Autism
Thank you for printing the exciting news about autism (“Evidence Linking Defect in Brain to Autism Discovered,” Part I, May 26). We are especially excited because partial funding for Dr. Eric Courchesne’s research came from the Stallone Fund for Autism Research, an affiliation fund of the Los Angeles Chapter of Autism Society of America. While we realize that the findings are from a small group of children, as parents we have been waiting for a long time for some positive news as to the cause of autism.
At the same time, we worry about the fact that California’s special education law will sunset on June 30, that Protection and Advocacy, a federally mandated agency to help parents with legal problems, has been politicized with recent appointments to its board, and that reimbursement rates for community programs are at least 20% below their cost, resulting in the closing of many programs statewide. These are the realities for parents which add to the daily burden of caring for their autistic child. At the same time, we loudly applaud all research that offers hope to eliminate one kind of autism in the future.
TOBY ARENBERG
President
L.A. Chapter of Autism
Society of America
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