We are facing a crisis that no one in the political arena will talk about. The fate of the children who are not “typical.” Not a day goes by that even out of my professional environment, I am not confronted with the devastation of a family who has a child with physical, emotional or developmental challenges such as autism, Asperger’s, oppositional defiance disorder, psychiatric disorders, pervasive developmental delay, Down syndrome and so many other, less well known problems that can overwhelm and take over the lives of so many.
How many of you do not know at least one family that doesn’t have a child who has “special needs”? A family that doesn’t have to carry burdens of loss and of a bleak future for at least one of the kids? As one of my friends has said (and I paraphrase), “I expected my trip to take me to Paris, but we got off in Hoboken.” Her daughter lives in a group home now, well cared for and well loved.
The social and economic impact of raising these children goes beyond the day to day care giving, mostly done by mothers who have given up their own careers–attorneys, MBAs, physicians, school teachers, social workers, aestheticians, business owners, and so many more. Loss of their productivity is not counted in the statistic about the loss of human potential of the child affected.
What are we doing to prepare? Some of these children will need daycare or residential homes as they age out of woefully inadequate school programs, even in the best of states. Where are these facilities? Where are the trained care givers? These children have no vote so the issue is not one we would hear addressed in a presidential debate. Their parents are generally overwhelmed and as far as I know, there is no one political organization that can speak for all.
And that is what I think it will take. A loud, unified voice that says, “We need help.” This is the role of government: to help those who truly cannot help themselves. While many have told me they are living with these challenges and they do truly love their child, their energy and other resources are often stretched.
These children and their families are soon going to overwhelm systems already deeply in trouble: educational, health, and social. Breakdown and isolation of families is resulting. This is a bad situation for all of us. Just think, only one statistic: 1 in 80 children falls somewhere on the autistic spectrum. Then think about all the others we have to help. Soon these children will be adults. Many, if not most, will not be able to be gainfully employed or mainstreamed into society. Where will all these children go?
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