Can I have some background on Americans with disabilities?

People with disabilities have made great strides in the past decade, highlighted in 1990 by the passage of ADA.

Two thirds of those with disabilities are of working age and want to work.

Need for continued leadership remains strong. More than 50 million people-one out of every five Americans-have a disability. Nearly half the people with disabilities are of an employable age, yet only one-third are employed and the percentage who say they want to work increased from 66% to 78% in 1994.

The economic effect of unemployment of Americans with disabilities in our society is substantial. The cost of direct government and private payments to support people with disabilities of employable age who do not have jobs is estimated to be $232 billion annually. Another $195 billion in earnings and taxes are lost each year because Americans with disabilities are unemployed. By comparison, the annual budget deficit of the United States is approximately $200 billion.

"Employing and accommodating people with disabilities in the workplace has tremendous potential to impact our nation's economy," said Hearne. "But, it is clear that government alone cannot make the goals of ADA a reality. All people with disabilities need consumer and economic power and a unity of purpose in order to promote the goal of full inclusion in American society."

What is the AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990 founded on?

TITLE 42 - THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

CHAPTER 126 - EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES

Sec. 12101. Findings and purpose

(a) Findings

The Congress finds that

(1) some 43,000,000 Americans have one or more physical or mental disabilities, and this number is increasing as the population as a whole is growing older;

(2) historically, society has tended to isolate and segregate individuals with disabilities, and, despite some improvements, such forms of discrimination against individuals with disabilities continue to be a serious and pervasive social problem;

(3) discrimination against individuals with disabilities persists in such critical areas as employment, housing, public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting, and access to public services;

(4) unlike individuals who have experienced discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, or age, individuals who have experienced discrimination on the basis of disability have often had no legal recourse to redress such discrimination;

(5) individuals with disabilities continually encounter various forms of discrimination, including outright intentional exclusion, the discriminatory effects of architectural, transportation, and communication barriers, overprotective rules and policies, failure to make modifications to existing facilities and practices, exclusionary qualification standards and criteria, segregation, and relegation to lesser services, programs, activities, benefits, jobs, or other opportunities;

(6) census data, national polls, and other studies have documented that people with disabilities, as a group, occupy an inferior status in our society, and are severely disadvantaged socially, vocationally, economically, and educationally;

(7) individuals with disabilities are a discrete and insular minority who have been faced with restrictions and limitations, subjected to a history of purposeful unequal treatment, and relegated to a position of political powerlessness in our society, based on characteristics that are beyond the control of such individuals and resulting from stereotypic assumptions not truly indicative of the individual ability of such individuals to participate in, and contribute to, society;

(8) the Nation's proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals; and

(9) the continuing existence of unfair and unnecessary discrimination and prejudice denies people with disabilities the opportunity to compete on an equal basis and to pursue those opportunities for which our free society is justifiably famous, and costs the United States billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses resulting from dependency and nonproductivity.

(b) Purpose

It is the purpose of this chapter

(1) to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities;

(2) to provide clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing discrimination against individuals with disabilities;

(3) to ensure that the Federal Government plays a central role in enforcing the standards established in this chapter on behalf of individuals with disabilities; and

(4) to invoke the sweep of congressional authority, including the power to enforce the fourteenth amendment and to regulate commerce, in order to address the major areas of discrimination faced day-to-day by people with disabilities.

Please research this essential law more here.

What is autism?

Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder of development that lasts throughout a person's life. It is sometimes called a developmental disability because it usually starts before age three, in the developmental period, and because it causes delays or problems in many different skills that arise from infancy to adulthood.

