Obama and Clinton, Autism and Disability
Right now (afternoon of April 23, Wednesday) over at Science Blogs there’s a number of posts about Barack Obama’s statement at a Monday rally in Pennsylvnia that evidence linking vaccines and autism was “inconclusive” and that further research is needed. (It’s also pointed out that Hillary Clinton has also embraced “anti-vaccination woo”.)
While the candidates’ views (here’s Senator John McCain’s) on vaccine and autism have become a sort of barometer for their views on science, it’s necessary also to consider their views on disability—on education, special education, employment, health care—more generally. Professor Michael Bérubé, who teaches American literature and cultural studies at Penn State University takes a close look at these in a post on disability and democracy over at TPM Café.
Professor Bérubé gives Clinton’s diability policies on her website an overall rating of “pretty damn good,” with one caveat. Because “there’s no separate heading for policies affecting people with disabilities,” to determine her views on the employment of persons with disabilities, special education, and so forth, “you have to look around under other issues - in this case, health care - to see if disability is mentioned.” It’s a seemingly small point but Bérubé (who writes frequently about disability studies and whose teenage son, Jamie, has Down syndrome) links this to a larger issue of accessibility:
A Hillary Clinton Administration would be quite good on disability/ health and disability/ employment, and generally good for my kid - this one, not the college senior who turns 22 today (happy birthday, Nick! Now get back to work). I have no substantial complaints about Clinton’s proposals, though of course I wish that her husband had issued that Executive Order to hire people with disabilities about seven and half years earlier than July 26, 2000. But someone should’ve told the campaign to reorganize that website so that Hillary’s disability policies are clearer and more . . . accessible.
In contrast, go to Barack Obama’s website, and you’ll find a separate heading entitled Disabilities. Writes Bérubé:
This in itself is remarkable; but it turns out that this isn’t just a matter of better web design. Whoever is advising Obama on disability policy is really, really smart. The nine-page .pdf, “Barack Obama’s Plan to Empower Americans with Disabilities”, says many of the same things Hillary does - about supporting full funding for IDEA, providing health coverage for the most vulnerable among us, and hiring 100,000 people with disabilities in the federal government (except that someone needs to tell the Obama camp that it’s Executive Order 13163 Obama needs to reinstate, not 13173, which created an Interagency Task Force on the Economic Development of the Central San Joaquin Valley; reinstating 13173, whatever its merits, probably won’t do much for disability policy in the United States). But the plan is, remarkably enough, at once broader and more specific than Clinton’s.
It promises $10 billion in early intervention programs for children with special needs, via Early Head Start, Early Learning Challenge Grants, and IDEA Part C.
It proposes “a comprehensive study of students with disabilities and transition to work and higher education” - something that (a) has never been done and (b) is of great interest to teenagers with disabilities and their loved ones. ……
It pledges support for Tom Harkin’s ADA Restoration Act, which would “overturn the Supreme Court decisions that limit the ADA’s coverage and effectiveness.” ……
It has a subsection devoted to flexible work plans, ranging from an expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act to protection against “caregiver discrimination.” “Workers with family obligations often are discriminated against in the workplace,” it notes. “This is a growing problem, as evidenced by the skyrocketing number of discrimination suits being filed: there has been a 400 percent increase in the number of family responsibility discrimination lawsuits in the last decade.” Again, though, this is of no interest to you unless you know someone with a disability, or know someone who might someday have a disability.
It promises to make the U.S. a signatory to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
And it informs us that “Barack Obama is a cosponsor of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of genetic information by employers and health insurers. The Act also applies health information privacy regulations to the use and disclosure of genetic information.”
