Feb 4, 2008

Politics and Autism

Everyone in the United States is aware that 2008 is an election year. Voters are asking candidates their positions on certain topics; autism is one of these topics. The Autism Society of America (ASA) has sent out a press release in advance of the Super Tuesday primaries. The ASA sent out a questionnaire to the candidates but only John Edwards returned a completed questionnaire. Since then, Edwards has dropped out of the competition.

Democratic candidates Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama refer voters to their individual websites for their stance on autism. Senator Clinton’s website has an entire section dedicated specifically to autism – a few of her promises include setting aside $700 million per year for expanding research to identify the cause(s) of autism, providing grants for services for adult autistics, improving post-diagnosis care, and providing expanded teacher training among others.

Senator Obama’s website details his plan to empower Americans with disabilities including funding in the amount of $1 billion annually by the end of his first term. These funds will go towards autism research, autism awareness, and lifelong support services. Obama’s dedication to supporting autistics across the life span is in contrast to many of today’s organizations which focus purely on children with autism.

Senator John McCain met with the Advocates for Children’s Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning and pledges his support for federal research supporting autism causes and treatments including the hotly debated vaccine/autism controversy.

Other candidate’s positions were not available through the Autism Society of America press release.