Hope for a Cure, or At Least Hope for Insurance

Ever since our oldest son was identified as having an autism spectrum disorder, our family has focused on getting him as much assistance as possible in school and at home. We’ve never had hope for a cure, just hope that all the therapy will help him to learn the social skills he needs to function well in life. He’s had speech therapy and attended a six week summer camp that focused on communication skills, and we were very encouraged after that program. With the assistance he received via his IEP, he was able to successfully transition from preschool to kindergarten and adapt to his new environment and routine. He communicates about his school day with the help of a visual daily journal that outlines the activities he participates in and helps him express his feelings about the day, a huge improvement from previous years when he could only state his teacher’s name and couldn’t describe the activities. All of this is helpful, but it’s not a cure.

Yesterday’s announcement that researchers have identified new gene variants for autism that could account for about 15% of autism diagnoses all across the spectrum immediately caught my attention and gave me hope that someday there would be a cure for this disorder. It probably won’t happen while our son is still a child, but I am encouraged by the news. I’ve been watching hopefully as more states pass autism insurance legislation (though sadly my own state of Virginia failed miserably on that issue in February) and our federal Senate and Congress try to pass bills that will support autism research as well as federal autism insurance reform. One bill would even provide tax-free savings accounts for families with disabled relatives to help provide for future care.

Every day I look at my son’s face and wonder what the future holds for him, and I long for the day when all this research and legislative activity will finally give families with autism the help and hope so many of us desperately need.

Original DC Metro Moms Blog post.

Andrea writes about her adventures in the kitchen at Andrea's Recipes and gives her opinion on products for home and garden at Andrea's Reviews.