Yes, I’ve been vexed since yesterday on hearing about Obama saying that he is “suspicious” that the “skyrocketing” autism rate might be connected to vaccines (and by the other candidates’ views on this subject too). On the other hand, it’s disconcerting to see that, once again, discussion about autism has been overtaken by discussion about vaccines and an alleged (and not scientifically substantiated) link to autism. It’s the candidates’ views on disability in general—-on education, employment, insurance, and more—-that I’m most interested in, as these views suggest policies that will affect Charlie. (Go to the end of Bérubé’s post for his (brief; you’ll see why) analysis of McCain on disability issues.)
Let’s not let discussion about vaccines usurp attention from the real issues.
Tags: asd, asperger, autism, barack obama, disability, election, employment, health care, hillary clinton, Insurance, john mccain, Parenting, pdd-nos, Politics, presidential campaign, VaccinesRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Disability Rights, Legislation, Living Arrangements, Politics, Vaccines, Work
20 opinions for Obama and Clinton, Autism and Disability
stopautismquackery
Apr 23, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Excellent post Kristina.
Bonnie Sayers
Apr 23, 2008 at 7:29 pm
I agree and left a comment on one of the links here to another article on David Kirby.
C. S. Wyatt
Apr 23, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I suppose I should feel good, since I’m from the Central San Joaquin Valley.
Seriously, though, there are two autism clusters in the San Joaquin Valley. One is in McFarland, also home to a notable cancer cluster:
http://www.ccaej.org/projects/canccluster.htm
The ability to study clusters of any condition requires continuing funding, not “off-on-off” funding we see in most states and nationally. Science, though, has to compete with public pressure for funding. I fear future funding will be tied to promises to research the “usual suspects” pushed by celebrities and some advocacy groups.
I wish funding weren’t tied to whatever particular senators or representatives want science to find. Block grants to research institutions would be a nice change. (I can dream.)
Jennifer
Apr 23, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Not an American, but I am particularly heartened by the views of Obama. It is nice to see that there is a more nuanced view here, and hopefully not the simple knee-jerk reaction that all politicians are tempted to give when they see what is introduced to them as a poor pitiful parent a of a child with autism. I’m certain it is a lose-lose situation to be blunt with those parents.
Thanks for this, Kristina.
M
Apr 23, 2008 at 9:10 pm
I’m curious…has David Kirby weighed in on the candidates yet? It will be interesting to see how he combines his hyperbolic style with political commentary…a realm already quite comfortable with melodrama.
Could be a fun (i.e. depressing) mix.
Matt
Apr 23, 2008 at 10:47 pm
C.S. Wyatt:
can you give something about this autism cluster in McFarland? Checking the CDE website, it looks like there are two kids with autism IEPs living in the district.
http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/SpecEd/SpecEd3.asp?DistType=&cSelect=1573908–MCFARLAND+UNIFIED&cChoice=SpecEd3&DistType=R&cYear=2006-07&cLevel=District&cTopic=SpecEd&myTimeFrame=S&submit1=Submit&ReptCycle=December
Do I have the wrong place?
Matt
C. S. Wyatt
Apr 23, 2008 at 11:12 pm
July 31, 2007 CNN/AP:
Pregnant women from the Central Valley who were exposed to high levels of pesticides were up to six times more likely to give birth to a child with autism or a related disorder, state health officials said Monday.
California Department of Public Health researchers studied 465 children with autism spectrum disorders in 19 counties born between 1996 and 1998, comparing them with a control group of nearly 7,000 other children.
–
Kern, Kings, Tulare, and Fresno Counties are unique. My mother works in Tulare Co. and I taught in Fresno. Because there are few dedicated special ed teachers, and the highest rate of teachers in “emergency” credentials, there is pressure to…. well, let’s just say not every child of a non-English speaking parent is properly placed.
CDPH numbers and State Dept. of Ed numbers have never aligned. That’s why I don’t use the “reported” numbers to consider autism rates when I approach schools.
Then again, maybe all the autism cases vanished since I moved to Minnesota two years ago. My mother reports the three autistic children in her class are listed as “language disabled” and “mentally retarded” but she knows autism when she sees it.
