Autism, God & the Bible

Much has been going on these past months and I have not posted about autism or autism-related issues. That is certainly not because these are no longer important, or important to me. With all that has been going on with the threat of ISIS, worldwide terrorism, and the ever-increasing loss of a moral compass in the US, I have not focused on autism or aut ism-related issues. But I have remained fully aware of the raging, heated debate in the vaccine controversy, the alarmingly high rate of missing autistic person cases related to wandering, and the hostility to certain organizations for what is seen as their patronizing attitude toward the autism community. Now there is an massive tragedy of historic significance in the country of Nepal that claims an ever-rising death toll of an estimated 4,000. With things like this, it makes what we may face here in the West, especially in the US, minor. I'm talking about objectively speaking, as everyone's own problems feels like the worst problems in the world. I'm not one who likes to throw around the platitude, "People have worse problems than you; count your blessings." Everyone's own life journey is unique.

Is Autism Man-Made?

The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with its variants (Asperger's Syndrome, Pervasive Development Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Nonverbal Autism, and so on) have only been in existence for several decades. Where were people on any end of the autism spectrum at before the diagnosis of ASD was created? They had to be around somewhere; it can't be that all of these people suddenly popped up out of nowhere with the official diagnosis. Back in the 1930's the diagnosis of severe, nonverbal autism did exist but autism was not yet seen as a broad spectrum and those so diagnosed were seen as facing bleak futures. They were sometimes called "changelings" and the condition was called "early infantile autism." There who see autism as a "disease" that only appeared on the scene due to vaccine injuries, see autism as something that has been with us only since the diagnosis of ASD was created. Then there are others of us who see autism not as an alien "disease" but as a neuro-biological condition that has always been with which has only recently been recognized for what it is. Can both sides actually be right or is only one of the sides right? While I know that the vaccine controversy is a very emotional, hot-button issue, studies are indicating that vaccines do not "cause autism." It used to be believed that this was so, but now the cause of autism remains unknown. In that case, then maybe autistic people have always been with us and have just been called other things. In fact, most of them either existed in restrictive settings like institutions or were sent to "special classes" and tightly controlled at home, believing their primary need was physical protection. In my own experience, my own daughter, now 15 and finishing up 9th grade in high school, was originally diagnosed as having "Pervasive Development Disorder" and her diagnosis was switched to "autism spectrum disorder." She is doing very well in school, making good grades and her teachers love her. In my case, when I was growing up, I was labeled many things, and my problems were considered either psychiatric or behavioral in origin. After decades of having no idea "what was wrong with me," I was never able to access as formal diagnosis as an adult until two years ago. The diagnosis came too late to do me any practical good. It only gives an explanation for many of my issues that were blamed on "emotional problems."

Is Autism in the Bible?

I don't know if you read the Bible or not or count yourself a follower of Jesus or not. It is true that there is absolutely nothing in the Bible about autism. But then, the Bible was set in another time and in another culture. It does not contain a word about many other things that we consider important today, because many scientific discoveries had not been made yet. For that matter, cancer was not a diagnosis. The closest I can get is in the New Testament when Jesus healed many people, including those who were considered demon-possessed. While I believe that demon possession is real and probably exists today, I wonder if any of those people counted as "demon-possessed," could have had unknown and undiagnosed conditions like autism, epilepsy, or certain mental illnesses. Though the Bible says nothing about many things we deal with today, including scientific discoveries, it is still relevant to these matters if you believe that God is the Creator of all and the ultimate Author Who inspired men to write the Bible. Of course, if you do not believe these things, there is nothing I can say to convince you otherwise. But it makes little sense to me that autism just showed up on the scene a few decades ago and soon will be "cured" when the cause of this "disease" is found. While I sympathize fully with those who have had negative, painful experiences with being autistic or loving someone who is autistic, I think this "cure" position is a mistaken one.

