Employment, a Suit, and a Tragedy
October 13, 2009 by Jeff Stimpson
Filed under Health
Britain’s National Autistic Society is calling for a national strategy to help people with autism get work. the NAS “Don’t Write Me Off” campaign began in light of most of the more than 300,000 working age adults with autism in the U.K. going without work. Only 15% are employed full-time, and the NAS says a key problem is a lack of understanding of autism among agency staff who determine eligibility for benefits and provide employment support. NAS wants the British government to introduce autism coordinators who would work with frontline staff, local employers and employment support services, including services to obtain Britain’s new Employment and Support Allowance.
Though the government has pledged support and says it will an autism strategy “in due course,” one’s first reaction might be that these people have gone without enough in life – including living with an overall view in society that they can contribute. Imagine too the uproar if the overall unemployment rate in this or any other country hit 85% in a given sector of the population?
photo courtesy of Zeusandhera (flickr.com)
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The mother of a 7-year-old boy with autism and a severe peanut allergy has filed a lawsuit claiming a teacher tossed her son a peanut-filled Mr. Goodbar candy bar in hopes of sickening him and keeping him from going on a zoo field trip, according to news reports. The boy didn’t eat the candy bar, but the mom says her son suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his teacher, and filed a lawsuit in Marion County against her son’s Indianapolis school. She also wants criminal charges filed against the teacher, who has denied doing anything to prevent the child from attending the trip or harming any children. The teacher has since resigned from the Perry Township district school.
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A 11-year-old autistic boy died over the weekend after being hit by a truck while trying to cross Highway 99 near Seattle. Cops said the boy was reported missing from his nearby home around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and a search began. Fifteen minutes later, officials received reports of a boy walking on the shoulder of the northbound lanes of Highway 99. The boy then apparently attempted to cross the freeway and was struck by a one-ton flatbed truck. The driver, who reportedly was going around a curve and could not avoid the boy, wasn’t injured and wasn’t at fault, police said. Our prayers and very deep sadness to all involved.
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