Excluding the higher functioning children means that schools will have to do more to make regular classrooms hospitable to them without the early intervention based accommodations mandated by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.
Narrowing the Definition of Autism parent pay,Autism still has many mysteries, but it is clear that early intervention makes a tremendous difference. A tighter definition means that parents, teachers and caregivers will wait longer to consider giving children specialized attention and care. It will mean less support for parents struggling to help their children communicate, adapt to social challenges and cope with a world that often feels overwhelming.
In particular, teachers will have to stop requiring children to work in groups, share personal reflections and do organizationally demanding interdisciplinary projects — all of which are challenging for the sort of child who, rightly or wrongly, has sometimes received a diagnosis of mild autism/Asperger.
Tenafly, N.J., Jan. 21, 2012
KATHY WAEHLER
JON SINGER
An Alabama case shows why federal enforcement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is still needed today.
Your article quotes Dr. David J. Kupfer, a psychiatrist and chairman of the American Psychiatric Association task force the revisions to the definition of autism, as saying: It involves a use of treatment resources. It becomes a cost issue.
Aurora, Colo., Jan. 21, 2012
I’m old enough to remember when classmates and friends who were different were ridiculed by some but accepted as more or less charming eccentrics by most. We called them clunky. They were clueless in amusing ways, but were accepted because they more than compensated for it in others. We had time to develop close relationships. We tended to fill in one another’s chinks, and friends were protective.
Re New Autism Rule Will Trim Many, a Study Suggests (front page, Jan. 20): Narrowing the definition of autism is a bad idea and narrows the opportunities to make significant inroads in helping children affected by this condition, their milies and our nation.
The new American Reform Math is also problematic for this population, since it waters down the actual math and teaches it less systematically.
Students with whom we work who have such a diagnosis exhibit numerous difficulties with social interaction that impede their acceptance and functioning in the classroom and elsewhere but often have no repetitive behaviors.
As we learn that autism is not just from genes and brain but also from a child’s response to a challenging environment, why make that environmenNarrowing the Definition of Autism parent payt even more challenging?
KATHARINE BEALS
To the Editor:
ROSE SEEMANN
The writer is a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and the author of Raising a Left-Brain Child in a Right-Brain World.
Cambridge, Mass., Jan. 20, 2012
While many services provided to people with autism,bartender school100-Year-Old Bartender Ray Nauroth Still Pouring Strong age and bartending (7)2011-12-22 14:33:34 Asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified, can be quite costly, if these services are not covered by the educational system and/or by insurance, some milies will ce financial and/or emotional ruin.
Could it be that a culture that rewards superficiality and short attention spans evolves into a culture with a narrower definition of the term normal?
A version of this letter appeared in print on January 28, 2012, on pageof thewith the headline: Narrowing the Definition of Autism.
The writer isfounder of Drive4Rebecca, a nonprofit that raises money for autism research and education, and author of The Special Needs Parent Handbook.
If the proposed changes go through, and if some people in need of services are no longer able to obtain them, and if their milies are unable to afford them, we will all pay a tremendous cost in the long run when many of these people become adults who are unable to care for themselves or live independent lives.
Changing the criteria to decrease the percentage seems dishonest and unethical.
To exclude these students from the services and supports they need throughout their education would be a great injustice and an attempt to save money now without considering the effect of their being unprepared to function fully as adults in our society.
Philadelphia, Jan. 23, 2012
At Davos, some still want governments to just get out of the way. Others see the real need for governments to set the right rules.
After reading your Jan. 20 article and an earlier front-page article about the two young people with Asperger syndrome who found their soul mates (Navigating Love and Autism, Dec. 26), I’m left with a question about autism in less disruptive forms.
The writer is a pediatric neurologist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and author of the forthcoming The Autism Revolution.
To the Editor:
To the Editor:
To the Editor:
MARTHA HERBERT
HEATHER KNICKERBOCKER
Under the proposed changes in criteria discussed in the article, a person would have to exhibit at least two repetitive behaviors to receive a diagnosis of autism, Asperger syndrome or pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified.
By addressing all these issues early, we have a chance to change the course of this condition, enabling people with autism to reach their full potential and requiring fewer publicly financed services for the rest of their lives.
The writers, social workers, are learning support specialists in the Disability Services Office at Centenary College.
In countries around the world, TV serials are being used to deliver important social messages to millions of viewers.
Hackettstown, N.J., Jan. 20, 201parent pay2
