HappyChucks   For Families Navigating the Autism Waters

Something happened this weekend that was so great, so exciting, so unfathomable not too long ago, that I had to share...

You see, for most of his life, Calvin's been a "bolter." When he was younger he pegged the needle on the ADHD sliding scale, and staying in one place was not something he could do. When you couple that with an irresistible urge to follow any given impulse with complete gusto and reckless abandon, you get a bolter.

We've chased Calving through shopping malls, grocery stores, parks, doctors offices, Target (on too many occasions), and even a parking lot (only once – but that's because we're paranoid about it!) Over the last couple of years Calvin has gained better control over his body, and he's become more of a wanderer than a bolter, but we are still very aware of our surroundings at all time.

Yesterday Calvin & I went to Home Depot to buy a few things. He drove the cart for me (80% independently), helped me pay for our stuff, and drove the cart out to our car. We opened the back of the van to load our bags, when Calvin casually took a few steps away. There weren't any cars around, so I gave him some leeway, although I was ready to sprint after him. He walked down the driver's side of the van, around the front, and opened the passenger door. He climbed in, sat down, and closed the door behind him! Then he looked back over his other shoulder to see me, and gave me a huge, proud-of-himself, smile. It was awesome – a highlight I'll keep in my "best of" memories for a long time...

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Last month I wrote about the Arizona Autism Insurance Bill (Steven's Law) passing the Senate's Health & Appropriations Committee by unanimous vote. Last week the bill passed the House, and this week the Senate followed suit. All that remains is for the governor to sign the bill into law, and we will have insurance coverage for everyone on the autism spectrum – cue the trumpets and the ticker-tape parade to start the party. Well, maybe it's not quite that easy...

Since this looks like it's destined to become a reality, I wanted to talk about some of the positive effects we'll see from Steven's Law, as well as some possible unintended consequences. These thoughts aren't in any particular order – more of a stream of consciousness writing.

Full disclosure: I'm a free-market capitalist, with an undergrad degree in finance and a master's degree in business administration. I left a job with a Fortune 500 company to go into business for myself, where my family's well being depends 100% on my ability to provide recognized value in an industry where many are seen as commodities (one no different from another.) The point is I don't generally agree with government regulation of private business, unless not doing so would cause the public great harm.

Who's covered? People who work for companies with more than 50 employees. Unfortunately Arizona has a very high rate of self employed and small businesses; these people will not be covered.

How many people will be affected? I don't know... How many people in Arizona with children on the autism spectrum work for larger companies? It has to be a fairly significant number, otherwise the law would be virtually useless. But how many actually – 2,500 families? 10,000? 25,000? The larger the number, the more effect it will have on some of my other points.

Earlier diagnoses. We all know how important early diagnosis is, and this law will help facilitate earlier diagnosis and intervention for many families.

Long-term decrease in the State's burden. More kids getting more treatment, and higher quality treatment, at earlier ages, should lead to higher-functioning adults, on average & in theory. Whether these adults are mainstreamed into the productive fabric of society or they still need help with daily living skills (and everywhere in between), a higher functioning population will require less state-provided care over the 60+ years of our kids' adult lives.

Increased Insurance Rates for all. How many families did we say would be covered by insurance mandated through the new law – 2,500 or more? (pulled completely out of thin air – I don't have any supporting documentation.) If each family receives $25,000 per year in benefits, that means the insurance companies are going to pay out $62,500,000 per year! (2,500 families * $25,000 each). This isn't money they were able to plan for by running profitability studies or devising new programs; it's money the government simply mandated they pay out. They are going to seek to recapture some of this lost money, and the best way they have to do that is to have everybody share the pain – higher rates all the way around.

This actually becomes an indirect tax, as the State reduces their financial exposure via DDD by passing the burden to the insurance companies, who then pass the hat to all their policy holders. In effect, everyone with health insurance in Arizona is going to subsidize this program a little bit. It's not really any different from simply increasing the sales tax by a sliver of a percentage point.

Supply & Demand of Therapists. (follow me on this one.)

More people having access to therapy will increase the demand for therapy, which could cause a shortage of therapists, leaving some families without services at all.

The shortage in therapists will allow the providers to raise their rates; some of the increased revenues will be shared with the therapists in the form of higher wages. This will attract more, and higher quality, therapists to Arizona. Some will move from other states, while others will seek out this major in school.

If the inflow of new therapists happens too quickly, it could lead to an oversupply of therapists. This could lead to a class system, where the high-end providers charge the most money and have the highest quality therapists (and serve the wealthy and the large-company-insured families), while the lower quality therapists work at providers who accept DDD payment and serve the less fortunate and less-insured families.

Eventually the insurance companies and DDD will come together to create a price list of allowable charges, which they hope will even the playing field. Even then, however, there wouldn't be a great incentive for the good therapists to leave the high profile clinics to go work in the lower quality clinics. In this scenario, it would take a very long time to self-correct.

This is a quick list off the top of my head; I'm sure there are other costs and benefits we haven't yet touched on. I'll update this list as I think of things worth sharing, and I' love to hear your thoughts as well - feel free to comment below...

