Jump to content
IndiaDivine.org

Fw: Mercury/Malpractice Lawsuit Curb Fails Again In Senate

Rate this topic


Guest guest

Recommended Posts

Guest guest

 

----

 

 

edit

04/08/04 06:51:10

!SAReport SAReport

Mercury/Malpractice Lawsuit Curb Fails Again In Senate

 

SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT "Healing Autism:

No Finer a Cause on the Planet"

______________

Thursday, April 08, 2004 Vol. 8 No. 61

 

 

>> PROMOTE YOUR MEETING, WORKSHOP OR CONFERENCE [DEADLINE April 25]

List your event in The Autism Calendar free:

http://www.sarnet.org/frm/cal-frm.htm

 

 

 

Mercury/Malpractice Lawsuit Curb Fails Again In Senate

 

COMMENTARY

* Frist Should Recuse Himself From Debate

 

RESEARCH

* Lack of Specific Brain Protein Causes Marked Deficits

In Learning, Memory

 

PUBLIC HEALTH

* EPA's Mercury Lingo Altered

 

CARE

* Parents Without Hope Are Giving Up Custody

 

ADVOCACY

* Earning A “Citizen's Ph.D. in How The [state] Legislature Works”

* Task Force On Special Needs Bill Sets Goals

 

ASPERGER AWARENESS

* Asperger’s Film Triggers Touching Replies

 

 

 

Malpractice Lawsuit Curb Fails Again In Senate

Legislation intended to curb medical malpractice lawsuits falls short in the

Senate, giving Republicans a third defeat on the issue.

 

[by Jesse J. Holland for the Associated Press.]

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/8380859.htm?1c

 

Senate Republicans lost a third attempt to curb medical malpractice

lawsuits Wednesday but said they would keep forcing votes on an issue they

blame for rising healthcare costs.

On a 49-48 vote, Republican leaders fell 11 votes short of the 60

needed to force the Senate to consider their bill to limit

pain-and-suffering damages that juries can award in malpractice suits

against obstetricians and emergency-room doctors.

Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said the GOP won't give up on

getting medical malpractice legislation through the Senate in this election

year. Physicians and insurance companies want it.

“We are going to keep bringing this issue back because the crisis is

getting worse,” Frist said.

Florida Sens. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, both Democrats, oppose the

bill.

 

`Urgent need'

Republicans say their measure could help reduce unnecessary lawsuits

and higher malpractice premiums that make it harder for doctors to practice.

They failed last year and earlier this year to force votes on similar

measures.

“The crisis faced by obstetricians, gynecologists and emergency and

trauma-care professionals illustrates the urgent need for national medical

liability reforms,” the White House said in a statement.

Democrats accuse Republicans of playing up to their donors in the

medical and insurance lobbies and say that limiting damages would be unfair

to injured patients and their families.

“I've never seen such special-interest legislation,” said Sen. Patrick

Leahy, D-Vt. 'Instead of going about doing the people's business, we seem to

be going about the political action committees' business, and that's why, of

course, nothing is getting done.”

 

Interest Groups

The American Medical Association and the American Insurers

Association, longtime Republican allies, say frivolous lawsuits drive up

insurance premiums for doctors. In several states, obstetricians have blamed

higher insurance bills for forcing them to stop delivering babies.

The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, allied to many Democrats,

says insurers' poor returns on investments are more responsible for premium

increases. The group also says state-imposed caps on damages do not lead to

drops in premiums.

* * *

 

COMMENTARY

Frist Should Recuse Himself From Debate

 

[Editorial by the Jackson Sun, in Tennessee. The opinions expressed

are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Schafer Autism

Report.]

http://miva.jacksonsun.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?OPINION/opinion_story.mv+link=2

00404086028722

 

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist should recuse himself from the

current debate over medical malpractice reform. It's not that we're

questioning the motivations of the Senate's only physician. But as the most

powerful person in the Senate, he has an ethical obligation to remove even

the appearance of impropriety.

