►January 10, 2004 - County considers tax raise - The News-Gazette - "The Champaign County Board is expected to decide later this month whether to put a proposal on the November ballot to enact a countywide tax of up to 10 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to provide services for the county's 1,700 developmentally disabled residents."

Comment:  This sort of thing can be expected to become commonplace given the burgeoning disabled population.

►January 9, 2004 - Special ed a major part of a school’s work - Press of Atlantic City - "More than one out of every four students in the Pinelands Regional School District requires some form of special-education services, forcing the district to devote 40 percent of its instructional budget to the program...Beside the added cost per student - it can cost twice as much to educate a special-education student - the district employs about 100 special education personnel, about a quarter of its entire staff."

►January 8, 2004 - Parents of Children with Autism Turn to Medical Alternatives - Newswise/Life News via Healthy News - "One in three children recently diagnosed with autism received complementary or alternative medicine treatments and 9 percent used a potentially harmful type, according to a new study of patients in Philadelphia...Latino children were more likely to use complementary and alternative medicine compared to other groupings, according to Susan E. Levy, M.D., and colleagues, while those with additional, non-autistic disorders or deficits in thinking, learning and memory were less likely to do so...'The goal of many of these treatments is most likely not to treat autism per se, but rather to address some of the associated problems faced by these children,' she says."

►January 8, 2004 - Parents facing a difficult choice; Say they will fight to keep gov’t aid for their disabled children - Citizen Online - "Without the Katie Beckett waiver giving the family eligibility for Medicaid, DiMartino said she said her family would essentially be broke..."We want our son to be with us forever," she said as tears welled up in her eyes. 'I want to take care of my son. It would be very hard to do without the safety net of the Katie Beckett waiver.'...However, budget cuts at the state Department of Health and Human Services may jeopardize the current eligibility requirements, leaving many families without access to Medicaid."

►January 6, 2004 - Young And Mentally Ill ; State Services Dwindling For A Disease Few Understand - Rocky Mountain News via http://mentalhelp.net - "Diagnosed with bipolar disorder and Asperger's syndrome, Chelsy bounces back and forth between two emotions - euphoria and rage. When she's happy, she literally believes the animals can sing. When she's angry, she becomes convinced that the sky will fall, and she lashes out at anyone, anything, nearby...Several months ago, it was her mother. Chelsy tried to stab her with a carving knife."

►December 21, 2003 - Serious mind games - Parents of autistic children face years of intensive exercises and structured play with their kids in an effort to unlock abilities that seem trapped inside. New research suggests that diagnosis and treatment has to come early in life to be fully effective. - The Times-Picayune via www.nola.com

►December 30, 2003 - 'Unlimited Potential' program offers hope - New therapy surfaces in the treatment of autism, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and brain injuries. - Northwest Indian Times

►December 30, 2003 - Bill would help autistic kids - Proposal would tack surcharge on fines for drunken driving - Rocky Mountain News

►December 30, 2003 - In-Home Autism Program Eliminated - www.wbay.com - "Three hundred-fifty families across Wisconsin are looking for backup since a Fond du Lac clinic they relied on for their children is no longer an option. After the first of the year, the State is cutting back funding for an in-home therapy program for autistic children."