Following Jesus, the Church & Autism

What are the ramifications for autism and the Christian community? Can autistic people be found in local church fellowships? How do they see God and their place in the Christian community? In my experience, the few autistic people who have been reached and are part of local church fellowships, are those with more severe, nonverbal autism. Many families with autistic loved ones, like many people with other disabilities, simply do not feel welcome in our church fellowships. Usually this is not because of malice but because Pastors and church leaderships do not know how to set up their fellowships to welcome disabled individuals, much less assimilate them into the life of their congregations. I have seldom seen it happen; there are very few books on the Christian market about autism or other disabilities. The rare ones that exist are never written directly to disabled individuals, but to church fellowships or to parents. I know that this is not the fault of Christian retailers but it shows how the Christian community has neglected those with autism and other related disabilities. I know that Joni Earackson Tada, totally paralyzed and an outstanding Christian leader in the field of disabilities, has done much to bring awareness to severe and physical disabilities. She has touched countless lives in that community. But much still needs to be done to reach and welcome those with autism and other, related, invisible disabilities. What does all this tell those of us who love people with autism or related disabilities, or who live with these ourselves? Nothing good. I see very few autistic teens or adults in the Christian community. They do not feel welcome. They are aware that the Church values non-autistic behaviors like eye contact and social interaction and know that these are considered very important in the lives that the Church and in the teachings of Jesus. And so the autism community is largely unreached and even those who love and follow Jesus do not want to do so within the context of local church fellowships. If you read the Bible, especially the New Testament, you find no verses that command us to "go to church." It is true that followers of Jesus are to meet with each other, worship together and serve God together. This does not mean that we always need building to meet, for meeting can be done anywhere. In any case, autistic people seem to generally feel like outcasts and outsiders to the Church and often sympathize with the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,Transgender) community. I have often seen this. It is unfortunate. If you read your Bible, you read in the Goepels that Jesus hang around with misfits and outcasts, not just to welcome them but to call them to repentance and to lives of blessedness. If you are a member of the autism or larger disability community, I encourage you to get a Bible and start with the Gospel of Luke, to see how Jesus dealt with people.

Please sign my autism petition at Change.org.

A New Open Letter To the Autism Community

To all parents of children with diagnosed or suspected autism, autistic individuals, diagnosed or self-diagnosed, autism professionals and autism specialists:

I realize that I'm writing to a people group who share one thing in common, that you have contact with the condition we call autism, in one form or another. That is true whatever your political views, your religious beliefs, your lifestyle, your stance on vaccines, the cause (s) of autism, whether it is a disease to be cured or a difference to be celebrated, whether autistic children should be taught to "fit in" to accommodate themselves to society or society should be expected to accept autistic people exactly as they are. I have a wide variety of you in my networks.

I know that many of you have created and maintain blogspots, many of you have set up Facebook profiles or pages, many of you are writing books, and some of you have set up autism nonprofits. I know that you all have another thing in common, whatever your connection with autism. You want autism services to be available to all people who need them, regardless of their ability to pay. I know you do because I have read many of your blogs and some of your books. I have seen many Facebook posts. We know that many people remain underserved or unserved. Yes, there are fine nonprofits that seek to fill the needs of a number of these. But I notice that almost all of them have been set up to serve autistic children, and they tend to be underfunded. Adults? Services are mostly nonexistent if you are an adult who wants to get checked out to see if you are autistic or want autism services for yourself.

When I use the word autism, I mean all levels of function, from those who are nonverbal and classically autistic, to those who are verbal and are (for want of a better word) higher-functioning. Yes, I know that level of function has little to do with intelligence when it comes to this population. You all know this but most outside our community don't know this. They also don't know that every autistic person's autism is different and unique from every other person's autism. But we know this and I'm including this here for the benefit of those who don't have any known connections with autism, are if they do, remain uneducated about it. We also share in common that we are disturbed at the alarming high rate of autistic children and sometimes autistic adults, who go missing because of wandering. We also share in common our sadness and anger at the way so many in society continue to misunderstand, mistreat, and abuse autistic children and adults.

Many of you are in my networks, especially on Facebook. I have had bad experiences with some of you, usually due to misunderstandings and conflicts that never were resolved. I know that so many of you have been officially diagnosed, some of you who have children who are autistic also. You know that I have never claimed to be anything but self-diagnosed, as I have never had access to an affordable but qualified autism professional who can give a screening leading to a diagnosis. I know that some of you who are diagnosed and many parents with autistic children, frown on people like me and view me as a fraud or imposter of sorts. I know this because of comments made. I had made an appointment for an autism screening about eight months ago and I plan to go to this screening in a couple of weeks. The autism screening is a four-hour round trip, but it is the only one that my insurance covers. No, I don't know if I will end up with the autism diagnosis, another diagnosis, or no diagnosis at all.