The case being presented by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer

Rights is compelling. Frist's father and brother founded HCA Inc., the

nation's largest for-profit hospital chain. HCA's malpractice insurance

subsidiary would benefit financially by a bill being sponsored by the

majority leader which would limit liability to $250,000 for trauma centers,

gynecologists and obstetricians. And HCA isn't the only one that stands to

benefit from this legislation. Frist and his family own $30.3 million in HCA

stock.

This is not to say that Frist should never weigh in on health care

issues. The two-term senator from Tennessee has built his career on taking

the lead in the fight for health care reform. As the Senate's only licensed

physician, he brings a unique, insider's knowledge of the issue.

But this is one time when that insider knowledge works against him. We

don't doubt that Frist has only honorable intentions in sponsoring this

legislation. But clearly, there is more than a passing appearance of a

conflict here. How can Frist argue legitimately that his own family's

extensive holdings in the health care field won't somehow color his

judgment? Realistically, he can't.

This isn't, as Frist spokesman Nick Smith argues, a matter of the

Democrats playing politics. This is a matter of Frist doing the right thing,

the ethical thing. It's a matter of him placing himself above the partisan

fray, of removing any trace of a possibility that he could be accused of

using his position for his own, or his family's, personal gain.

Frist has other ways he can continue to lead the fight for health care

reform, and he should. But this is one round that he should sit out.

 

 

 

 

 

-- > DO SOMETHING ABOUT AUTISM NOW < --

 

SUBSCRIBE. . . !

. . .Read, then Forward the Schafer Autism Report.

To Subscribe http://www.SARnet.org/

Or subs No Cost!

_____

 

 

 

* * *

 

RESEARCH

 

Lack of Specific Brain Protein Causes Marked Deficits In Learning, Memory

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

 

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-04/uots-los040504.php

 

A protein involved in the release of neurotransmitters in the brain is

essential to learning and memory in mice, researchers at UT Southwestern

Medical Center at Dallas have found.

A study published today in Neuron offers the first evidence that lack

of this protein – known as RIM1 alpha – causes profound deficits in the

learning process. The discovery is a major step in understanding the

molecular events that underlie learning and memory – complex processes that

can be impaired in human neuropsychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer's

disease, mental retardation and schizophrenia.

“We found that when you delete this molecule, the mice essentially

become incredibly stupid,” said Dr. Thomas Südhof, director of both the

Center for Basic Neuroscience and the C. Vincent Prothro Center for Research

in Basic Neuroscience at UT Southwestern and co-author of the paper.

Researchers hope that further study of the protein's role in learning

and memory will lead to potential treatments for some neuropsychiatric

disorders.

“This is the first indication that these proteins could be good

targets for treatment of specific brain disorders,” said Dr. Craig Powell,

assistant professor of psychiatry and neurology at UT Southwestern and the

study's lead author.

The researchers compared behaviors of normal mice to those of three

sets of genetically altered mice – each of which was missing a specific

protein involved in releasing neurotransmitters. The mice lacking the RIM1

alpha protein, unlike the others, lacked the ability to learn the location

of an escape platform in a pool of water despite repeated attempts over

several days.

Dr. Eric Nestler, chairman of psychiatry at UT Southwestern and senior

author of the study, said another notable finding was that, while the other

two sets of genetically altered mice displayed some of the same cellular

abnormalities as the RIM1 alpha mice, these other mice exhibited no

behavioral deficits.

“The brain was able to compensate for the loss of these other two

proteins, but it was not able to compensate for the lack of RIM1 alpha,” Dr.

Nestler said. “That tells us that RIM1 alpha is involved in so many

important functions that, when it is missing, gross changes in behavior

occur.”

Proteins involved in the release of neurotransmitters are known as

presynaptic proteins. In the past, postsynaptic proteins, as opposed to

presynaptic proteins, were shown to play an active role in learning and

memory. Postsynaptic proteins receive the neurotransmitters released by

presynaptic proteins.

