Dear Editor: Autism continues to be a growing problem in Ocean County, the State of New Jersey and the entire nation. A report just issued by the Center for Disease Control found that New Jersey’s autism rate in children has jumped 12 percent. Autism now impacts 1 in every 41 children born in the state.
To call attention to Autism I recently asked our county employees and fellow elected officials to wear blue as part of the nationwide “Autism Speaks Light It Up Blue” campaign. But simply calling attention to the problem is not enough.
I join with our Congressional delegation in calling for more and better screenings of young children as well as early intervention for those children diagnosed with Autism. As a lifelong educator, I have seen the difference early intervention can make.
However, a new problem is also emerging. A growing number of senior citizens are caring for their Autistic adult children. What happens when these seniors are gone? As Chairman of Senior Services for Ocean County, I’m calling on our leaders from all levels of government to join forces and find a solution to this growing problem.
Parents enjoying their golden years should not have to worry about who will care for their sons and daughters. The time to act is now. Together we can find a solution.
Joseph H. Vicari
Freeholder
Thank you, Mr. Vicari. My autistic son is eleven and I am 52. I am concerned how he is going to manage later in life. Also, I wish we could find out what causes autism – there are no real answers as of now. My son had early intervention at two years old and I’m sure it helped him to succeed to where he is today.
Stop feeding your kids all the junk candy and snacks. Proven solution.
Correct; give them whole grain spelt chips when they get home from school so they don’t get hungry before supper. For supper, there’s 12 grain bread, organic chicken, broiled to remove any excess fat, whole wheat noodles and alfafa sprouts. Try that for a week. Let us know how it goes.
It is proven that vaccines cause autism.
As long as the politicians take money from Big Food and Big Pharma and let your food in from god knows what country (check the labeling) the kids are just corporate fodder.
Not many kids had autism before everything you bought to eat was packaged in PLASTIC, which is based on petroleum products. The plastic leaches into the food. Just saying….
There is a major increase in the diagnosis of autism, as well as many other “syndromes” and “disorders”, caused by Big Therapy which is funded by Big Government.
I can’t feed the autism out of my child, or for that matter, cause my child’s autism, any more than I can slap the ignorant out of the above commenters.