Whatever happens as a result of that autism screening, I will stay a member of the autism community. I have a daughter with autism and she is 13, in the 8th grade, in middle school, and active in her church youth group. Without her, I would never have gotten educated about autism, identified myself as possibly sharing her condition, and I would never have started an autism petition to get government funding for universal autism services. My signature is high enough that the US government won't get these signatures until long after this shutdown and when we have another US President. In the meantime, I am still collecting signatures and I need every one of you in the US and at least age 13 (minimum age to sign at Change.org), to sign this petition and to share it. Since I have links to the petition all over this blog, sharing this BlogSpot is sharing the petition. Will you click here to sign?

Autism Affects Us All: You Can Support The Petition For Autism Services

This week, when I was scrolling through my Facebook Newsfeed, a post streamed through. It stated, "I am going to defriend anyone in my social network who has anything to do with autism." Puzzled, hurt and rather angry, several people and I posted in the comments area, "Why?" Later, the person curtly responded, "I do not have to answer your question." Minutes later, a person in my network who is closely associated with autism, posted graciously, "You can keep me. I will not force any opinions." This all got me thinking. I wonder if this person who posted about wanting to remove the profiles of all those linked with autism has seen so much of the bullying and encountered the infighting and factions that are rampant in the autism community. I wonder. Certainly there are many in my network who have never shown any form of association with autism. I know that ignorance is the main reason people hold bad attitudes about autism. But another reason, I daresay, is because of the factions and bullying in the autism community. And I know that our US Congress, who are, after all, from us, also hold poor attitudes. We all know that autism services are desperately needed by underserved people of all ages who do not have high incomes or proper insurance. Most supporters of this community also know this. Autism Speaks has launched an autism petition on their own platform, which got hundreds of thousands of signatures. I do not see that it has gotten Congressional or Presidential attention or has made any difference. Another national autism nonprofit has launched an autism petition on Causes. I don't see that it has made any difference. I wonder if it is because of the federal budget and I'm sure that has much to do with Congress's failure to do anything about funding autism services.

There is my petition, which as I write this, seems to have stalled as far as gathering signatures is concerned. Though this saddens me somewhat, there are explanations. First of all, the plain ignorance that is rampant still. The bullying and factions in the autism community itself. People's getting turned off by what often goes on in this community. I know people have their own reasons for not signing which I may never know. A few have said simply, "I don't sign petitions," and a couple were people in the autism community themselves. I know of people who have told me, frankly, "I do not care about causes." I am sure a person or more refuses to sign simply because of some personal dislike for me. I have no control over other's attitudes, perceptions or behavior. But I do have control over my presentation to ensure that my petition is clear in its mission, which is appealing to the US government to fund autism services in all 50 states, so all who need them can access them. I need to make sure it is easy to access, which is why I have set up a Facebook page for it and create occasional Facebook "events" for its easy sharing. This is why I have a website with the petition on a widget there, so people can sign there without needing a Facebook account to do so. However, Change.org had removed the widget option so my petition is gone from my website and now I have to figure out what to do to get it back on that site. Currently, I'm using my upcoming June 29 birthday as a platform to get support for the petition in the form of "My Birthday Wish: Please Post This On Your Own Timelines."

     We all know that regularly updating your materials, whether you are talking about a website, a Facebook page, a talk show, a crime or a missing persons case, or anything you work on, is crucial and adds greatly to one's credibility. One cannot expect a loyal following if one does not work to keep these supporters "in the loop" about what one does. And so I have applied this not only to my Facebook materials but also to my Change.org petition for autism, to be more inclusive and to spell out to supporters, would-be supporters and to our government, exactly what I would like this petition to do and the sources of the funds which I am requesting. For, when I created it, I was aware that many people would, rightfully, be wondering, "Where are the funds going to come from? Do they even exist? And if so, how would such programs be implemented? And what about services for children and teens that are in danger of being cut in the name of "balancing the budget"? My hope is to go a long way toward answering these questions in this blog. I believe that you will be more motivated to support the petition.

