Autism Vox 2008 in Review: May
December 30, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Adulthood, Bike, Diagnosis, Disability Rights, Divorce, Family, Health, Legal Issues, Religion, Science, Stereotypes, Vaccines
Discussion was dominated by two stories, that of 13-year-old Adam Race, against whose parents a priest filed a restraining order, and of 5-year-old Alex Barton, who was voted out of his kindergarden class by his classmates, at the suggestion of his teacher, Wendy Portillo. These two incidents sparked some very heated and often acrimonious exchanges and remind me of why there’s a need to think about autistic persons and the community, in faith communities and all others.
Also: It was reported that there had been 72 cases of measles so far in the US, the highest number since 2001—-and the number would only go up, while misinformation about vaccines continued.
Sometimes it seems that everything, if not anything, could be said to cause autism (and that everything, and anything, has been offered as a “potential treatment for autism”). New tests to detect signs of autism in younger and younger children and, indeed, in babies were reported.
A New Yorker article on neurodiversity provided a simple answer to the question of where are the autistic adults?
And in May of the year when I started learning more and more about employment and housing for autistic adults, Charlie celebrated his 11th birthday–and am I always glad to be Charlie’s mother.
Jeff Stimpson
Jill Cornfield