While reducing the deficit is important to everyone, we must continue to work diligently to ensure that this is not done at the expense of the most vulnerable and underserved population of our society.
Reductions and Cuts to Medicaid and Long-Term Community Services and Supports for Individuals with Autism
We need to preserve the most essential programs for people with autism and other intellectual/developmental disabilities. Medicaid is the lifeline for most people with autism and other significant disabilities. Medicaid is the largest funding source of long-term individual and family supports in the federal and state developmental disabilities systems, and, for many, it is the primary source of health care payments.
However, most states are cutting Medicaid spending, which means hundreds of thousands with intellectual and developmental disabilities will remain on waiting lists across the country. Equally disconcerting is the loss of many qualified staff when jobs are eliminated due to Medicaid cuts.
The following services are at risk: dental; physical, occupational, speech and audiology therapies; prosthetic devices; glasses; case management; clinic services; personal care, self-directed personal care; hospice; ICFS; PRTF (psychiatric) for children under 21; rehabilitative services; home and community-based services; and the Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)...
Click here to read the rest of this article on the Disability.gov Disability Blog. Please share your thoughts in the comments!
Topics:Advocacy
Larry's Blog
April 6, 2011
By Larry Bissonnette
LARRY'S BLOG
Papers lack printed text to describe our experience of making movie star appearances last week in New York City Allowing time too for Larry and Tracy to try out the new iPad at the mega Apple store and meet J. Ralph at his unusually designed for great music studio, our Wretches and Jabberers crew put on no make up and opened many people's, potentially predisposed towards limited assumptions about disability and intelligence, eyes, minds, and ears to meaningfully presented in text and voice, more progressive opinions about people who love to relay lots of little and monumental messages like any normal person does but who need technology, and moral and physical support to do so.
Tracy and I are performers short on attractive movie star looks but like politicians and news anchors, we push out our lost-in-land-of-limited speech, topping ratings now, and Conan O'Brian-like thoughts and ideas.
We are thrilled that all of you fans continue to race along with us on our magic red carpet ride, penning our words across the country.
You can continue to follow Larry's blog posts at http://www.wretchesandjabberers.org/larry/
And don't forget to check in on Tracy at www.wretchesandjabberers.org/Tracy
Wretches & Jabberers is now on sale for National Autism Awareness Month. Buy your tickets today! http://www.amctheatres.com/wretchesandjabberers/
Topics:Advocacy
Positive Behavior Support
March 14, 2011
By Barbara Becker-Cottrill, Ed.D., Chair, Autism Society Panel of Professional Advisors; Executive Director, West Virginia Autism Training Center
Q: I hear the term “Positive Behavior Support” a lot, but I am not sure what it is and how it is applied to individuals on the autism spectrum.
A: Positive Behavior Support (PBS) is a broad term that incorporates the principles, strategies and techniques of the science of behavior to produce socially important behavior change and to achieve quality of life outcomes. It is typically implemented as a collaborative, rather than an expert-driven, process. While PBS is associated with providing supports to individuals with challenging behavior, in practice it can be applied to everyone, including schools and other large systems. Specifically for individuals on the autism spectrum, a PBS approach would ultimately result in a comprehensive PBS plan that would include conducting a functional behavior assessment (FBA) of challenging behavior. The purpose of the FBA is to find out why a specific behavior is occurring. It may be to gain attention, to escape a situation or to get something desired, and it may be reinforced by something sensory (i.e., picking at skin because it feels good). Once the function of the behavior is understood, a comprehensive PBS approach is then developed using strategies that will best address the function. For example, a young child who tantrums when asked to perform a difficult task may be exhibiting that behavior to escape from doing the task. If, after conducting an FBA, escape from difficult tasks was determined to be the function of the tantrum, plans to address tantrums might include the following: breaking up difficult tasks into smaller and easier steps, developing a system of reinforcement when those steps are achieved, teaching the child to ask for help, providing choices, arranging for a peer buddy to assist the child and reviewing the child’s overall curriculum to make appropriate adjustments. So, in summary, a PBS approach would focus on understanding the reasons for the behavior and would put strategies in place to prevent it and to teach adaptive skills.
In a PBS approach for an individual, the ultimate goal is to help the individual live a life of quality— a life they desire. And that can become a reality for all individuals with autism spectrum disorders if they have the right supports. You can learn more about individual-level PBS and school-wide PBS online. Two recommended sites are www.apbs.org and www.pbis.org.
Topics:About Autism, Living with Autism
Making Friends
March 14, 2011
By Barbara Becker-Cottrill, Ed.D., Chair, Autism Society Panel of Professional Advisors; Executive Director, West Virginia Autism Training Center
Q. My son is 7 now and really has not made any friends. He is mainstreamed into a regular reading group, but he struggles with reading out loud. I thought another student might be able to help him. How do I arrange for this to happen in the school?
A. A “peer buddy” or peer tutor” would be a great support for your son. There is much research on the effectiveness of utilizing peers as buddies and tutors. The benefits to the buddies can be as great as they are for the student who needs additional support. The formal way to arrange for a peer buddy would be to discuss it at your son’s IEP meeting. You can also bring it to the attention of his teacher. The teacher would select the peer tutor(s) (it is sometimes recommended that several peer tutors be assigned) and teach them about their role as a tutor for reading out loud. They can also be taught ways to socially interact with your son. Those strategies can be as simple as setting up the opportunity to play a favorite game of your son’s together. There are many good resources online for teaching classmates how to be peer tutors and buddies. The following link will take you to a review of literature on peer-mediated interventions to increase social skills:
http://uscm.med.sc.edu/autism_project/disalvo_article_mod_4.pdf
Topics:Education