Dr. Nestler said that some of the abnormalities in learning in the

mice lacking RIM1 alpha are reminiscent of symptoms commonly seen in people

with schizophrenia.

“This could give us new insight into what's going wrong in the brains

of people with schizophrenia – a disorder that is still not at all well

understood,” Dr. Nestler said.

 

These studies were funded via grants from the National Institute of

Mental Health, The National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and

Depression, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via

e-mail, at

http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/utsw/cda/dept3732637813.html

* * *

 

PUBLIC HEALTH

 

EPA's Mercury Lingo Altered

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/06/tech/main582309.shtml

 

CBS/AP - White House staff made subtle changes to the language of

proposed rules on mercury pollution that largely downplayed the chemical's

health risks, a newspaper reports.

The New York Times, quoting e-mail messages and other documents, says

White House staff deviated from descriptions of mercury found in a National

Academy of Sciences report.

Scientists from the academy told the newspaper that none of the

language was false — some of it made the wording clearer, and the rest

pertained to scientific points that are debatable.

But the White House usually came down on the side of wording that

downplayed the risks of mercury, which the academy concluded can affect

children's and festuses' brains, the newspaper said.

According to The Times, one section first read: “Recent published

studies have shown an association between methylmercury exposure and an

increased risk of heart attacks and coronary disease in adult men.”

It ended up reading: “it has been hypothesized that there is an

association between methylmercury exposure and an increased risk of coronary

disease; however this warrants further study as the new studies currently

available present conflicting results.”

A White House spokeswoman tells the paper the changes were part of the

normal process of drafting rules. One scientist said the original National

Academy report overstated some of the evidence against mercury.

The proposed rules on mercury mirror the wishes of the energy

industry, and according to The Times, some sections of the rules are nearly

identical to what was proposed by lobbying firms with ties to current EPA

officials.

Attorneys general from 10 states and 45 senators want the rules thrown

out, and the EPA administrator, Michael Leavitt, is reviewing them.

Under the proposed rules, the Bush administration is proposing to give

power plants up to 15 years to install technology to reduce mercury

pollution.

The EPA proposal would ease limits envisioned by the Clinton

administration, while requiring immediate action in some cases.

In 2001, EPA estimated that mercury could be cut by as much as 90

percent, to 5.5 tons, by 2008 if the best available technology were used as

the Clinton EPA had hoped, according to EPA documents obtained by advocacy

group National Environmental Trust.

But the White House and EPA want to let utilities meet mercury

pollution limits the first six years using the benefits of controls

installed for other pollutants that cause smog and acid rain.

The Clinton administration listed mercury as a “hazardous air

pollutant.” The Bush administration would undo that by placing mercury into

a less strict category of the Clean Air Act, which will allow companies to

buy and sell pollution rights with other plants under a “cap-and-trade”

system.

This approach, EPA says, would eliminate about 14 tons a year of

mercury emissions from the currently unregulated 48 tons a year generated by

coal-fired power plants. Such plants account for about 40 percent of the

nation's mercury pollution.

After that, the pollution-trading proposal would cut an additional 19

tons a year of mercury emissions, EPA says. The result would be a 70 percent

reduction — from 48 tons to 15 tons — by 2018, the agency says.

Cap-and-trade programs set a national limit on emissions and then

allow companies to choose whether to reduce emissions or buy credits from

plants that do. This rewards firms that innovate first and imposes costs on

those that do not.

Supporters say the system allows the market to pick the most

cost-effective way to reduce pollution.

Proponents frequently point to the acid rain trading program begun in

1990 as the model for using market forces to reward companies that surpass

their pollution reduction targets. But it would mean the toughest mercury

requirements would not take force until 2018.

Last fall, scientists told the Food and Drug Administration that it

should issue stronger warnings to pregnant women and young children about

mercury levels in fish, particularly tuna. White, or albacore, tuna has

nearly three times as much mercury as cheaper “light” tuna.

