We went over to Foster's today to hear Terry McAuliffe speak today. He is one of three men running to be the Governor of Virginia. Nice, very articulate and personable. He was so on-topic with his message about bringing jobs into Virginia to improve the economy that he didn't really answer the question I posed on autism. (I don't think I posed it well - I get so nervous talking in front of big groups and having all eyes on me. Heck, being on camera at school board meetings, I have a recurring nightmare about saying something stupid or picking my nose on TV!) Yes, it is a big question when you are asking about health care and education in the same sentence, but I kind of felt blown off a bit. I think you need a broader focus. Given where he is coming from, working for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, knowing their progressive platforms on autism during the 2008 presidential campaign, my expectations were clearly higher. He said at the beginning that he would answer questions and you might not like his answers. When I left, that's kind of what I thought... I just didn't like his answer. But as I have worked around the house today and cooked and pondered, I think I just didn't get one.
It's not that I don't get that things are bad - I probably get it better than most people. But I look at my son and his classmates, the kids I have met at the Matthew's Centers, my friends who have had kids diagnosed... Some kids with autism will go on to live fairly normal lives. I think the majority, unless their therapeutic needs are addressed by the medical community, if there isn't study into better treatments, if educational initiatives aren't fully funded - the majority have no or an extremely limited future. Do the math. In 2006, there were 4,265,996 children born in this country. Of those births, 28,459 will be diagnosed with autism. I know that there are differences in birthrates from year to year, but let's assume that number merely stays constant for ten years. That is 284,590 children who will grow up and only a small group of them will be able to hold jobs, live independently, marry, start families. Most will live with their families or institutions because there is no place for them in this world. It's a situation that is just unacceptable.
Anyway, didn't win my vote. Didn't lose it either. I am still out there. I am looking forward to meeting Brian Moran and Creigh Deeds during the campaign season to see what they are like and making my primary decision.
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