Autistic Kids & Their Loved Ones Take On Sharrontology's Cruelty

All of a sudden, Sharron Angle's campaign is shocked, just SHOCKED!, that real Nevada families are horrified by her dismissal of "autism".

Doctors, nurses, and parents of autistic children are demanding an apology from Sharron Angle after some comments the Tea Party candidate for U.S. Senate made about autism. [...]

The group that gathered at a local obgyn's office on Thursday was reacting to a video posted on You-Tube of a Tea Party speech Angle made a year ago.

Angle spoke against mandated health care, and appeared to focus on coverage for autism and pregnant women. Some parents in the group that met Thursday were offended by her comments. Others said they felt Angle didn't have enough information.

Jan Crandy is among a group of advocates who helped create a Nevada law mandating health care coverage for the treatment of Autism. She said, "I want anybody running for office to really be educated about the issues. To take the time to be educated on the issues before you make comments to know, that by covering autism today, they're saving billions of dollars in the future."

And they had nothing but typical canned attacks when they were asked to respond to these real families speaking out...



And this uncovering of what Angle is really saying when she talks about "things we don't even really need"...



And this revelation of what Angle is really slandering...



So what was she really bashing? These fine folks in Reno put a face on it.

Parents of children with autism are fighting mad at comments made by Senate candidate Sharron Angle. The parents met at a round table discussion called by Assem. David Bobzien, (D) District 24, Wednesday morning in Reno.

Bobzien was among numerous state lawmakers who sponsored Assembly Bill 162 at last year's session, which provides for insurance coverage for expensive-- but effective-- autism treatments.

At a 2009 Tea Party Express rally in Winnemucca, Angle told the crowd that high insurance rates can be blamed in part on coverage for autism treatment and maternity leave.

"Everything they want to throw at us is covered under 'autism'," Angle said, making quotation marks around the word 'autism' with her fingers. "How about maternity leave? I'm not going to have any more babies, but I sure get to pay for it on my insurance. Those are the kinds of things we want to get rid of."

"I was frankly really taken aback by the comments she made," said Bobzien. "This was a piece of legislation supported by almost every member of both the Assembly and the Senate." He said he is afraid that if Angle is elected, AB 162 will be repealed, leaving parents without the ability to pay for necessary treatments.

"I am outraged by Sharron Angle and the comments she has made," said Herah Osborne, whose 7-year-old twins have been diagnosed with autism. "[And] the fact that she didn't educate herself about Assembly Bill 162."

Several parents who attended the meeting took a copy of the 2008 report on autism, compiled by the Autism Coalition of Nevada, to Angle's Reno office.

And all of a sudden, Sharrontology is miffed that these autistic kids and their families are fighting back.

Sharron Angle's offensive and damaging remarks about autism concern us all. By claiming that individuals and families "falsely label other symptoms as autism" in order to take advantage of insurance mandates, she damages the effort for full inclusion and civil rights of Autistic Americans, both young and old. We call on her to apologize for the insensitivity of her remarks and for the failure to recognize the legitimate health care needs of both the autism and maternity communities.

And in case you had forgotten what Sharrontology said, here's a reminder.



And here's what it means. It means Sharrontology doesn't think the insurance companies have to cover autism care... Or for that matter, care for pregnant women or cancer screenings or any kind of health care that the insurance industry would rather not cover. After all, she feels it's more important that they pad their profits than we get the care we need. She thinks it's more important that her big money "Tea Party, Inc." California consultant patrons score political points than any of us get the care we need.

After all, who are these kids to her? Apparently, just quotation marks.

What's health care policy to her? Apparently, just something to twist and distort and lie about to try to win higher office.

Who are we to her? Apparently, what's holding her back from taking her extremist agenda to Washington.

But don't forget, we can stop her and her extreme agenda. Just as these brave families are fighting back, so can we! It's bad enough that all the autistic kids and their families here in Nevada have been under attack like this thanks to Sharron Angle and her teabagger extremist pals. We don't have to subject them to any more of this garbage, and we certainly don't have to give her a national platform to cause even more pain and suffering!

