More Autism stuff...

A few weeks ago I received an email from a very kind woman, letting me know about a book her sister-in-law (I think that was the relationship) had co-authored called Overcoming Autism: Finding the Answers, Strategies, and Hope That Can Transform a Child's Life.

I am loving this book. It is practical. It is real (and Claire LaZebnik has the best "voice"). It approaches autism from both a clinical and a parental perspective - having both intertwined makes it connect with me that much more. In looking it up this morning I found that there is a website just for the book as well - check it out here. I am about half-way through the book and feel like it could be one of the best I have read with tools I can use right now in working with Simon.

Time this week has a cover story on Autism. There are a couple articles you can read online - have to get the magazine for the full cover story.

I was reminded again as I looked around online this morning how MUCH information is out there. It is so overwhelming. Tons of different sites. Different opinions. Different books. It is enough to take you to the edge and beyond.

One thing I did come across was S. 843 and HR. 2421 Combating Autism Act of 2005 which is currently in committe in both the House and the Senate. Here is the summary of the bill:

After searching around to try and figure out the status of the bill I ended up calling Representative Mary Bono's office (she introduced the bill in the house). They gave me the following link where you can track the status of the bill: congress.gov Type HR2421 into the search field (make sure you click bill number below the search field). You can read the full text of the bill there as well. It sounds like this sort of legislation can be difficult to pass because it is "disease-specific" so they are looking into creative ways to get it through. Most bills never make it out of committee.

Check out the Combat Autism site for ways you can contact your House & Sentate leaders, and to find out if they are already supporting either the House or Senate bill.

And dude, this political stuff is just about as confusing as autism stuff. Around and around. Outdated and updated information. That is seriously a challenge on the web as well - sometimes it is hard to tell when content was added and how old or new the information is - it is too easy to think that it is all fresh and new.

This, my friends, is my life - with a bit of art thrown in for fun :). Go out and do something political today. It is quite an adventure.