Advocates for people with autism fight for funding
LYNN HAVEN — An autism diagnosis sometimes carries a misperception of having an inability to function in society, but advocates for people with autism are trying to keep their funding coming so they can change that.
William Keeley, adult program director for the Autism Education Center in Lynn Haven, said he often encounters these misconceptions about autism.
“One of the biggest is the fact that people think autism is a lifelong disability and those affected are no good to society, and totally dependent on others,” Keeley said. “I’m autistic, I’m published, I was in the military and I’m a college graduate.”
He added that is why efforts to continue funding for centers around the state are so important to the autistic community, especially considering the diagnosis rate for autism and related disabilities is higher than any other developmental disability.
Janice Overstreet, director of the Florida State University branch of CARD (Centers for Autism and Related Disabilities) in Tallahassee, said after a 20 percent funding reduction last year, which followed years of reduced or level funding, parents involved in the organization are lobbying for no funding reductions in the coming year.
“We have a parent legislative group, made up constituents of the FSU CARD office, who are actively organizing efforts to talk to legislators about what CARD does, and the importance of program to the state and families. They’re asking no more reductions this year,” Overstreet said.
Susan Baldino, one of the parents in the lobbying group, said the support from CARD makes a big difference for not only people with autism and their families, but everyone else around them as well.
“CARD is an essential service for families and individuals with autism and their communities because it provides knowledge, and it helps people get services. It provides training in the schools so teachers know how to adapt and know how children with autism learn, and how to keep them out of special education programs, which are more costly than regular classes,” Baldino said.
She said the best way to explain the autism spectrum disorders is to think of unreliable processing in the brain.
“These children do not have the same processing methods, some experts call it under-connectivity; their neuroprocesses don’t connect all the time. That’s why they have problems with social behaviors and repetitiveness,” Baldino said.
She added that’s why CARD begins help in the initial phases, with understanding diagnosis and the early markers of the disorders. They also teach parents, teachers, even potential employers, to understand what is going on and how to communicate with autistic people.
“They help adults find jobs, train them in life skills and train employers and others in the community. It’s a lifesaver for many, many families and individuals with autism in the state of Florida,” Baldino said.
In addition to meeting with committee members in the House and Senate, the group of parents made a video with messages from individuals with autism and parents, and an explanation of how autism works. They also posted the video on YouTube so community members could view it.
Overstreet said support from the community is important in the effort to have their funding continued without reductions.
“They can certainly write to their legislators and call or visit them, let them know their stories, how CARD has impacted their lives and their feelings about funding,” Overstreet said. “That personal connection is what’s most important. The parents are who we’re here for and they are the ones fighting for us.”