Mercury pollution can taint fish once it enters water and turns into a

more dangerous form, methyl mercury.

Also last year, the Bush administration revised the Clean Air rules to

allow power plants to avoid mandatory pollution controls when they make

limited capital improvements to their facilities.

The White House said the move would encourage power plants to install

newer, cleaner technology.

Twelve states and several Northeast cities sued the EPA this fall to

block the new Clean Air rules, which they argue will weaken protections for

the environment and public health.

 

©MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. . This material may

not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated

Press contributed to this report

* * *

 

CARE

 

Parents Without Hope Are Giving Up Custody

Some say mental health system is broken

 

[by Debra Jasper And Spencer Hunt for Gannett News Service.]

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/news/stories/20040404/localnews/170656.html

 

Christy Mathews struggled for years to pay for treatment for her

mentally ill daughter, a 15-year-old who burns and cuts herself and last

year threatened to stab her mom with a steak knife.

Desperate and afraid, Mathews tried to get Hamilton County officials

to pay for Lauren to live in a psychiatric facility. A social worker finally

told her she could get help -- if Mathews gave up custody of her daughter to

the county.

“I shouldn't be forced to give my daughter up to get her the help she

needs, but that's how the system works,” she says. “What you have to go

through is unreal.”

Mathews refused to turn over Lauren, but thousands of parents in Ohio

and elsewhere have been forced to give in.

In the past three years, Ohio parents who've run out of insurance or

money have given up custody of as many as 1,800 children so the government

will pay to treat their mental illness, a Cincinnati Enquirer investigation

has found.

Even then, kids don't always get the help they need. Ohio counties

place more than 7,000 children a year in centers where some are abused,

molested, improperly drugged and left in wretched conditions, an examination

of inspection records, court documents and interviews reveals.

At least 38 of Ohio's 88 counties acknowledge taking children from

parents, who give up their rights to say where their kids are sent for

treatment, how long they stay or even what kind of medicine they are given.

County officials say that obtaining custody is the only way they can

tap federal money to cover treatment costs that run as high as $1,000 a day.

But not even Michael Hogan, director of Ohio's Department of Mental Health,

defends the practice. “We must stop trading custody for care. It's

terrible,” he says. “A civilized society should not do this.”

Trading custody for care is a “travesty,” adds Gayle Channing

Tenenbaum, a lobbyist for the Ohio Public Children Services Association.

“As a state,” she says, “we've totally given up on these kids.”

 

A 'terrible problem'

More than 86,000 children in Ohio are mentally ill, and many parents

find that insurance money for treatment runs out long before their kids get

better. Unlike coverage for physical diseases and ailments, policies

typically limit benefits for mental illness to 20 to 30 days a year.

That's usually far too little. So parents frequently spend years

bouncing from one agency to another -- only to be told by each that no money

or treatment options are available.

“When it comes to mental health, the system is lacking, lacking,

lacking,” says John Saros, director of Franklin County Children Services.

“And when the system isn't working, very decent parents go to extreme

measures for their child. It's very, very frustrating, because I see us

doing bad things to kids in the name of trying to help them.”

Parents find themselves staggered not only by the costs, but by a

complex bureaucracy that puts as many as five different agencies in a single

county in charge of different aspects of one child's care.

Ohio's 88 counties operate 55 public children's services agencies, 33

public children's services boards, 43 mental health and drug addiction

boards and another seven mental health boards. The Ohio Department of Job

and Family Services and the state Department of Mental Health, the two state

agencies that are supposed to watch over all the county agencies, don't even

share information on children.

Barbara Riley, assistant director in Job and Family Services, first

said federal law prohibited the agencies from talking to each other about

children in the system. After checking with her legal staff, she said they

could share data -- but don't.

“I have learned that I have more latitude than I thought,” she says.

“The conversation now has to start about what we know, who knows it and

where information is housed.”

