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Who Will Care for Children With Autism When They're Adults?
Yahoo News ^ | August 23 | Serena Gordon

Posted on 08/23/2013 4:37:36 PM PDT by Idaho_Cowboy

FRIDAY, Aug. 23 (HealthDay News) -- The vast majority of youngsters with autism will grow up to be adults with autism.

An estimated one of every 88 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That means that 45,000 to 50,000 kids with autism turn 18 each year, says autism researcher Paul Shattuck, from Washington University in St. Louis.

"This is an impending health care or community care crisis," said Dr. Joseph Cubells, director of medical and adult services at the Emory Autism Center at Emory University in Atlanta. "The services that are available vary from state to state, but often the resources just aren't there."

Public schools are required to provide services to people with an autism spectrum disorder until they reach age 22, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. After that, the responsibility shifts to the person with autism and family members to find educational or employment opportunities and appropriate living arrangements.

But experts note that a shortage of necessary programs for adults with autism already exists and is likely to worsen as the increasing number of children who are being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders grow into adults.

(Excerpt) Read more at health.yahoo.net ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
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To: PistolPaknMama

yes, there has been a big argument over just your point, whether certain vaccinations may lead to autism

i do not know enough to answer that question but it has been raised several times ...such as by parents objecting to state-forced shots being put into their children


61 posted on 08/23/2013 6:58:18 PM PDT by faithhopecharity (E)
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To: faithhopecharity
The school I went to had it's own Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy Departments, plus LCSW's to help the kids cope. The teachers? They were saints. They were true Special Education Teachers with the actual gift to be such. Some were likely there when it opened and they had a special talent in being able to reach many kids on different levels. They could take a kid in a Manic Rage and in minutes have them calm. I know one kid it was an everyday thing with him in that respect.

Believe it or not the school in size was about the size of a typical elementary school. The building is still there but it's a Senior Citizens Center now and county offices.

The kids with disabilities in today mainstreamed schools are not getting the help they will need to succeed later to the best of their abilities. It can mean the difference between independence or institution for some. In short Mainstreaming some kids who otherwise could have been helped in Special Education schools set up for such is simply a daycare program. It does the child, the classmates, the taxpayers, and teachers, a disservice.

The help I got allowed for me to work until age 37 as well as do four years active duty and a national guard enlistment after that. Education wise I'm a high school grad with two Voc/Tech courses afterward. I specialized in HVAC and Commercial wiring. I worked in health care facilities in maintenance and boiler operations. Without it? I may not have made it out of high school.

My time in the school also gave me a very different outlook on persons with disabilities. Kids confined to wheelchairs became my friends along with kids with many other issues. You learn that there is a person there.

Most important was it readied me for events that I would face when I was 27 and my girl friend at the time became a quadriplegic one afternoon when we were on a date. We're now about three months shy of our 28th wedding anniversary LOL.

Looking back I think I got a good well rounded education. I may no longer be able to hold a paying job but I still pull my weight. I'm a skilled caregiver to my wife and soon likely my mother as well. I did my dad's Home Hospice and I am the one Memory Care calls when Sis falls etc and they need family there. I check in on her at least twice a week.

62 posted on 08/23/2013 7:19:42 PM PDT by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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To: Black Agnes
Who’s been taking care of them before now?

Part of the problem is increasing social isolation, which is in turn driven by the erosion of extended families and the shift of population to ever-larger cities. Small town, neighborhood, and family networks used to provide most of the support. They still do, where they still exist, but that has become a sometimes thing.

I have an autistic nephew. I don't know where he ranks on the scale; he expresses himself well and is a great reader on a very narrow range of random subjects that trigger his interest. But has severe social liabilities and cannot handle strangers, crowds, noises, or surprises, etc. He will never drive. He is managing for himself in a small apartment where he can walk everywhere, and is working steadily in a sheltered job environment. He is a fine young man with a serious handicap, sensitive about but accepting of his condition, and trapped. His parents live nearby and keep an eagle eye out; the apartment is a recent development, and has been positive all around.

It's a tough situation. When the parents pass, all bets are off unless the older siblings or another relative steps in. This is in a small city where the pace of life is not overwhelming; I cannot imagine managing something like this in a major metro area where one is totally car dependent and both parents work.

63 posted on 08/23/2013 7:21:45 PM PDT by sphinx
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To: LadyDoc
As for Alzheimer’s: That used to be called senility. In the “good old days” usually the oldest daughter sacrificed her life to care for her aging parents.

Yep.

People don't understand when they talk about "family used to care for family" what that actually meant.

Usually a daughter would be chosen to be a "comfort" to her parents. She was not allowed to have suitors or even attend many parties. She was to be the unpaid nurse and maid for her parents until they died. Then she would generally be forced to go live with one of her married siblings where she would be the unpaid nurse and maid to them and their children.

It was an unpleasant life.

There are certain customs we should leave in the past and that is one of them.

64 posted on 08/23/2013 7:26:30 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Revenge is a dish best served with pinto beans and muffins)
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To: faithhopecharity
yes, there has been a big argument over just your point, whether certain vaccinations may lead to autism i do not know enough to answer that question but it has been raised several times ...such as by parents objecting to state-forced shots being put into their children

I think there is too big a rush to get shots in kids and yea some will be harmed. The push is for getting kids ready for Pre-K and minimal days missed. IOW Funding Driven.

I saw something last month that reminded me of what shots can do. We took my wife's dog for her annual shots including the Three in One. As with last years shots this year the dog got deathly sick. The Vet was still reluctant to place any connection to the shots. Next year the shots get spaced considerably apart or we find another Vet.

That said about shots I take allergy shots on a regular basis for pollens, mold, etc. They do help but I also have to sit there 20 minutes afterward just in case i go into shock.

