The report of a blue-ribbon panel commissioned by Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, R-Kirkwood, and the funding recommendations proposed by Gov. Matt Blunt will be the launching platforms for discussion in the Missouri Legislature on how to improve services for autistic children.
Improved diagnostic techniques over the past two decades have resulted in identifying an increasing number of children as autistic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one of every 150 children has a form of autism that impairs his or her ability to communicate and interact and causes repetitive behavior.
Autistic children can be helped. Providing that assistance clearly is the purpose of the 36 recommendations made by the special panel to state lawmakers and the funding increase that will be sought by Gov. Blunt. During the upcoming session, legislators will be asked to find out how best to improve access for available services to parents and their autistic children, and how much funding will be necessary.
Not all of the recommendations are likely to make it through the General Assembly this session. But all should get a thorough hearing.
Among the proposals that should be implemented quickly are forming a statewide commission on autism spectrum disorders to make its own recommendations to the state’s chief executive and solons for integrating training, treatment and services, and hiring a full-time employee for the Office of Autism Services to coordinate with other state agencies.
We applaud Gibbons, Sen. Scott Rupp, who led the special panel that drafted the recommendations, and Gov. Blunt for recommending more money for professional services. It will be a good beginning. As the parent of a child now living independently with an assistant in Springfield said: “If she had been diagnosed earlier, she could be a taxpayer instead of a person receiving benefits.”
Opinion
In our view: Autism commission needed
- Opinion
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Our View: Make voting easiser
This year’s ballot will not include a proposed constitutional amendment that photo identification be required at the polls in Missouri. Good.
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Scott Charton, guest columnist: 'Deadline in Disaster' film a story about storytellers
Local newspapers are at their best when they help their communities confront, understand, endure and overcome shared challenges.
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Anson Burlingame, guest columnist: Class of 2012 upholds character, hope
My oldest granddaughter was part of the class of 2012 from Joplin High School, and I attended the ceremony on Monday night.
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Our View: Remembering and moving on
The community — make that the nation — will spend today remembering the 161 lives lost in the most destructive tornado in modern-day record keeping.
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Our View: Inspiring all of us
We look forward to the speeches of honor student Michelle Barchak and others Monday night when they address the 2012 Joplin High School graduating class — along with President Barack Obama and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon.
- Rebecca Spracklen Kanan: Ode to Joplin (5-22-11)
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R. Duane Graham, guest columnist: Trees — and communities — require time to grow
“I never saw a discontented tree,” said the great naturalist John Muir.
Well, I have seen a lot of discontented trees in Joplin this past year as I have moved through the still-healing disruption that tracks across our town . . . -
Emily Fuller, guest columnist: Two cities, two tornadoes
I’ve been afraid of storms ever since I can remember. When I was 4, my dad told me if I stood too close to the windows in our house I could be struck by lightening.
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Kevin Wilson, guest columnist: The world isn't ending, but the spending must
OK, let’s get something out on the table right from the get-go: I am not, and have never claimed to be, an economist.
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Roy Blunt, guest columnist: Spirit of Joplin resilient one year after disaster
I served the people of Joplin for 14 years in the U.S. House. I live about 60 miles from Joplin, and I’ve been here hundreds of times. Having grown up in Southwest Missouri, I’m also familiar with tornado damage.
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