While officials try to sort it all out, parents who navigate the

different agencies might get lucky and find treatment for their children.

But thousands never do, or they live in poor counties where there is no

treatment to be had.

“There are long waiting lists, a lack of well-trained people, and a

lot of times people don't get referred for help unless they are suicidal,”

says Tenenbaum, the children's lobbyist.

As a last resort, some parents turn to county child welfare agencies

that can tap into federal funds originally set aside to help care for abused

or neglected children. But such agencies can't get the federal money unless

children are in government custody -- so parents desperate for help sign

away their kids.

“It's really sad. Families do everything from giving up custody to

selling their houses to pay for care,” says Dr. Mike Sorter, director of the

division of child psychiatry for Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical

Center. “What other illness is there that forces you to give up custody of

your child in order to get them help?”

 

Staggering costs

Ohio's system is so disorganized that no one can say exactly how many

parents have been forced to give up their mentally ill children, although

the Enquirer found the practice occurs in at least 38 counties, including

Hamilton, Butler, Warren and Clermont.

Counties that don't trade custody for care include those that pool

resources from different agencies, and rural counties with fewer children.

The state Mental Health Department estimates that 300 families give up

custody of children each year, but advocates who work in the field maintain

that 600 is a more accurate number. Giving up custody is no formality,

either. Parents often have to go to court to get their kids back.

Yet a federal study found that families in 13 states, including

Kentucky, gave up custody of 12,700 kids in 2001.

Roger Shooter, director of the Knox County Job and Family Services

agency, says counties are in a no-win situation. They don't want to take

custody from parents, but officials say they can't afford the costs of

treating a mentally ill child without federal help.

“We've got kids who are purely mentally ill that are costing $350 a

day,” Shooter says.

Such rates are commonplace, records and interviews show. Last year a

treatment center charged one county mental health board $151,000 -- $414 a

day -- for treatment alone for one child. Centers charge child welfare

agencies additional money -- as much as $340 a day per child -- for room and

board.

Add the cost of medication, and costs can grow to more than $1,000 a

day for children who are mentally ill, especially if they also are drug

addicted, sex offenders, fire setters, violent or schizophrenic.

Some question how long Ohio taxpayers can continue to pay such

astronomical bills -- even with money from the federal government.

“There is no way parents can afford the treatment centers, but there

is serious concern as to whether or not the child welfare system can afford

them, either,” says Saros, the Franklin County director.

Some children are sent out of state when beds aren't available

locally. County officials say that social workers have traveled as far away

as Missouri or Texas to check on children. In December, counties had 398

kids in out-of-state homes, including treatment centers, group homes and

foster homes.

“Finding beds is a huge issue. If a kid comes in at 5 p.m. on a Friday

afternoon you can't leave him in the waiting room all weekend. You have to

find a place for him and move him through,” Saros explains.

“These aren't easy kids to help. Some have learned a lot of horrible

behaviors, and everybody is trying to figure out what to do with them.”

 

 

 

 

 

-- > WHAT SUBSCRIBERS CAN DO ABOUT AUTISM NOW < --

 

TELL A FRIEND ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER

http://home.sprynet.com/~schafer/ref.htm

_____

 

 

* * *

 

ADVOCACY

 

Earning A “Citizen's Ph.D. in How The [state] Legislature Works”

Debating the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship

 

[in less than two weeks, Unlocking Autism will be hosting a conference

in Washington D.C. on skills for individual political advocacy of autism.

Here is one parent’s experience with the process in Utah. By Cheryl Smith.]

http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Apr/04042004/commenta/153643.asp

 

Over the past several months, I have earned a citizen's Ph.D. in how

the Legislature works. For countless hours I have worked with other parents

of special-needs children in talking to legislators and trying

(unsuccessfully) to talk with Gov. Olene Walker. After all this hard work,

the lesson I walk away with is that too many legislators are too willing to

listen to too few special interests.

