The Autism-Welfare Nexus

Another cycle of government dependency and poverty

By PAUL SPERRY

If Steve Jobs were a child today, his school no doubt would drag his parents into the office and tell them he was so difficult and disruptive he needed to be examined by a doctor.

His chastened parents, in turn, would take him to a pediatrician who more than likely would diagnose him with high-functioning autism and prescribe a daily regimen of Prozac or Ritalin.

Prescriptions in hand, his working-class parents could then apply for federal disability benefits. And his school could qualify for more federal aid.

Duly medicated and labeled "disabled," Jobs probably would never grow up to invent cutting-edge technologies or revolutionize industries.

This is the Orwellian world in which we live today in the age of autism hysteria. And it will only get worse, thanks to ObamaCare.

In honor of April's National Autism Awareness Month, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius laid out ObamaCare's new autism benefits package.

"Under the new health care law, insurers will no longer be allowed to deny children coverage for Autism Spectrum Disorder or other pre-existing conditions; lifetime dollar limits on coverage are prohibited; new plans must cover autism screening at no additional cost to parents; and young adults without employer-provided insurance may remain on their parents' health insurance until they turn 26," she announced, just four days after naming her new autism advisory board, which includes every key player in the growing autism lobby.

This powerful lobby is feeding the hysteria and creating an appetite for greater federal funding. And the Obama administration is exploiting the "epidemic" to increase the size of the federal government.

"Also," Sebelius said, "starting in 2014, individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder will have expanded access to affordable insurance options through new affordable insurance exchanges and Medicaid."

A week before the health commissar made it easier to diagnose and medicate kids for the disorder, the Federal Centers For Disease Control officially declared it an epidemic. In late March, CDC claimed 1 in 88 kids now has autism, up 78% from 2000.

But buried in its report is a disclaimer noting that the number of cases may be inflated due to "the change to a broader, more inclusive definition" of autism.

Few caveats are more understated.

In 1994, medical officials and the Clinton administration broadened the definition to include children who previously might have been thought of as odd.

Today milder conditions, such as speech impediments and extreme shyness, are covered in addition to severe autism under the new umbrella: Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Before the 1990s, when only 1 in 2,500 were diagnosed as autistic, symptoms were obvious. Kids with classic autism didn't speak or make eye contact. They hit themselves. They soiled themselves.

Many even ate broken glass.

Now more than half of autism cases fall under the mildest range of the spectrum, known as Asperger's disorder. These kids fidget. Or brood. Or they may pick their nose and eat only yellow foods. But they are high-functioning students who will be able to hold jobs as adults.

And they shouldn't be labeled mentally disabled.

There's No Epidemic

A growing body of scientific research has found that the rise in autism diagnoses is not due to a true increase in the incidence of the cognitive disorder, but rather to a widening of the definition and increased screening by schools and doctors, who are rushing to diagnose and medicate socially awkward or difficult kids.

According to recent studies that control for changes in the diagnostic criteria, the rate of autism has actually been stable over time.

And the number of language disorder cases have fallen as autism cases have risen, suggesting one disorder has simply been substituted for another.

In other words, there is no autism epidemic. The problem is mostly statistical.

Yet President Obama has pledged $1 billion for autism research that includes studying alleged "environmental factors" leading to the "epidemic."

That's on top of the hundreds of millions in new spending on special education and disability benefits for autism.

The number of children receiving such benefits has surged since the 1990s, when the Clinton administration expanded coverage to include the mental disorder.

Now autism is the fastest-growing category within the Supplemental Security Income program, which was intended to serve kids with congenital and physical disabilities like cerebral palsy and Down syndrome.

As of December 2010, the latest Social Security Administration data show, almost 100,000 children were on federal disability for autism. Parents filed 23,203 new applications in 2010, quadrupling 2000's total of 5,430.

Officials rarely review autism cases, making the program — which pays up to $700 in monthly cash benefits with no spending restrictions — vulnerable to fraud and abuse.

In fact, it's evolving into yet another welfare boondoggle. Many high-functioning teens are discouraged from working for fear of losing their disability status and benefits, which will only create a cycle of government dependency and poverty.

Health and social workers coach parents applying for benefits to obtain a prescription for autism medication, since kids on meds are more likely to be approved (other tips include listing bad "personal hygiene" as a symptom).

Also in the 1990s, Washington added autism as a separate disability category to a federal law guaranteeing special education services at public expense.

Towering Achievements

This, in turn, has led to a surge in special ed funding for schools. There's now a powerful incentive for administrators to increase their autism head counts.

Autism also is big business for doctors and drugmakers. And now, HHS and CDC are working with the Academy of American Pediatrics to recommend doctors screen children at a much younger age — starting at 18 months and then again at 24 months.

There's no blood test for autism. Diagnoses are based strictly on observation. So watch the caseload soar even higher.

And watch the autism industry grow bigger. All told, it already costs the U.S. about $35 billion each year to care for people with autism.

Hans Asperger, the doctor who originally observed kids with what he called high-functioning autism, wrote that their narrowly focused interests can drive them to achieve things that are impossible for normal people.

It was said of Jobs — the socially awkward loner prone to angry outbursts, who grew up to found the world's largest company — that whatever he was interested in he would generally carry it to an "irrational extreme."

Thank goodness.

The American Psychiatric Association is completing its first major revision to its diagnostic manual since 1995, when cases first took off.

Let's hope it corrects its error and narrows the definition back to classic autism before this false epidemic and welfare lobby grow any bigger.