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I've been hearing a lot about how schools and the government are not doing enough for kids suffering from autism and generally I agree with that. I think we should stop fighting on foreign soil for god knows what, stop giving billions of dollars to countries like Pakistan where they hate Americans, and start focusing on curing the skyrocketing number of kids in our country suffering from allergies, ADHD, autism and countless other disorders. If we can't take care of our own kids, we have no business telling other people in other countries how they ought to live.
New York State made headlines last week by cutting speech therapy for thousands of kids who desperately need it. Other states are doing similar things. Just when more kids need more help than ever, less help is available. It's enough to turn parents into everyday revolutionaries.
But I received an interesting email from a guy named C. S. Wyatt yesterday. In it, he pointed out that there's more to the story. There are thousands upon thousands of educators and school officials who are working their hearts out, day in and day out, to do what's right for autistic kids. He points out that all the militant rhetoric, the distrust, anger and confrontational behavior is counterproductive. I have to say that I agree with that as well. Teachers, school therapists (physical, speech, OT), even school officials are not the ones deciding to cut funding.
The funding is being cut because school districts and the city and state governments that fund them just don't have the money. We need to recognize that pointing the finger often isn't the answer. As Wyatt wrote, "We need more bridges, not barriers, to solutions for students." Doing the best for our kids is going to take working together and it's going to take a lot of creativity, a lot of intensity, and a heroic dedication to the incredible task at hand on the part of everyone involved.
As Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote in the poem "Ulysses":
"We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