     First of all, where will all the funds I call for come from? They must come from somewhere. First of all, it has been brought to my attention that fund had been set aside for services for autism, and, to this day, this legislation for autism has not yet been fully funded. Let me provide some history, according to Wikipedia. On December 19, 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law the Combating Autism Act of 2006. This bill was meant to provide a package of research services and diagnostic services for children and to detect autism in toddlers, among other services. The funds for these services were never appropriated, though. On September 30, 2011, President Obama added his signature to the Combating Autism Re-Authorization Act of 2011 (H. R. 2005). You can read the text for this, in pdf format, here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr2005ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr2005ih.pdf. There were $231 million that were supposed to be appropriated for different autism efforts. However, even though the Combating Autism Act was re-authorized, to this day, it has not been fully funded, according to Politifact, a website full of "fact-checking" information about politicians and legislation (http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/82/fully-fund-the-combating-autism-act-and-federal-au/. Therefore, my petition calls for these $231 million. already set aside for autism, to fully fund, and appropriate, the services that they were meant to fund in the first place. For this reason, my petition has become more inclusive and, because of the unfunded autism legislation, my petition calls for the protection of those services that are me

     We all know that regularly updating your materials, whether you are talking about a website, a Facebook page, a talk show, a crime or a missing persons case, or anything you work on, is crucial and adds greatly to one's credibility. One cannot expect a loyal following if one does not work to keep these supporters "in the loop" about what one does. And so I have applied this not only to my Facebook materials but also to my Change.org petition for autism, to be more inclusive and to spell out to supporters, would-be supporters and to our government, exactly what I would like this petition to do and the sources of the funds which I am requesting. For, when I created it, I was aware that many people would, rightfully, be wondering, "Where are the funds going to come from? Do they even exist? And if so, how would such programs be implemented? And what about services for children and teens that are in danger of being cut in the name of "balancing the budget"? My hope is to go a long way toward answering these questions in this blog. I believe that you will be more motivated to support the petition.

     First of all, where will all the funds I call for come from? They must come from somewhere. First of all, it has been brought to my attention that fund had been set aside for services for autism, and, to this day, this legislation for autism has not yet been fully funded. Let me provide some history, according to Wikipedia. On December 19, 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law the Combating Autism Act of 2006. This bill was meant to provide a package of research services and diagnostic services for children and to detect autism in toddlers, among other services. The funds for thse services were never appropriated, though. On September 30, 2011, President Obama added his signature to the Combating Autism Re-Authorization Act of 2011 (H. R. 2005). You can read the text for this, in pdf format, here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr2005ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr2005ih.pdf. There were $231 million that were supposed to be appropriated for different autism efforts. However, even though the Combating Autism Act was re-authorized, to this day, it has not been fully funded, according to Politifact, a website full of "fact-checking" information about politicians and legislation (http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/82/fully-fund-the-combating-autism-act-and-federal-au/. Therefore, my petition calls for these $231 million. already set aside for autism, to fully fund, and appropriate, the services that they were meant to fund in the first place. For this reason, my petition has become more ant to serve autistic people age 21 and under, also. This makes my petition more inclusive and should attract support from many people, including those who young children who are diagnosed with autism and are NOT thinking in terms of them becoming adults. It should also attract more support from many outside the autism community, who still think only of children when they hear the word "autism." For this reason, I have slightly tweaked my petition title from "1,000,000 People for Better lives For Adults With Autism" to "1,000,000 People For Better Lives For All Persons With Autism." This gives all of you who are reading this, even if you have signed this petition (and I thank you for that!) all the more reason and "ammo" to freely circulate this petition, whether by email, Facebook, Twitter, online chat, other social networks and yes, word-of-mouth, through my shortened URL: http://tiny.cc/mrsahw.

