In Autism, Hope at Any Age

By Susan Senator

What does last month’s news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — that autism incidence is now 1 in 150– mean to me, a mother of a 17-year-old severely autistic boy?

Unfortunately, almost nothing. Likewise the federal Combating Autism Act signed into law in December. That is because the act and most other autism awareness news focus largely on young autistic children, not older people such as my son. And while I am happy for the families that will benefit from the attention to increasing autism incidence and the influx of early-intervention money that all this new awareness is bringing, there is very little here that will help my son get what he vitally needs: support for independent living.

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[added March 19, 2007]