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Last week, in the first of 3 cases to go to trial, federal health officials concluded that childhood vaccines contributed to symptoms of autism in a 9-year old Georgia girl (as reported by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.)

The details from the court case are not yet completely available, but the result is. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has concluded that the family of Hannah Poling, of Athens, GA, is entitled to compensation from a federal vaccine injury fund. The amount of compensation is still being determined.

Obviously, this is going to add fuel to the vaccination debate fire. It's going to get even hotter when we look at the week's events in total. Let's take a look at how the week unfolded.

1. Senator, and Republican front-runner for the presidential nomination, John McCain was quoted as saying "there's strong evidence" that thimerosal is responsible for the increased number of diagnoses. This brings up a wave of federal spin following Senator McCain's comments.

2. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Immunization Safety Review Committee all stated that no scientific evidence points to a link between the two.

3. The associate director of the American Council on Science and Health expressed disappointment that McCain seemed to be poorly briefed on the issue. "I would hope that, as president, he would have advisers who would get it right. I attribute this to a misstep rather than policy."

4. The program director of the Arizona Partnership for Immunization says "...It doesn't surprise me that someone would not completely understand what the science is indicating." The group advises parents to discuss any vaccination concerns with their pediatricians (and we already know what the American Academy of Pediatrics says. – emphasis mine.)

5. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concluded that a family is entitled to compensation due to a vaccine's contribution to a girl's autism diagnoses.

Hmmmm. I wonder what Senator McCain really knew...

I'll stand by my article from last month – there are more questions than answers on this topic, and anyone who accepts the vaccination schedule as 100% safe across the board, dismissing any and all correlation between vaccines and autism, is probably earning a living from an organization who espouses that view.

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Ah, Springtime. It is absolutely beautiful out right now – warm enough to bask in the sun during the day, but it still cools off nicely at night. It's the perfect time to get outside and... Pull Some Weeds!

I don't know about you, but our yard's a mess right now. All the nice rain we had this winter set up perfect conditions for weeds to grow like crazy – especially in the desert-landscaping sections! I started to pull weeds, using my hands &/or a hoe, but they overwhelmed me after awhile, so I reached for the spray.

I hate spraying RoundUp or other herbicides, since Calvin is so sensitive to chemicals. Not to mention Jonas is still only 3 (for a few more weeks, anyway) and plays back there every day – he's awfully young to be exposed to harmful chemicals.

Last week, on the advice of a friend, I sprayed a section of weeds with White Vinegar. Plain ole, store-brand, $2.99 per gallon, white vinegar. And it worked great! Maybe not quite as fast as RoundUp, but a week later you couldn't tell the difference; the weeds are dead. This week I'll spray vinegar on the rest of the weeds.

I haven't tried using vinegar on weeds growing in the grass, as I'm afraid it will kill the grass, too. Maybe I'll dilute it and try it on a small area..? I've used Weed B Gone (another herbicide) the last couple of years. It works great, but I'd much rather have a natural, non-toxic remedy. If anyone out there has any ideas, please share.

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Saturday night's Wine & Cheese Event capped off one of the craziest weeks we've had in a long time, and the results were worth the effort! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and the event went off without a hitch. (well, except a slight technical glitch.. darn Macs.) I saw a lot of great things during the night, but there were a few things I was most happy with:

Success. We ended up just short of our goal, but our goal was set high. This event raised a record amount for Kris' Camp – yea! And that was without a handful of notable people friendly to our cause, who couldn't attend for one reason or another.

Next year. After moving to a new venue last year, and then implementing some new behind-the-scenes changes for this year, we've set the stage to do even better next year. I'm confident we're going to beat this year's numbers by a long shot next year.

Raffle Winner. Watching the drawing for the winner of the Plasma HDTV raffle was the highlight of the event. The winner is a special needs teacher and reading specialist, who works at Kris' Camp during her summer "vacation". She is one of the most energetic and engaging people you'll ever meet, and our kids love her without exception. I think the whole room was rooting for her to win (as a second choice anyway, if they didn't win!), and was genuinely happy to see her accept the prize.

Here's a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who participated &/or attended. We really appreciate your support!

Here's a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to everyone involved in putting this together – you all did a great job and made this a great event!

We'll see you at Kris' Camp this summer, and then we'll do it all again next year! ;-)

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Kris' Camp is a travelling summer camp program offering intensive therapy and education to children with autism and their families. We've been involved with the amazing folks from Kris' Camp for the last few years, and have been fortunate enough to attend camp the last two summers.

Cheryl is chairing the Silent Auction this year, which is going to be held this Saturday at St. Stephen's Hall – 16^th Street & Northern. I'm proud of the work Cheryl & her team (Michelle, Jen, and Tiffany) have put into this, and I'm looking forward to a great event!

Anyone is welcome to attend, buy raffle tickets, or make a donation. If you're reading this and you live in Arizona, there's no reason not to attend – you'll meet some great people, have a fun evening out, and help out a terrific cause.

This is a great organization, and we've seen firsthand how much they help families. Please click the flyer below for more information (and ignore the rsvp date!)

It'd be great to see you there!

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