Trump puts autistic kids in the spotlight and cuts agencies built to protect them
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At Chain of Lakes Elementary School in Winter Haven, Florida, Josette Smith's 9-year-old son, Ethan, gets to do what he loves most: crafts, math, and science. That is, when he isn't being pulled out of class.
Ethan has autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He was diagnosed with autism in kindergarten after displaying behavior that concerned his relatives: He paced, flapped his arms, and became consumed with highly specific interests, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and dachshunds.
Continue reading at CBS News →Quoted in This Article
“This administration is taking us backwards,”
“emphasized the need for increased research into environmental factors contributing to the rise in autism diagnoses, not to stigmatize individuals with autism or their families.”
“On paper, it's a reorganization,”
“If we're cutting any data collection that helps us understand the problem, we're not going to fix it,”
“bring decades of experience in autism research and clinical care”
“All of it creates chaos where chaos is not necessary,”
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