Last fall I called my representative, Morgan Philpot, and asked him

whether the state could help me educate my 5-year-old son, Carson. I shared

our story with him and gave him a tour of the Carmen B. Pingree School for

Children with Autism. After seeing how that school blesses so many families,

and hearing about all the families on its waiting list, Morgan called -- he

was still at the school -- and asked legislative staff how the state could

help me.

When the legislative session opened, Morgan and his co-sponsor, Rep.

Merlynn Newbold, were sponsoring the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship.

I was leading a ragtag band of moms and dads in lobbying the entire House of

Representatives. We sent our little green notes in, and waited outside the

House chambers, hoping that our legislators would come out and, if they did,

that we would recognize them.

Of course, we weren't the only people waiting. To my surprise, the

people who claimed to be representing me, the ones who should care about the

kids the most -- the PTA, the Legislative Coalition for People with

Disabilities and the Utah Education Association -- were our biggest

opponents. They never asked for my opinion, or that of any parent I was

working with. In fact, when the LCPD decided to oppose the bill, fewer than

10 of the 1,800 members voted.

Outside the House, they told me I would lose my rights, but I

thought, “A fat lot of good those rights have done me so far!” They told me

the bill would only help some of the children, that we needed to find

something that would help all of the children. I had read the bill and

couldn't figure out what they meant. Any child in special education was

eligible for the scholarship.

When the House Education Committee considered the bill, dozens of

parents dragged their children into the committee room. After 1 1/2 hours of

speechifying by the committee members, they decided to let the public speak.

It was so late in the evening, though, that they could only hear from five

people for the bill, and five people against it. That meant everybody

against the bill got to speak, and just a tenth of its supporters could

speak.

I don't know all the technical procedures it went through to get onto

the House floor, but it made it. As I sat in the House gallery, I could

barely contain myself. Morgan and Merlynn were sparring with Reps. Kory

Holdaway and Dave Hogue. When Holdaway made a motion to kill the bill, I

held my breath, hoping for the best, but fearing the worst. After 2 1/2

hours of debate, the House finally voted 43-29 in favor of the bill.

By this time, there were just a few days left in the session. I met

Sen. Curt Bramble, the bill's Senate sponsor, who kept telling me not to

worry. But the bill wasn't even on their list of bills to consider. Then as

if by magic, on the day before the session was over, Sen. Bramble was

debating the bill on the Senate floor.

When they finally voted 17-8 in favor of the bill, the tears burst

through. All those hours outside the House, outside the Senate, in the

committee hearing were going to pay off. The state was going to help me, and

hundreds, maybe even thousands of other families, get the education their

children need.

I knew we still needed the governor to sign the bill, but I couldn't

imagine why she wouldn't. She had always been pro-education, and I had no

idea why she would change.

I didn't hear about the meeting she had with Morgan and Merlynn

until five minutes before it started. I would have liked to attend that

meeting, but I don't think it would have mattered -- Gov. Walker had decided

to veto the bill.

Hoping to give it one more try, we brought our children to her

office the following day, but she just sent out a deputy who couldn't answer

any of our questions.

Now I hear the Legislature is considering a veto override in

addition to an alternative plan that may not be legal. I don't know how that

happens. I'm just a mom trying to get the best for my son, who can't fight

for himself.

 

* For more information on Unlocking Autism’s Political Autism

Conference: http://www.unlockingautism.org

 

* For a follow-up account of this story, see next clipping below.

 

* * *

 

Task Force On Special Needs Bill Sets Goals

 

[by Tiffany Erickson for the Deseret Morning News.]

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595054516,00.html

 

The task force charged with figuring out how to spend $1.4 million

under the governor's veto-compromise plan for the Carson Smith Special

Needs Scholarships Bill made their first moves Wednesday to establish a

program to help meet the needs of the severely disabled in private schools.

The group voted to target only the students with severe disabilities

defined by the state Office of Education. That translates into focusing on

students requiring at least three hours of specialized instruction a day

with autism or other disabilities.