65 posted on 08/23/2013 7:27:15 PM PDT by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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To: Idaho_Cowboy

Their families, of course, same as always.....no, wait - the gubmint has destroyed the family. I guess you can drop them off at Sebelius’ house.


66 posted on 08/23/2013 7:29:38 PM PDT by Some Fat Guy in L.A. (Still bitterly clinging to rational thought despite it's unfashionability)
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To: cva66snipe

your life story is exactly on point, thanks so very much, because I greatly support our giving a whole lot of help to the kids who need it

having said that,
I am concerned that we are SOMEHOW or other causing, or letting some sort of environmental or food chain thing... increase the incidence of some of these problems, both in kids and the elderly.

I cant prove it. It just seems likely. After all, we do have a lot of new things in our food chain and in our environment these days, or things that are there in much greater quantities or concentrations

we will eventually learn more....


67 posted on 08/23/2013 7:32:22 PM PDT by faithhopecharity (E)
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To: sphinx
crowds, noises, or surprises, etc

I can relate to that. Certain sounds or noises, crowded rooms even with family talking or a sudden surprise like the phone ringing while I'm posting set me off. For some reason I have seizures from this type of events that hit my upper torso like a bucket of ice water or a cattle prod. I spasm violently from my shoulder up. On a bad day in a bad environment as many as several seizures a minute. On a good day at home sometimes none. I'm at over 50% hearing loss so sometimes taking my hearing aids out helps.

If I don't stop them fast I'm physically and mentally exhausted for the rest of the day. I do take medication to control it somewhat but it makes shopping difficult. That usually gets done at night.

I still drive and will do so until it moves into my arms or my sensory system makes doing so unsafe. First experience with this had me on the interstate no knowing where I was, where I was going, why, how long, etc. I drove the darn stretch regularly. I can now head that off long before it gets to that point with medication.

68 posted on 08/23/2013 7:39:20 PM PDT by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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To: BenLurkin

Many children who would have been classified as retarded 60 years ago are called autistic today.
Many children with below average IQ and poor social skills are classified on the “autism spectrum”, qualifying them for extra services and money but inflating the incidence of “autism”.
The rise of autism is not a pandemic of a new neurological disorder but a matter of classification.


69 posted on 08/23/2013 8:09:42 PM PDT by tbw2
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To: Black Agnes
Anyone who sees the head banging, drooling diaper wearing severe autistics would never confuse them with ‘retarded’ kids from the past.

I guess you have answered my question about autism. There's a boy in our church who is autistic, he's about 14 years old and the only problem I have observed that he has, is that he cannot stay still. When seated, his head is constantly moving in a manner as if he is shaking his head no, sometimes his whole upper body is swaying. When standing he is prone to turn his whole body in circles, I get dizzy just looking at him and don't understand how he can maintain his balance. Seems like a nice kid and nobody thinks his actions are disruptive at all.

70 posted on 08/23/2013 10:01:41 PM PDT by Graybeard58 (_.. ._. .. _. _._ __ ___ ._. . ___ ..._ ._ ._.. _ .. _. .)
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To: Menehune56
However, this article seems to say that autism of some kind affects 12% of kids? That does sound awfully high!

Yes, that would be high but it doesn't say "12%", it says:

An estimated one of every 88 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder

That's a little over 01%.

71 posted on 08/23/2013 10:07:10 PM PDT by Graybeard58 (_.. ._. .. _. _._ __ ___ ._. . ___ ..._ ._ ._.. _ .. _. .)
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To: Graybeard58

And many of those are only slightly affected

As a matter of fact I know people who seem a bit “off” but are almost normal otherwise. I usually chalk it up to the culture, but some of them could be slightly autistic, it make sense.


72 posted on 08/23/2013 10:09:18 PM PDT by GeronL
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To: Morgana

Baby was fine. Mother has Munchausen syndrome by proxy.


73 posted on 08/24/2013 4:48:59 AM PDT by La Lydia
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To: Black Agnes

Their families, God willing.


74 posted on 08/24/2013 5:40:02 AM PDT by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: Idaho_Cowboy

Under Obamacare, “useless feeders” will take a trip to a special happy camp.

Just like in Germany in the 1930s.


75 posted on 08/24/2013 5:41:23 AM PDT by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: Idaho_Cowboy

No one. Once obamacare becomes into full effect, they will cease to exist. Whether they will use the “died of heart failure” reason that the Germans used or not I can’t say. But I do know that under obamacare they will be declared
“not worthy of expending our limited medical resources on”. And I also know that the sob was put into the White House by a large segment of the “youth vote”. Self hating Whites, American haters, Jews, union members, and Blacks accounted for the remainder. All thought that obamacare was the best thing since sliced bread. They are about to reap the seeds that they sowed. let them enjoy the harvest.


76 posted on 08/24/2013 5:54:02 AM PDT by sport
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To: Menehune56

more like 1/88, which = 1.1%

Still a lot of kids, but you are off by an order of magnitude.


77 posted on 08/24/2013 6:12:10 AM PDT by Triple (Socialism denies people the right to the fruits of their labor, and is as abhorrent as slavery)
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To: GeronL

This is the problem...all it takes is for someone to be a little shy, or awkward, or strange, and then everyone is eager to slap a label on them that’ll fast track them to the cattle cars and give everyone who wants to say “But it’s not real!” more ammunition.

Is it real? Yes.

Are many of the cases real? I don’t think so, not when every shy, awkward, slow, or undisciplined kid gets lumped in. IMO this hurts the actual cases because it gives something to point at and deny.

The labels should be kept for the severe cases, not someone who finds it nerve wracking to make small talk with strangers...


78 posted on 08/24/2013 9:57:43 AM PDT by Fire_on_High (RIP City of Heroes and Paragon Studios, victim of the Obamaconomy.)
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