My Autism Insights

I think first and foremost, I’m thankful that last night was the last presidential debate.  I’ve had enough of hearing the same thing over and over, and I’m really tired of McCain’s angry sniping.  Anyway, my thankfulness:

1. I’m glad someone FINALLY talked about special needs families and that Obama came out and said he wants to fully fund IDEA.  And for all Sarah Palin’s assertions that she would fight for families with special needs, her state seems to be a bit behind the times in terms of providing support.  Also, I was a bit disturbed that McCain seemed more focused on finding a cause for autism than dealing with the present lack of support for so many individuals.  He mentioned that we shouldn’t just ‘throw more money at the problems with schools.

2. I am thankful for the existence of Roe v. Wade and more than a little offended at McCain’s characterization as people who are pro-choice as being pro-abortion.  I don’t know if there is really anyone who is pro-abortion (and if there are those folks, they are in an incredibly small minority).  I mean get real - no one wants to just go wantonly killing unborn babies.  But there have to be options available when circumstances dictate.  You cannot mandate a person’s body.  And how dare he belittle the health of a mother as a valid concern?!

3. I am thankful that Obama finally mentioned the real cost of health care in response to McCain’s $5000 refund.  That would be great if you could actually get a decent health plan for that much, but according to the National Coalition on Healthcare , the annual premium on a family plan averages around $12,000.  Quite frankly, I don’t have$7 grand to dish out so that my kids can go to the doctor, especially since one of them sees specialists several times a year.  And McCain keeps talking about competition between states - how does that help?  Does he really expect people to travel to other states for health coverage?  Our current health plan is based in another county.  Now, we have decent coverage, but most of the doctors inthe network plan are in the county where the plan is based.  We can go out of network, but the cost is prohibitive.  So, that means I have to travel an hour to go to the doctor.  Guess what - I don’t go to the doctor very often.  My primary doctor is now relatively local, but my husband’s is not.  So when he injured himself and couldn’t drive an hour, that was a problem.  Now, that’s within the same state.  How are people supposed to manage that if they have to travel out of state to receive certain benefits?  And if anyone thinks insurance agencies won’t do that, please guess again.  As it is, we’re traveling an hour to see Gus’s specialist (Pediatric Developmental Specialist) because we, in 2.5 years of living here, haven’t found a local specialist who takes our plan.

4. I am thankful that the debate was not more eventful than it was because I wasn’t tempted to stay up afterward.  I got a decent night’s sleep for a change!  And now that Gus is feeling better, he slept to a good time this morning too, which hopefully means a good day for him.

I hope my views haven’t offended anyone, and I’d love for you to comment withyour own gratitude!  Look at the bright side, in just over 2 weeks, you probably won’t have to read any more about politics from this mom.  Have a great Thursday!

Trackback URI | Comments RSS