"in order to continue meeting the needs of people with autism, the Combating Autism Act
must be fully reauthorized. We still have a long way to go. Working collaboratively with
important partners, the Affordable Care Act and the Combating Autism Act will allow
us to research and develop and refine vital treatments
Autism is a severe and limiting medical disorder for which treatments and cures must be found through solid, focused research. Autism is a disorder which should be combated so that those who suffer from it can live fuller, more independent, lives. Here in Canada we do not have a serious, focused national autism strategy or recognition of the need for a national effort to combat autism disorders. We are lucky that our neighbors in the US have had the good sense and determination to try and address and combat autism disorders through research efforts under the Combating Autism Act.
important partners, the Affordable Care Act and the Combating Autism Act will allow
us to research and develop and refine vital treatments
Kathleen Sebelius, US Secretary of Health and Human Services, April 25, 2011
Autism is a severe and limiting medical disorder for which treatments and cures must be found through solid, focused research. Autism is a disorder which should be combated so that those who suffer from it can live fuller, more independent, lives. Here in Canada we do not have a serious, focused national autism strategy or recognition of the need for a national effort to combat autism disorders. We are lucky that our neighbors in the US have had the good sense and determination to try and address and combat autism disorders through research efforts under the Combating Autism Act.
This Canadian thinks of many things when I think of the USA. Some of these things are negative. Most are positive, very positive. I think of our neighbors as confident, freedom loving people who constantly seek to better themselves. I think of Americans as people with strong commitments to family. I think of Americans as people who are afraid of no challenge as amply demonstrated by the audacious and successful commitment by former President John F. Kennedy to put men on the moon by the end of the 1960's. Autism is a serious disorder which impairs and restricts the lives of those who suffer from it. The continued efforts in the US, under the provisions of the Combating Autism Act, have helped direct research toward understanding and finding treatments and cures for autism. It is of great importance for everyone affected by the serious challenges of autism, including Canadians, that those efforts, and the Combating Autism Act, continue.
This Canadian father with a severely autistic son says thank you to our American friends for the efforts made under the Combating Autism Act. I hope you decide to continue this important undertaking. It may not be as glamorous as putting men on the moon but, for many affected by autism and their families, it is of fundamental importance.
2 comments:
I've been reading your blog for awhile, and I'm reassured to see another parent who has the same concerns and struggles that I do. I have two children on the spectrum and worry constantly about what will happen to them when they reach adulthood.
I LOVE Dr. Sebelius and the Obama administration for making autism research and affordable care a priority! Our children need a lot of services and if we didn't have decent insurance we'd never be able to afford it. I am horrified to think what is happening with families who don't have resources available to them.
Actually the combating autism act is a sham, as anti-cure autistics Stephen Shore and Ari Ne'eman can be appointed as public members of the IACC. Ironically, Ne'eman is now opposing a federal law of which he has been a beneficiary of, using the tax dollars that it authorized to promote his crazy agenda for autistics. Obama also appointed Ne'eman to the National council of disabilities, though Ne'eman has stated in the past he does not believe autism and asperger's are disabilities.
The federal government also funds Morton Gernsbacher who has accepted money from the CDC, though she does not believe autism is a disease and has stated it is a harmless condition. She has also frequently collaborated with your good friends Laurent Mottron and Michelle Dawson. Some things to think about in your "thanks".
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