Obama want to freeze funding for early intervention program

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Hello I just got this email from easterseal. Easterseals is a... not sure HOW to describe them. they help fa,ilies with children and adults with disabilities such as autism. I believe autism is also thier maine focus too. here is the email got.
I have Tis needs to be stopped.

Oh, right - now he wants to stop spending! Where's the Multi-Billion dollar Bailout for the poor little Autistic kids?


Good to know we're not 'too big to fail'.

we don't get one.

he wants to save money by perventing children having the therapies they need

gives money to car dealers and big buisiness steals from the disabled and nuerodiverse the great obama

My son has $22,000 per year in funding to apply to ABA Therapy (through a registered consultant).

Not only does my son do very well with this therapy, but the $22,000 stays in the LOCAL ECONOMY. Like Willard alluded to - the bailouts don't help most people, but I have hired my consultant (who has a masters in special needs education) and my two wonderful ABI therapists are university students (one is working towards a pyschology degree, the other is working towards a degree with Occupational Therapy). Both of these ladies are paid $15 per hour. They in turn have a part time job that suits their aptitude, uses their knowledge and develops their skills. They use their earnings to help pay for their education and spend on what young adults spend on - coffee/going to restaurants/entertainment/consumer goods, etc.

In short - my son gets the intevention that he needs to succeed (my number one priority) AND the money stays in the community by allowing two students to have a decent part time job and $$$ to buy stuff.

Much better overall economic sense than a bailout to banks and auto who will just ensure that their CEO's and upper management continue to get multi million dollar bonuses (which will probably be invested off shore....)

Perhaps there is other sources of funding then the federal government?

Now, "freeze funding" doesn't mean "stop funding," does it? I would think it just means not increasing, like in a hiring freeze you just can't hire more, but nobody loses a job. Can someone comment if you know the details of this?

I'm not justifying this and I tend towards liking Obama, although I'm a moderate. But, this article.. I just don't know how to process. If this "freeze" is like a "halt," then I have a reason to be upset. If it's not, well, I just need more information to understand.

Obama is proposing that all discretionary spending be kept at the 2011 budget from the years of 2011 to 2014. Excluded from this is the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs, along with some international programs. These international programs are things like food aid to Haiti, and other humanitarian things.

So basically, it isn't as though you would stop getting funding, you just wouldn't get any increase for the years 2011 to 2014. Considering that there is expected to be about a 8-10% inflation in those 3 years, it will actually result in a slightly lower purchasing power towards 2014, but nothing like completely canceling services.

While there are some children who definitely need these services, I can't help but be skeptical of the "early intervention for all" movement.

In some cases, early intervention can do more harm than good. If the child's disability is mild enough, then it's entirely possible that they could learn the skills they need with a bit more focused parental guidance. If their disability is mild enough, then it's possible that the psychological effects of being lumped in with more severely disabled children could do more harm than the benefits of the intervention.

In additon, I wouldn't be surprised if some parents were bankrupting themselves when that money could have gone towards a College/University education for their kid. I've seen what ABA programs do. Do you really want to spend up to $30,000/year to show your child with mild AS some basic word flashcards and have them play with blocks? Slightly understandable if your child is non-verbal and needs to learn in a fun environment, but for a case of Asperger's there isn't really an excuse.

I would agree katie. What gets me most of all is the occupational therapy they give for children with clumsiness and poor coordination. I am well aware of what it is like to be horribly clumsy and uncoordinated. I can't even dribble a basket ball while running down the court, let alone try to do anything like shoot or catch a ball on the run. My 7 year old cousin even has better handwriting then I do. So, if I was born today I would be a prime candidate for occupational therapy.

Yet to be honest my poor coordination and clumsiness is only a minor inconvenience when I have to fill out some form by hand which happens once every other month or so. It takes me about 4 times longer to write anything out, and it hurts my hand a bit to do so, but that is why we invented keyboards and printers. The rest of the time my poor coordination is never an issue. Yet some parents and schools will pay 10k+ per year just to help a 3 year old be more coordinated? I would rather see that money be spent on things like more training for teachers, or a better teacher to student ratio.

I mean if your that worried, just get the kid a set of legos or k'nex.

Early intervention may be key to easing the life of a baby with autism. I'm disappointed in the situation.

Any nation should be worried when the government cuts back early intervention programs for anyone. Science has proven that the most important developmental years in your life are from years 0 to 5. North America is way behind much of Europe in the topic of educating and helping children under the age of 5 and this shows in our crime rates, educational outcomes, health outcomes and many other facets of life.