Obama and Autism

At the presidential debates last week, Senator McCain claimed that his running mate, Sarah Palin, knows "more about autism then anyone I know." Janet Grillo in her most poignant HP piece My Autistic Son is Not a Political Pawn, invited the senator to get out there more. Janet, wrote eloquently what so many of us parents of children with autism feel. In my travels promoting autism awareness and the film, Autism:The Musical, I have met hundreds of people whom I believe know more about autism than Sarah Pallin... including my son, Neal.

Neal is my resident expert on autism. Now 14 years old, Neal was adopted from a Russian Orphanage at 23 months, and diagnosed with severe autism at age 3 . Neal is non verbal (or as we prefer to refer to him "a man of few words") so when he speaks his truth through typing - WE LISTEN.

When he was about 9 years old, he was still being placed by the school district in preschool classes. One day after being asked for the umpteenth time to put the blue round peg in the blue round hole, Neal threw the peg boards at the teacher. The school called him aggressive and severely mentally impaired, sentencing him to a restricted special education classroom. I knew otherwise. I believed he threw the pegs out of boredom, frustrated for not having his intellect recognized. I felt that he was capable of much more.

Fortunately we found Darlene Hansen, a communications and speech expert who specializes in working with children like Neal. The first day she met him, she drew a four-square grid on a piece of paper with the words: Washington D.C., Vote, Bush, Clinton.

When asked "Who is the President of the United States?" Neal pointed to Bush. "Who was President before?" He pointed to Clinton. "Where do they live?" He pointed to Washington D.C., " How did they get there?" "Vote."

Immediately, we pulled Neal out of the preschool intensive special ed class and placed him with an aide in a regular third grade classroom. Neal was then mainstreamed in most of his classes doing age-appropriate work and is acknowledged to be highly intelligent.

Neal now types his thoughts and feelings on an Alpha Smart typing machine with support. Last January at one of his sessions with Darlene she asked, ""So, Neal, what have you been thinking about lately?"

"The Elections," he typed on his Alpha Smart keyboard.

"What about the elections?" asked Darlene.

"I'm for Obama, he typed."

"Obama? Why?"

"Obama is for Autism, " he finished.

That evening my husband and I Googled Obama and Autism. And there it was, pages and pages from people with autism. Supporting Obama. We found that Obama speaks for all people who cannot speak. Who do not have a voice, literally and figuratively. How did Neal know this? I hadn't said anything to him, I didn't know myself. Somehow, some way, my son with severe autism had picked up this truth. This was several months ago when I was undecided between Hillary and Barack. Needless to say, Neal influenced my vote.

Cut to a few weeks ago. Neal refused to go to bed. This is not unlike many other teens so I did what any Mom of a stubborn 14 year old would do, I started to bribe him, chide him into going to bed. My husband, Jeff, however had a bit more insight. "Neal", he said, "It looks like you have a lot on your mind: "Would you like to type with us?"

"Yes" Neal nodded.

I immediately grabbed the Alpha Smart and placed it in front of him. "What's on your mind?" Jeff inquired.

"The President." he typed.

" What about it?" we asked.

"Obama," he responded.

"What about Obama?"

"Enough," Neal typed.

"Enough what?" I asked.

"Enough Republican ideology." Neal typed. He continued, "Pallin lies." Thank you Neal. He went to bed immediately and slept soundly through the night.

We did not. Worrying about our country's future, our son's future, the future of all kids with autism, reflecting on the past. Wanting more Obama.

We now watch the campaign and commentary together as a family every night. Neal takes it all in intensely. Last night, Neal was again troubled. We asked, about what?

"Prejudice," he typed.

"How does it make you feel?"

"Sad and mad... Obama is hope."

Thanks Neal. Thanks for clearly stating what so many of us are feeling, sad and mad. And what so many of us need. Hope.

Wishing you all many miracles and reminding you to listen to the child who does not speak.

Elaine Hall Founder/Director The Miracle Project www.themiracleproject.com

Comments

[tkondaks]

Little Neil reminds me of that fridge in Kentucky which reflects an image of the Virgin Mary when the light hits it in a certain way.

Both deserve the same degree of credibility.

Look, when little Elian was paraded before the TV camera by his Miami relatives and claimed he didn't want to go back to Cuba, we all snickered. Children don't know what's good for them...that's why we don't give them the vote.

Same thing here.

Let's stay consistent from one ideology-spouting child to another.

[LesserOf2Evils]

I have googled Obama and autism. I remain unconvinced that he is on the right side of this.
Clearly Robert Kennedy Jr. is on the right side of the autism issue.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7395411/deadly_immunity/

I have not seen one instance where Obama even allows for the possibility of thimerosal and autism being connected.
Anyone else?

[jenniferchacon]

I firmly believe people who have lost one of their senses--sight, sound, etc--learn how to sharpen the "sixth" sense or intuition. I believe this applies to people with Autism--like Neil. Their intuition is sharper than ours, they spend more time listening and watching than talking. I think intuition is God speaking to our hearts. Often our own voices fill our ears and keep us from hearing Him.

Thanks for sharing.

[OneNation33]

"Obama is the voice for those who cannot speak...."

Thank you for your story. My son, Atiba is deaf and blind in one eye.