The main signs and symptoms of autism involve language, social behavior, and behaviors concerning objects and routines:

• Communication-both verbal (spoken) and non-verbal (unspoken, such as pointing, eye contact, or smiling)
• Social interactions-such as sharing emotions, understanding how others think and feel (sometimes called empathy), and holding a conversation, as well as the amount of time a person spends interacting with others
• Routines or repetitive behaviors-often called stereotyped behaviors, such as repeating words or actions over and over, obsessively following routines or schedules, or playing with toys or objects in repetitive and sometimes inappropriate ways, or having very specific and inflexible ways of arranging items

People with autism might have problems talking with you, or they might not want to look you in the eye when you talk to them. They may have to line up their pencils before they can pay attention, or they may say the same sentence again and again to calm themselves down. They may flap their arms to tell you they are happy, or they might hurt themselves to tell you they are not. Some people with autism never learn how to talk. These behaviors not only make life difficult for people who have autism, but also take a toll on their families, their health care providers, their teachers, and anyone who comes in contact with them.

Because different people with autism can have very different features or symptoms, health care providers think of autism as a "spectrum" disorder-a group of disorders with a range of similar features. Based on their specific strengths and weaknesses, people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) may have mild symptoms or more serious symptoms, but they all have an ASD. This fact sheet uses the terms "ASD" and "autism" to mean the same thing.

What conditions are in the ASD category?

Currently, the ASD category includes:

• Autistic disorder (also called "classic" autism)
• Asperger syndrome
• Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified or atypical autism

In some cases, health care professionals use a broader term-pervasive developmental disorders (PDD)-to describe autism. The PDD category includes the ASDs mentioned above and: Childhood disintegrative disorder, and Rett syndrome.

Depending on specific symptoms, a person with autism may fall into the ASD or the PDD category. Sometimes, the terms "ASD" and "PDD" are used to mean the same thing because autism is in both categories.

When do people usually show signs of autism?

A number of the behavioral symptoms of autism are observable by 18 months of age, including: problems with eye contact, not responding to one's name, joint attention problems, underdeveloped skills in pretend play and imitation, and problems with non-verbal communication and language.

Some studies also note that, although more subtle, some signs of autism are detectable at eight months of age. In general, the average age of autism diagnosis is currently three years old. In many cases, a delay in the child's starting to speak around age two brings problems to parents' attention, even though other, less noticeable signs may be present at an earlier age.

Studies also show that a subgroup of children with ASDs experiences a "regression," meaning they stop using the language, play, or social skills they had already learned. This regression usually happens between the first and second birthdays.

Researchers are still learning about the features of regression in ASDs, and whether the features differ from those shown by individuals who show signs of autism in early life.

Is autism more common in certain groups of people?

Current figures show that autism occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups equally, with individuals in one group no more or less likely to have ASDs than those in other groups.

Three groups are at higher-than-normal risk for ASDs, including:

• Boys. Statistics show that boys are three to four times more likely to be affected by autism than girls are.
• Siblings of those with ASDs. Among families that have one child with an ASD, recurrence of ASD in another sibling is between 2 percent and 8 percent, a figure much higher than in the general population.
• People with certain other developmental disorders. For certain disorders, including Fragile X syndrome, mental retardation, and tuberous sclerosis, autism is common in addition to the primary symptoms of the disorder.

What causes autism?

Scientists don't know exactly what causes autism at this time.

Much evidence supports the idea that genetic factors-that is, genes, their function, and their interactions-are one of the main underlying causes of ASDs. But, researchers aren't looking for just one gene. Current evidence suggests that as many as 10 or more genes on different chromosomes may be involved in autism, to different degrees. Some genes may place a person at greater risk for autism, called susceptibility.

Other genes may cause specific symptoms or determine how severe those symptoms are. Or, genes with changes or mutations might add to the symptoms of autism because the genes or gene products aren't working properly. Research has also shown that environmental factors, such as viruses, may also play a role in causing autism.

While some researchers are examining genes and environmental factors, other researchers are looking at possible neurological, infectious, metabolic, and immunologic factors that may be involved in autism. Because the disorder is so complex, and because no two people with autism are exactly alike, autism is probably the result of many causes.

Autism FAQs from National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. For more information on autism contact www.autismspeaks.org, www.autismsocietyofwa.org, or www.arcsno.org

To discuss referring a child to our Program, please email or call Executive Director, Liz Braun.