Autism seemed at the forefront but so far the group believes the

scholarships should be available to other disabilities mentioned in the

Carson Smith Special Needs Bill such as hearing impairment, visual

impairment, traumatic brain injury and mental retardation.

“I am most concerned about those falling through the cracks, and we

would be remiss not to look at other disabilities,” said Cheryl Smith, a

parent of an autistic child.

Additionally, the group voted to have funds weighted to early

intervention — first priority given to ages 3-9 years old and second to ages

10-21. The ratio will be determined later.

The task force comes as part of Gov. Olene Walker's plan for HB115.

The bill would have given up to about $5,400 in private school vouchers for

parents of students with disabilities.

Walker vetoed the bill, which she said raised constitutional concerns

over having the state Board of Education oversee a private school program.

But she left in a budget bill the $1.4 million HB115 gave to the program.

She hopes to give that money to the board to give grants or contracts to

private schools teaching students with disabilities.

Walker's plan still must be approved by the Legislature, likely in a

special session, but several legislators are calling for a veto override.

The senate reports that they have enough votes to override the veto

but there is no word yet on the House votes.

The task force is comprised of parents and advocates of children with

autism and other disabilities, state education officials, a lawmaker and a

professor from the University of Utah.

Interim State Superintendent Patrick Ogden, chair of the task force,

said by the end of the month the group hopes to: Determine a target

population Develop a model identifying types of service and providers

Develop and recommend an accountability system to assure the funds are being

used effectively.

“I think we're right on track. I believe that the task is manageable

and should be coming up with a recommendation in a reasonable amount of

time,” said Ogden.

* * *

 

ASPERGER AWARENESS

 

Asperger’s Film Triggers Touching Replies

 

[by Dennis McCarthy for the LA Daily News.]

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2069201,00.html

 

The e-mails and letters come in from as far away as Mexico City and

Canada, from parents with autistic children wanting to know how they can get

a copy of the 10-minute film Taylor Cross has made on what it's like to be

autistic.

They ask -- plead, really -- for a chance to buy the film, hoping it

may hold the keys to a breakthrough with their own autistic kids.

As I wrote last week, Taylor, a 15-year-old freshman at Newbury Park

High School, who doctors said would probably never walk or talk, interviewed

a few dozen other autistic kids, 9 to 19, to have them verbalize what it is

they see and feel when they look out at the world.

The film is called “Normal People Scare Me,” and it's touched a nerve.

From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 24, it will be one of 25 local student

films being shown for the first time at a student film festival at Chaminade

High School in West Hills.

But it's a long way to West Hills for a movie when you live in Mexico

City, Alberta, Canada, or the dozens of states across this country from

which I've received e-mails and letters since the column ran last Thursday.

“The response has been overwhelming, and we're looking into the

duplication costs to see how to make it available to everyone who wants to

see it,” said Keri Bowers, Taylor's mother.

I'll get to the distribution in a minute. First, the e-mails and

letters. Some of them tear your heart out.

“I felt like crying when I read the article,” wrote Carolina Eberstadt

from Mexico City. “My biggest dream is being able to talk with my autistic

son, Jose Ignacio, who is almost 9 years old.

“My son uses basically three words -- 'yes,' 'no' and 'juice.' He goes

to special school, and we hope we can make it to a regular school someday.

Is there any way we could buy the video? Please.”

From Charles Whiting in Wheeling, W.Va.: “I am the parent of an

autistic boy, a beautiful redhead who was also written off when he was

diagnosed. But his mother and I were far too dense to listen.

“After five years of hard work and unmitigated dedication, he has gone

from nonverbal, low 30s IQ, to a child who can communicate many of his needs

verbally. He has left the realm of 'mentally retarded' by testing at a high

70s IQ.

“It would be wonderful if parents, families, teachers and others could

be given the opportunity to see Taylor's film and be introduced to 'their'

world.”