He has been avidly keeping up the campaign via the Obama campaign site's closed caption videos , Youtube closed captioned videos and ASL videos and on TV with closed captioning. Now he likes to read the Huff Po. .
He has watched all the debates and acceptance speeches and it is quite interesting to watch him act out the facial expressions and gestures of the candidates mixed with ASL ( American sign language).
Actually the body language contrast has been hilarious .

He had a cornea transplant and a glaucoma surgery on the day of the Democratic Convention on his eye. Because of the surgery, he was unable to see and the the eye was patched.

In the evening when the Acceptance speech was on tv, even though he was supposed to be recovering, he insisted that we bring him down to "watch the speech".
We signed the speech in his hand for him and he was happy.

So yes... we are thankful to hear other voices speak up about Obama's sensitivity to those with many types of disabilities. In the deaf community there are some posters who have conveyed that they are very happy to see Obama sign.

For an informative post go to: Obama campaign reaches out to deaf community.
http://fultonsun.com/articles/2008/10/02/news/090news01.txt

[Shrinath]

I can fully understand how much that means to you and others. Having first hand experience with people with disabilities, it goes to show that Sen.Obama cares for everyone. And more importantly he means it. While, most nations spend way too much money on ridiculous entities called weapons for defense, the budget for really serious issues such as finding a cure for diseases and having a credible research program for finding a solution is short changed. I read that post and it was heart warming to see that he truly hears to what the foot soldiers are telling him. A mark of a truly remarkable person who has the ability to become a great and awe inspiring figure. I do not trivialize the need to have a sound defense strategy which includes technologically advances equipment, but they cannot be at a cost of other research programs which would elevate this world out of suffering.
" An eye for an eye would only render the whole world blind"

Cheerio!

[jrjoyrae]

I am the mother of 3 boys with special needs... my 13 year old has Autism... (his younger brothers have ADHD and other similar disorders)

The issue of Autism is very near and dear to my heart...

When I first started researching the candidates I went to their websites and looked for information regarding their policy standing on autism...

When I did a search on John McCain's website... I found nothing...

when I went to Barack Obama's site, I found this:

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/AutismSpectrumDisorders.pdf

A well thought out, informative policy stand on Autism Spectrum Disorders and how he and Joe Biden plan to deal with the epidemic of Autism in this country (and yes... one in 150 is clearly an epidemic... no matter the cause)... and the lack of funding for the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)...

He had me at ASD... :0)

Anyone who takes the time to acknowledge the importance of research, education, funding and help for families dealing with Autism gets my vote...

After that, I read his website some more... the thought poured into the document above goes into every one of his plans...

In this informational age... John McCain's website and lack of a stand on developmental disabilities says a lot... and sealed my vote for Barack.

Barack Obama is consistent, thoughtful, calm, rational, and forward-thinking... and that is why I think Barack Obama is not only the best choice, but the only thoughtful choice for president this election.

[Fenianheart]

Beautiful post, thank you. I hope that every family touched by autism will one day have access to the right experts, as the autistic clearly have much to teach us. We need to learn how to listen to them.

[bardgal]

WOW!!! Thank YOU Neal!!!!

[Memphismommy]

That was incredible! I'm a devout believer that kids have more sense than the average adult. They have not learned to filter, excuse, and justify the way we do. My 4 year old asked me "Why isn't Barack Obama president yet?" When I told her he had to be voted in, she replied, "I wanna go vote like you, mama." I think she and Neal deserve cabinet appointments!

[joseph449008]

Thanks for that. Clearly, Neal understands that falsely claiming there's an "autism epidemic", and pandering to its proponents, is a form of prejudice. Obama has stayed away from that for the most part.

[DPB]

Bravo Neal (and you too Elaine!) I have been saying for years that just because a child doesn't "speak" in a way we are used to hearing, does not mean that the child doesn't hear, process and communicate. It is up to us to listen to these children who are always listening to us. They, like Neal, often have incredible intellect and insight. Neal, I will enthusiastically and proudly be casting my vote for Obama. I look forward to the day in a few years when you can cast your vote. You are a very special young man. By the way, my son, Alec, who is 13, also has autism, and also is a big Obama fan.

[sansone]

Thank you for your heartfelt entry. It's only reinforced why I'm voting for Obama.

I just wish that these blind followers of Palin would wake up and stop believing all of lies coming out of her mouth. Just because McCain says that Palin in an expert on autism does make it true.

[KevLeitch]

Thank you for a fantastic post. Great to hear the words of autistic people.

[SouthPrairie]

This morning as I was getting ready for work, Palin was giving a "policy speech" about special needs children. I only listened to about 45 seconds of her so called policy speech, and I heard her disparaging our publi c school special education teachers. I was apalled due to my experience with Sp.Ed. teachers. It is a thankless job that their only reward comes from loving those kids, and to hear Palin act like because she has a son with special needs--a son she passes off to whom ever is available--makes her an expert, is a bit like her, "I see Russia!" moment.

Disengenuous pandering as far as I'm concerned.

Obama/Biden '08

[kevinmcdermott]

I have had the pleasure of knowing Elaine and Neal for many years and am not surprised by Neal's great insight......Neal with few words can communicate the essence of the message better than those of us with many words. Well put, Neal....concise and to the point. I love you both.

[mesut]

I wish the country would listen to your Neal. Sounds like you have a very intelligent young man in the making. Thanks for sharing his story.