Monday, October 02, 2006

And The Kids Lose -- Again.

What a weekend for children. The Combatting Autism Act (CAA) withered on the vine in the House. Many of us in the autism community were dissatisfied with the CAA anyway , since it had no money research into the environmental triggers for autism (See www.evidenceofharm.com). The men who told my 3 kids and tens of thousands of others to go to hell (as if they aren't already there, the have AUTISM for God's sake) Boehner, Ohio (R), Joe Barton, Texas (R), and Hastert, IL (R).


And for those of you who think autism is just nifty, another way of "being" (the neurodiverse community as they are called) find another blog. When my precious six year old broke her arm and couldn't tell me, when my bright, happy 10 year gets zero party invites, when my affectionate 11 year old can not walk the halls at school with out an aide at her side I FAIL to see the beauty in that. You folks can sit on your asses and accept the diagnosis while you sip latte, I am fighting to make my kids life as full as can be, and that means fighting the autism.

Children with autism get NO health insurance coverage for illnesses related to their autism. Autism is classified as a psychiatric illness, not medical. Also, Speech, OT, PT, ABA therapy (proven to help kids with autism) are NOT covered under insurance either. Parents are going broke caring for their child(ren) with autism. Yours truly included. Private autism schools run about $90,000 a year.

More kids will be diagnosed with autism in 2006 than childhood cancer, diabetes, CF, MD, Spina Bidifida, Downs, luekemia COMBINED. 1 in 166 births today, 1 in 90 boys versus 1 in 10,000 20 year ago. And these kids will require LIFETIME care costing YOU dear reader a boatload of money over the the next 75+ years.

Then there's that charming chap in Florida, Foley (R) who resigned after having sent inappropriate emails to an underage page. A predator on the committee to protect children from child molestation. Perhaps the Pope with give him a position in the Vatican like our pal from Boston, Cardinal Law?

It's Yom Kippur, think any one who SHOULD WILL atone?

More reasons to get my book published. There's a message in them thar pages, people. Now, to find the agent will will decode that.

Shalom, friends.

9 comments:

TJ Brown said...

Great post, Kim.
Teri

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Thanks. I don't plan to get political on this blog - there are plenty of poliblogs out there. But today? Well, just a bit too much to bear.

K

Trish Ryan said...

I'm so sorry to hear about this, Kim. Politics is insufferably frustrating, especially when the stakes are so high. I'm excited about how your book can get this information out in a completely different way. Keep it in circulation, it WILL find a home!

:)

Stacy said...

Wow, that entry was full of everything I don't know about autism. (Admittedly, it is completely amazing how many things I don't know, but I have a feeling the average person would also believe that autism-related treatments would be covered by insurance.) $90,000 to send your child to a school that understands autism? That's only double the income of the average American.

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Yup. Which is why I'm hoping for a very very very very nice deal on Publishers Marketplace! :)

Anonymous said...

robyn -
a wonderful book to pass on to your pregnant friends is called "What Your Doctors Won't Tell You About Vaccinations"

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Robin, Dr. Cave (the author) is a hero, isn't she? How do you broach that awkward moment of "I know you're having a baby, the happiest moment of your life, but did you know that your pediatrician is about to inject poison into your newborn?" That book should be in EVERY shower basket given. And I'm NOT anti-vaccination. I'm against the wholesale vaccination of every infant regardless of health status and I'm very much against injecting mercury and formaldehyde and aluminum into humans in general. Flu vaccine still has 25 micrograms. Welcome to my blog.

KS

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Robyn, good for you! Remember the flu vaccine contains 25 micrograms of mercury still. Yes, that's right, 25 micrograms of mercury going into 6 month old babies. "First do no harm?" Also, docs teach Moms to NEVER feed eggs to their babies before the age of one, right? Highly allergic for some people. The flu vaccine is contraindicated for people with egg allergies -- except if you've never fed your baby eggs you don't know if he/she will have a severe reaction. Does your pediatrician tell you all this as you roll up your precious child's sleeve?? No.

And does Grandpa really need a dose of mercury every fall? How's that Alzheimer's doing gramps?

Stephanie Caves book will help you decide which vaccines are really necessary and what sort of dosing schedule to use to help keep your baby as safe as possible.

And NEVER give a shot if your baby has a fever, has had antibiotics within 2 weeks or is on Tylenol. NEVER NEVER NEVER!

Yours in health.

KIM

Laura said...

Kim - I was very angry about this last week! Wait, I'm still angry! I posted a transcript from Don Imus' show on Tuesday -- he was going off on Barton and the rest. Like you, I try not to get too political, but some stuff just pisses me off too much to stay quiet!

The flu shots are such a crock - well-hyped, though. I don't think I've ever had the flu, but I fell for the hype during my first pregnancy and when my son with autism was a toddler. Yep, we both got our fair share of mercury. Lucky us. Now I've wised up and have a vax free and, strangely enough, NT younger son. Which is good, because now we only have to pay for one son's ABA therapy, various medical tests and supplements, and drs. appointments that are new and "experimental", so generally not covered by insurance. I'm glad we have good insurance that covers the speech and OT, but we've spent so much out of pocket! Can we get a credit for not having the kids vaccinated - we're saving money on that AND our kids' health, but don't think most doctors would go for that. Goes against the brainwashing.