Theresa Rugel from Corona said she would gladly drive up to West Hills

to see the film with her 8-year-old son -- who has HFA, or high functioning

autism -- “if he was having a good day.” She couldn't be sure because he has

a hard time being in public with people close to him, she said.

“There are so many times that I wish I knew exactly what my son was

thinking or feeling so I could help him, instead of feeling helpless as he

becomes so frustrated and anxious.

“I think this film may help us open the door, and help my son release

some of his feelings that are bottled up.”

From Melinda Renouf of Austin, Texas, mother of a 5-year-old autistic

son: “Every day, I wish I could get into his world and understand how he

thinks and feels.

“We try to bring him back into our world, and although we have seen

progress it is not at a level where I feel comfortable sending him to a

regular school. I know you can't shelter your child 24 hours a day, but I

don't want to send him into a hornet's nest, either.

“I would love to somehow see this film so parents, teachers and other

children can better understand how an autistic child thinks and feels.”

These are just a few of the e-mails and letters I've received, as has

Taylor's mom, Keri, who started an organization called Pause4kids, which

provides programs and services for special-needs children and their

families.

“If somebody had handed me a tape like this when Taylor was a baby,

and told me this is what the future for your child could look like, it would

have meant so much,” she said.

Distribution and the cost of a tape of Taylor's 10-minute film, along

with a longer 45-minute version being put together with the help of Joey

Travolta, are still being worked out.

The older brother of actor John Travolta owns Entertainment Experience

in Woodland Hills, which offers filmmaking and acting classes for

special-needs children.

To reserve copies of Taylor's film when it's available, call

Pause4kids at (805) 497-9596, or Travolta's Entertainment Experience company

at (818) 591-3345.

The 10-minute version of Taylor's film also will be shown by the

Ventura County Autism Society at 7 p.m. May 14 at the society's Camarillo

office, 639 E. Los Posas Road, Building E, Suite 121. For reservations, call

(818) 207-0135.

Also, April is National Autism Awareness Month. Locally, the Cure

Autism Now Foundation is hosting its second annual Walk Now Los Angeles

event at Dodger Stadium on April 17 in Lot 10.

There will be a 5K walk, resource fair, and family fun festival from 8

a.m. to 2 p.m., including an 11:30 a.m. performance by singer Chaka Khan.

There is no fee to participate. For more information, call (888) 828-8476

(8-AUTISM).

 

[Editor’s note: the LA Daily News column this feature appeared in is

not syndicated, nor has it been “picked-up” and distributed nationally or

internationally by the wire services. However, The Schafer Autism Report,

which reproduced the column, is distributed to families from Mexico to

Canada and beyond and is probably the source for this widespread interest in

the film. While Asperger Syndrome is on the autism spectrum, it is

questionable how much the higher functioning Asperger experience reflects

the reality of those with more typical autism. Let’s hope these interested

parents aren’t too disappointed as a result of the confusion created from

the blurring of Asperger’s with the rest of autism.. We’ll know more when

the film copies becomes more available. - LS.]

 

 

 

_____

 

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING - ANYTHING - ABOUT AUTISM?

 

Search The Most Complete Autism News & Info Database

The Schafer Autism Report -- Updated Fresh Daily

-AuTeach/messages

 

. . .OR ASK A NEIGHBOR: Free Readers' Posts

http://home.sprynet.com/~schafer/frm/postsc.htm

______

 

 

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: The above items are copyright protected. They are for our

readers' personal education or research purposes only and provided at

their request. Articles may not be further reprinted or used commercially

without consent from the copyright holders. To find the copyright holders,

follow the referenced website link provided at the beginning of each item.

_______________

Lenny Schafer, Editor edit

Edward Decelie Debbie Hosseini Richard Miles Ron Sleith Kay Stammers

 

_____________

SAReport mailing list

SAReport

You can at:

 

You can change your options at:

http://lists.envirolink.org/mailman/listinfo/sareport

delivered to: dadelp

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...