With national health care reform in the limelight, many of us in the "Autism loop" have been receiving emails from organizations asking us to sign petitions, send messages, and phone representatives to insure that proven autism therapies are part of the discussion. Currently, only 14 states require insurance companies to cover ABA therapy for those with Autism Spectrum Disorders, and I firmly believe that requirement should be part of any Federal program.
As you sign those petitions, send those messages, phone your representatives, and forward those emails I would like you to consider adding some version of the following:
"Guaranteed insurance coverage of proven therapies, most notably ABA therapy, may additionally help discourage individuals from seeking cheaper "alternative" therapies. Not only do these sham therapies offer no documented benefit, many are dangerous and clearly unethical. Two increasingly popular "therapies" are of particular concern - chemical castration, which is not only a direct assault on human rights and dignity but also carries a range of serious side effects and chelation therapy, which is both scientifically inappropriate for the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders and potentially fatal.
Please insure that all individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders have access to proven therapies by helping to relieve the financial burden they carry, and in doing so, marginalize the spread of dangerous "alternative" therapies which threaten lives and provide nothing but false hope to desperate families."
Perhaps highlighting the dangers of excluding coverage will be the kick in the ass they need. Beside - it never hurts to plant a seed of knowledge in this woo-filled world.
Showing posts with label Autism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Autism. Show all posts
Friday, July 17, 2009
Friday, October 17, 2008
When did pro-choice become anti-special needs?
I was planning on calling it quits for the day, heading off to my game night and then home to rest up for tomorrow's 24 Hour Comic Challenge when I decided to glance through my blog list one last time.
Once again, as has happened so often in the last few weeks, I was confronted with the notion that Sarah Palin is a shining example of a brave woman spitting in the face of a heartless "pro-abortion" culture and refusing to kill her child because he was imperfect. Trig isn't merely a baby with Downs Syndrome you see. He's apparently a righteous stake in the heart of an abortion industry that wants desperately to see that children like him are destroyed before they take their first breath.
Uh-hem.
I am pro-choice. (That's "pro-abortion" to use McCain/Palin speak.)
I am also the mother of a child with Classic Autism.
To hear the radical right speak, I would have immediately and without hesitation aborted my son if I had known before his birth that he was Autistic. It would have been the only logical option my sin bathed mind could have processed.
Oddly enough, nothing could be farther from the truth. I won't say there is no scenario in which I might have chosen to abort my son, or my daughter for that matter... say, a foetus presenting with it's organs on the outside of it's body, or some other gross malformation that would have made the baby's survival unlikely and it's short life filled with pain. I will say, however, that a developmental disorder diagnosed prior to birth - such as Autism or Downs Syndrome - would have sent me rushing to medical sites to learn all I could about available therapies, not an abortionists office.
As with so many other trigger topics, I suspect the Pro-Life movement is simply resorting to mental masturbation and using Sarah's "brave choice" as a stimulus. I can't help but think, however, that there are thousands of mothers like me - pro-choice and happily raising special needs children - that not only see though this pitiful display of disingenuous piety, but find themselves offended both mentally and maternally.
Once again, as has happened so often in the last few weeks, I was confronted with the notion that Sarah Palin is a shining example of a brave woman spitting in the face of a heartless "pro-abortion" culture and refusing to kill her child because he was imperfect. Trig isn't merely a baby with Downs Syndrome you see. He's apparently a righteous stake in the heart of an abortion industry that wants desperately to see that children like him are destroyed before they take their first breath.
Uh-hem.
I am pro-choice. (That's "pro-abortion" to use McCain/Palin speak.)
I am also the mother of a child with Classic Autism.
To hear the radical right speak, I would have immediately and without hesitation aborted my son if I had known before his birth that he was Autistic. It would have been the only logical option my sin bathed mind could have processed.
Oddly enough, nothing could be farther from the truth. I won't say there is no scenario in which I might have chosen to abort my son, or my daughter for that matter... say, a foetus presenting with it's organs on the outside of it's body, or some other gross malformation that would have made the baby's survival unlikely and it's short life filled with pain. I will say, however, that a developmental disorder diagnosed prior to birth - such as Autism or Downs Syndrome - would have sent me rushing to medical sites to learn all I could about available therapies, not an abortionists office.
As with so many other trigger topics, I suspect the Pro-Life movement is simply resorting to mental masturbation and using Sarah's "brave choice" as a stimulus. I can't help but think, however, that there are thousands of mothers like me - pro-choice and happily raising special needs children - that not only see though this pitiful display of disingenuous piety, but find themselves offended both mentally and maternally.