     The mission of my mission has not changed one bit and I still call for all those services for adults with autism, 21 and over, who have little or no access to these services. These services simply do not exist or, if they do, they are typically available through private nonprofits and are unaffordable to most adults. Yes, I'm sure there are exceptions. In my petition, I call for funds to be offered to EXISTING services for those with developmental disabilities who serve those with autism. Typically, such services are directed to children, teens and maybe young adults, to age 21. Sadly, it is like there is no life for any adult with autism who passes the age of 21. Want a diagnosis, if only to find answers about your unusual past? Too bad, because, unless you are fortunate to live in an area where a qualified professional diagnoses adults or have the time and money to go to such a professional, you are basically doomed. You will not know the relief of a diagnosis, a community and possible services. This sad fact also extends to poor and many minority people, children AND adults and I hope that the exclusion of many less-fortunate children can be addressed through the funding of the Combating Autism Re-Authorization Act of 2011. And where would the funds for all the services that I outline would come? Good question! According to an article on the website for the nonprofit, Autism Speaks, there are cuts that are scheduled in January of 2013, and these cuts include services for autism. And, according to the last paragraph of this recent article, $238 million were set aside for autism initiatives. It is unclear what these autism projects were meant to do, and they expired in September 30, 2012, probably because of the Election. In this petition, I call for the re-newal of these expired funds and then I call for these same $238 million to be re-allocated to the services and programs for adults with autism that have been calling from the creation of my petition (http://autismspeaks.org/advocacy/advocacy-news/19-million-risk-new-autism-research). The point of the article was deep concern about upcoming cuts, but I discovered that there are $238 million that, taken together with the $231 million called for in the Combating Autism Re-Authorization Act, means that $469 million do ALREADY EXIST for autism! My petition calls for these existing funds to be re-newed, appropriated and then re-allocated to include the services for adults with autism which I have called for from the beginning.

I have also launched this same petition on SignOn.org, a few months ago. I thought maybe this may be a better platform for the petition than Change.org, though I'm unsure. Even if you are one who has signed the petition at Change.org, you can also sign it at SignOn.org, right here. On SignOn, you need to be in the US and you must be at least age 18 to add your own signatures there. However, with my independent pages and tweets, anyone can pass this petition on, even if you cannot sign it. At SignOn.org, the petition is found at my shortened link: http://tiny.cc/vq5ztw. I shortened it to make it easy to remember and to make it easy to email, tweet and even share word of mouth. Your support in any form is appreciated!

     Yes, I know that, as I write this, the US President Obama is well into his second term.  Congress has been embroiled in budget gridlock and it has not been fully resolved. Many who did not vote for the US President are still reeling from his second Election. I have no way when my desired signature will be reached but it cannot be done by me alone! One person can do very little; it takes many, many people to make a difference and to sway a government to action on matters we care about. I know that, when that happens, the then-sitting President and the then-existing Congress will be the ones who will need to re-new, appropriate and then re-allocate the EXISTING funds mentioned in my petition text, to improve life for ALL people with autism, of all ages, at all levels of function, diagnosed and undiagnosed. Yes, now there are many in Washington and those who had and who still may desire to be in power, who want to make hurtful cuts to EXISTING programs and services across-the-board and autism is only one target of these proposed cuts. And I know that there are controversies over the now-released and published changes in the DSM-5 and this includes the autism diagnosis. However, even with these realities and challenges, we owe it all people with autism and to ourselves, as a society, to try. Autism affects all of us and when a people group remains unwelcome, misunderstood, and underserved, this affects us all.

My petition can be found at the Change.org site and can be found right here. I shortened this link to make it much easier to remember and to share than the original Change.org URL link is. You can also find it here: http://tiny.cc/vq5ztw, on this platform, SignOn. My hope is that, once you have signed this petition, you will share it in email messages, send it or post it on Facebook, tweet it, share it through real-time online chats, and through any other social network at your disposal. And do not leave out the tradional word-of-mouth.

CaringEnoughToMakeADifference You could find my petition on a widget at this site, which is under construction, and it can be signed there. The widget is now gone but plans are underway to get the petition there in another form. There are other, equally important features on this site.

Autism Affects Us All: Please Sign & Keep Sharing the Petition If you are a Facebook user, I recommend that you visit this page, "like" it (so its contents will stream into your Newsfeed), and you will find that my petition should be easily found and shared through this page.