DRISCOLL/O'HANLON: The Pentagon and autism

Many thanks to Kathleen Driscoll for her excellent article "The Pentagon and Autism." The United States of America has always been called upon to defend the weak and suppressed around the world. No small surprise that “...retired U.S. Navy admiral and Rep. Joe Sestak, Penn. led the charge in successfully passing legislation to increase funding of Applied Behavior Analysis...” to a more realistic $5000 per month for our military children. Members of Congress now have a critical and prime opportunity to continue the Battle against Autism. This cruel enemy wreaks havoc upon its innocent and vulnerable victims-children. I urge Congress to provide the necessary legislation to further enhance and accelerate access to critical and much needed therapies. Consider these therapies as Weapons of Mass Destruction in decimating the dark enemy, Autism. As a parent of a child diagnosed within the Autistic Spectrum, I often feel alone on the front line in my never ending battle for additional services. Fortunately, I was raised by a Marine Gunnery Sergeant and am known to never back down in my quest for justice and services for my son, Patrick. In closing I will share a few simple and inspirational words that I live by from an old article entitled “Lessons From Parris Island.” Author unknown. Lessons From Parris Island *Tell the Truth *Choose the difficult right over the easy wrong *Look out for the group before you look out for yourself *Don’t whine of make excuses Members of Congress, I urge you to reflect upon the “Lessons From Parris Island” daily in the pursuit of justice. Do the right thing and seize the “golden moment.” Providing legislation needed to fight the good fight against the devastating effects of Autism

How intersting that Triless pays for surrogate pregnancies (i.e military wives become surrogate mothers) BUT will not provide good cover for autism: "TRICARE, is one of the few health care insurers nationwide that doesn't ban coverage for surrogate pregnancies. By hiring a woman with TRICARE benefits, intended parents avoid paying about $20,000 for a standard surrogacy medical policy. They also dodge deductibles and co-payments.

RE: The Pentagon and Autism… a shock-and-awe approach to autism treatment with a high likelihood of success Dear Editor: Autism is clearly an equal opportunity disorder, so it is no surprise that 1 child in 150 among military families is also affected. Bravo to Karen Driscoll and Michael O’Hanlon for making the public aware of this, and of the Pentagon’s “shock-and-awe” approach to providing funding for effective treatment. While the price tag for two or three years of treatment seems high, it pales before the estimated $3.2 million lifetime cost per child of autism to society. It is important to emphasize scientific evidence that the earlier the better is key to providing autism treatment, while the brain is still malleable and there is sufficient neuroplasticity. Yet, even with early and effective educational treatments, autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder, and thus never actually “cured.” Most families will face continuing difficulties and need for some services over the lifespan. Let us all hope that the Pentagon’s example ultimately affects greater access to effective services for military and non-military children alike. Jan Blacher, Ph.D. Professor, Graduate School of Education University of California, Riverside Founding Director of SEARCH, Family Autism Resource Center

Paternal age and grandpaternal older age on the mother's side cause a great deal of non-familial autism and other genetic disorders. Military families are also possibly exposed to toxins that damage sperm and eggs. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23849196-5000117,00.html

As a military wife and parent of an Asperger child (on the autism spectrum), I am encouraged by any recognition and support of early diagnosis and intervention. Our son is one of the "success" stories from layered services (OT, Speech, Special Day classes, RSP). He has been in a regular ed. class the last two years and made great strides in normal social relationships. This aside, he is not "normal". Parents must be advocates and it can be a lonely day-in-day-out process. Cheers to the authors for championing the cause of thousands of children and their families. Jill Harris, Ph.D University of Redlands School of Business Author of "ZigZagStraight: An Asperger Adventure"

Here are some of my pesonal notes on the very well-written article by Karen Driscoll and Michael O'Hanlon based on my family's experience with autism. Autism is a family affair and it affects every member of the household. My daughter’s son on average receives 2-3 hours of therapy per week, far less than we feel is necessary to show real improvement/progress. Therapy costs money and a significant number of families with autistic children do NOT have the financial resources to pay for the therapy their child/children need. The treatment for autism needs to involve the entire family to include education, training, and counseling/support services. A single parent of an autistic child without considerable family and community support stands little chance of successfully raising an autistic child to become a self-sufficient adult. We can pay now, or we can pay later. Representative Sestak understands this and I am grateful for the actions he is taking to help.