Was it ever about Tylenol?

The Presidential uproar about Tylenol is all growl and no bite. Think about it. Finally, America’s top dog puts the cause of autism front and center and, instead of solutions, advances baseless claims that offers the parents of autistic children absolutely no hope.

Autism Speaks, the national advocate for autistic children and their families, are ringing the alarm bells, rallying tens of thousands of parents to push lawmakers to break ranks and protect the services their children need. But not one of the president’s loyalists has yet to stop the charlatans from using autism as red meat rather than solving a true policy challenge to help our children.  

Here are the facts: The nation’s most powerful programs that actually serve children with autism are Medicaid (the top target for a trillion dollars in federal cuts by the President), the Individuals with Disabilities Act (also slated to be discombobulated by the President’s demand to shut down the Department of Education), and the prized Health and Human Services Early Intervention Program (which the President proposed to cut for this school year).

The federal changes are not abstract; they’re already having an impact. Children in Philadelphia are already losing Medicaid-funded therapeutic services specially designed for children with autism under five years old. The City’s behavioral health system is restraining access to these services because of the shortage of Medicaid funds even before the full impact of federal cuts take hold later this fall.

If things aren’t hard enough, the city’s sole agency that offers development supports to young children with autism or other early childhood delays and disabilities announced last week that it cannot serve any additional children because of the state budget impasse. More than a thousand children languish on waiting lists for their services because federal and state funds are far short of what’s needed and now the impasse is making things worse.

The trickle-down effect of underfunding and interrupted funding is cratering the already fragile early intervention and behavioral health services systems for young children. Specialists working for these public programs with master’s degrees and PhDs are paid peanuts, forcing the best among them to reluctantly refuse to serve children in these public programs.

Some county agencies, especially Philadelphia, report the shortage funding and staff pave a road to nowhere. Far too many children get screened but it’s pointless – no place that’s taking new referrals.

In fact, the constraints on these systems are so severe that our most recent research unearthed the disturbing fact that the most vulnerable infants and toddlers, those subjected to abuse or neglect which make them entitled to Early Intervention services, are systematically failing to get access to these proven services that can dramatically boost their life chances. Simple governmental reforms could easily ensure these children the services they need. 

Instead, Americans were subjected to an embarrassing Presidential press conference that released a deluge of misinformation that will likely cause more children to suffer a lifetime of hardship. Against this backdrop, it’s hard not ask why some Congressional leaders stand idly by as the President deflects attention from the failure of the federal government to help children with autism and developmental delays.

If all of this is giving you a headache, all we can recommend is to take two Tylenol and don’t wait ’til morning to send this column to your federal and state officials. Together, they’re the sure cure.