She was told MR was sometimes “better for services” in the district.
C. S. Wyatt
Apr 23, 2008 at 11:23 pm
@Matt - Just so you know, don’t mean to cast too many dispersions on the IEP concept, but I taught in Central California from 1988 as a student teacher until moving to Minnesota for my Ph.D fellowship in 2006.
I never encountered an “autistic” child, according the schools I worked with as a consultant. I thought that was pretty amazing. I speak just enough Spanish to ask parents questions and realize they are not always told there are services for particular conditions.
The school I attended is now 98% Hispanic, according to the profile online (Ivanhoe, Ca). More than half the parents speak no English. There is one “special education” person who visits the campus two to three times a week.
You can guess what happens. The teachers do great work with what they have…
Kristina Chew, PhD
Apr 23, 2008 at 11:41 pm
@CS Wyatt,
Thanks so much for all that info about California—-I have to wonder about what happens, or does not, for those families in which English is not spoken.
Matt
Apr 23, 2008 at 11:41 pm
C.S. Wyatt,
that explains a lot. Minorities absolutely get the shaft in California schools.
Matt
Kristina Chew, PhD
Apr 24, 2008 at 12:29 am
Clinton saying she’ll be “tackling” autism…..
stopautismquackery
Apr 24, 2008 at 1:25 am
Maybe she needs to ‘tackle’ her own prejudices first.
Marla
Apr 24, 2008 at 9:17 am
Very good. I too think they should focus on the more important issues. I tire of hearing about vaccines when qualifying for services here is impossible.
Eleanor
Apr 24, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Interesting bit over on Slate by Emily Bazelon called “My Nominee for Most Irksome Pander: Vaccines and Autism.”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/
She takes all of the candidates to task for ignoring the science on the vaccine question. (She actually had a pretty good Slate V interview with a doctor about vaccination and herd immunity a week or so ago, too.)
Stephen Mendelsohn
Apr 25, 2008 at 1:50 am
BS”D
Go beyond the candidates propaganda on their websites and check out what they say to the larger public on disability. Obama wants people with severe disabilities DEAD. His biggest regret in the Senate, as he told Meet The Press several weeks ago, is that he did not do more to stop the Republicans (and ADA co-sponsor Tom Harkin, which he failed to mention) from intervening to try to stop the forced starvation of Terri Schiavo. The first right of someone with a disability is the right to live and not be subject to eugenics, euthanasia, and “final solutions” supported by Obama and his allies. And the second one is not to be patronized by “liberal” do-gooder experts and politicians who claim to advocate contrary to the expressed interests of self-advocates, who are the most important stakeholders here.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Apr 25, 2008 at 2:02 am
Yes, websites are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg….
Hillary Clinton on assisted suicide as an “appropriate right”
And here’s Nat Hentoff on Obama and Schiavo
Last Week’s Top Posts
Apr 26, 2008 at 8:22 pm
[…] Obama and Clinton, Autism and Disability While the presidential candidates’ views on vaccine and autism have become a sort of barometer for their views on science, it’s necessary also to consider their views on disability—on education, special education, employment, health care—more generally. […]
RAJ
Apr 27, 2008 at 7:20 am
Take any politicians promises with a grain of salt. Despite Obama and Clinton’s promises, NAFTA is not going away, nor will it be modified. As far as Universal Health Care proposals, forget it. Sen Schumer conceded a few days ago, there will be no Universal Health Care implemented whichever Democrat might be elected.. He said, quite accurately, there is NO money for it.
When liberal Democratic Senator’s like Schumer declare Universal Health Care dead on arrival, you can count on it.
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Jul 26, 2008 at 12:08 pm
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Aug 29, 2008 at 4:41 pm
[…] politics with a February reference to thimerosal and the rise in the incidence of autism. In April, Obama was quoted at a Pennsylvania rally as saying that evidence linking vaccines and autism was “inconclusive” and that further […]
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