Researcher calls on the scientific community to defend individuals with disabilities
The paper, authored by David S. Mandell, ScD, a professor of mental health services in the department of Psychiatry and director of the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Colleen L. Barry, PhD, MPP, Fred and Julie Soper Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.
"We believe it is essential that the scientific community and autism advocates call for the use of evidence to guide policy in this area," the researchers wrote. "Such a principle would bring needed resources where they are most important, strengthening efforts to support people with autism and other disabilities."
Mandell and Barry also draw attention to the threats posed to children with autism and other disabilities by defunding the traditional public school system and not enforcing the Individuals with Disabilities Act, which guarantees children with disabilities the right to a free and appropriate public education. They note that Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos both have made statements indicating their intent to change or not enforce these programs and associated regulations.
The authors also point to recent events in which political figures used their platforms to give credence to disproven theories about autism. Mandell and Barry suggest that public comments from President Trump and others about the connection between vaccines and autism are distractions from the real events that are putting children with disabilities in peril.
"Talking about the thoroughly disproven connection between vaccines and autism is a red herring." Mandell said. "If the current administration really cares about children with disabilities, they will strengthen the programs that safeguard their health and well-being, not tear them apart."
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