GEOFF'S BLOG

Abuse of Authority...

Families with autistic children face huge challenges daily. The emotional, physical and financial burdens are significant.

These families need help and help is available. However, too often the systemic dysfunction of some of the bureaucracies created to service them often exacerbates an already difficult situation.

Autism, like Cerebral Palsy, is a wide umbrella covering a very wide spectrum of challenges. Aspergers kids can be very bright and excel at intellectual tasks but suffer numerous social interaction problems. Some families with autistic children face the gut wrenching reality that eventually, inevitably their child will have to be institutionalized after years of struggling to keep the family together.

It has been suggested that only about 20 percent of parents actually get the services they need and are entitled to receive. Part of the problem is they don’t know what they don’t know. The more egregious part of the problem is they specifically are not told, OR they are intimidated into accepting what they get regardless of the quality (or lack of quality).  Reportedly some families are literally forced to sign inappropriate and unfair ‘parent agreements’ which restrict their involvement with their own child’s program.

Some vendors providing service are great. Others are not. Among those in the ‘not’ category we find vendors colluding with government agencies to provide minimum or non existent service and actually bullying parents to accept less than they are entitled.

We hope to explore in greater detail the good the bad and the ugly of service providers and government agencies.

We will be providing links to solicit additional information into what is right and what is wrong among government agencies and private service providers.

Individual families have already accomplished some level of success in compelling various government institutions to comply with the requirements of the Letterman Act and assorted rules and regulations.

We hope to give voice to those families already suffering to at least get what they are entitled and hopefully expand the outreach into areas not yet tapped.

In order to do this we are asking that YOU share this information with us so that we may share it with the community.

It is reprehensible that families in need, families struggling to keep families and marriages together are challenged by the very government agencies created to assist them.  That there are private companies exploiting and victimizing families is beyond contempt.

Please help us help………….