Alright – so, autism is only getting higher and higher. The ADDM numbers from CDC keep growing, but no one in CDC, NIH or any state health department are alarmed. Autism parents are told the numbers are higher because we are getting better at diagnosing. That may be true for autistic individuals who are verbal and may have some social delays, but for the Somali community better diagnosis ain’t it. Somalis are an oral society, yet our children with autism are mostly nonverbal. This is not normal. Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) also known as the do nothing health agency has zero desire to find out why it is high in our children and why our children are nonverbal.
I remember when Gov Dayton was running for office, he made so many statements about autism. He said he will look into why it was high in our community. He did not. His first health commissioner said he will look into it, he did not. So many politicians especially DFLers said they will look into it just to get our votes, they did not. In fact, the last commissioner that looked into autism research in the Somali community was Dr. Magnan who worked for a republican governor – Pawlenty. The last autism research from the state legislature was from Sen. Abeler and Sen Hann – both republicans. In the interest of fairness, the last federal autism research funding in the Somali community was from NIH, NIEH, NIMH under President Obama and of course was initiated by previous director of NIMH Dr. Insel (by far my fav autism researcher), and Dr. Daniels who is the current director of NIMH’s office of autism research, and a wonderful human being.
It is an election year again, and Minnesota Governor candidates in the DFL side – Murphy who lost and good riddance always voted against autism in any community including EIBDI and Minnesota Autism Task Force. Candidate Johnson seemed to care the last time he was running, not so much this time. Candidate Walz says all the right things, but I have learned to not always believe what a politician says during campaigns.
All I ask of autism parents and families is vote wisely, vote based on policy not politics. Policies drive everything. We as autism parents need to know what causes autism for our children and for the sake of future children. Did you know that irrespective of what state health departments do or don’t do – their funding is always the same. Think about it. Why would MDH do anything if there is no incentive or consequences. This useless policy can be changed by congress. Who we put in office can change it but we have to negotiate and bargain with our votes before they win. University of Minnesota’s ICI department headed by Dr. Hewitt also known as Dr. Headache is in charge of Minnesota’s autism prevalence numbers which they told us autism is 1 in 26 (1 in 59 nationwide) for the Somali community. As usual, Dr. Headache could care less the impact such high numbers have on real children and real families. How does ICI get funded by state and federal funding. Who is in charge of state and federal agencies – those that we elect. Vote wisely.
Above words do not reflect any candidate, agency or committee.
Idil – Autism Mom