Sharrontology vs. Reality

Oh, my. Look at the storm Sharron Angle has brewed!

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network and the National Nurses United Nevada announced this afternoon that they're holding a press conference tomorrow, along with autistic adults and pregnant women, at the office of a Las Vegas OB-GYN at 10:30 a.m. Mountain time to demand that Angle apologize.

Of course, Sharrontology keeps denying what she said. Apparently, she wants us to ignore this video.



And apparently, she wants us to ignore everything she says that she doesn't want us to hear.

I am beginning to wonder about this seemingly pathological habit Angle has of saying she never said something when it is on tape and so easily retrieved. Does she really not remember, or does she think this is a "Mission Impossible" world where all tapes self-destruct after five seconds?

Maybe that explains why she keeps running to hide in her underground bunker.

Sharrontology, Meet Suzy Lowdown

Remember this?



Now look at this.



Sue Lowden imploded her own campaign with "Barter-gate". She demonstrated she knew nothing about good health care policy, she knew nothing about working class families and what they're enduring right now, and she knew nothing about how to keep her campaign functioning.



Sound familiar? Deja vu!



And deja vu?

Here's another fun data point in the Nevada Senate race. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is now being given a five-point lead over Sharron Angle -- by a Republican polling firm.

As Jon Ralston reports, a survey conducted for the Retail Association of Nevada by a well-known GOP polling firm, Public Opinion Strategies, showed the following numbers: Reid 45%, Angle 40%, plus 1% for Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian. The survey of likely voters has a ±4.38% margin of error. The last publicly-released POS survey of this race was all the way back in February, and put Reid ahead of Angle and Ashjian by 37%-32%-16%.

According to this poll, Reid's favorable rating is only 44%, with 51% unfavorable -- a position that ought to spell political death for an incumbent. However, Angle is even lower at 38%-52%.

So once again, the Nevada GOoP looks to be succeeding in wresting defeat from the jaws of victory. And once again, their "chosen one" is sinking to complete absurdity.

Angle says women ‘staged the fight’ to detract from supposed news at non-debate [...]

Yes, that's what Senate hopeful Sharron Angle told national radio interviewer Jerry Doyle today about that scuffle at last night's Faith Lutheran forum, once again invoking Saul Alinsky. Angle seems to think every Democrat has read his works. Alinsky was a leftist community organizer and Angle loves talking about how her foes are using his techniques to disrupt her.

But can she possibly believe this was a set-up fight? What? As if that stepped on some great news event for her?

Deja vu?



All over again?





Sharrontology, meet Suzy Lowdown. And prepare for the same political fate.

She's just as out of touch.

As the forum ended and Angle turned to leave the stage, a woman approached her to ask why she wants to limit help for people with autism. The Reid campaign this week released video of Angle in which she appears to criticize a Nevada mandate that requires insurance companies to cover treatment for autism.

Angle ignored the question. Her handlers had warned that she would not be speaking with anyone after the event. They had to whisk her away to catch a flight to Reno for a morning fundraiser.

Angle looked past the woman, waved to the crowd one last time and walked away.

And she's just as clueless. Nevada is suffering. America is suffering! We need real help, not real crazy. People are looking for jobs, looking to save their homes, looking for someone who will represent us in Washington and work hard for working families. We didn't need Sue Lowden's nonsense, and we certainly don't need Sharron Angle's.

And she's just as clueless. Nevada is suffering. America is suffering! We need real help, not real crazy. People are looking for jobs, looking to save their homes, looking for someone who will represent us in Washington and work hard for working families. We didn't need Sue Lowden's nonsense, and we certainly don't need Sharron Angle's.

Bad policy. Bad attitude. Just plain bad for Nevada. Sharrontology.

Sharrontology Lies... on Autism & Health Care

Now that Sharron Angle has been caught red handed using autistic kids as pawns in her political game of currying favor with teabaggers, she's trying to make excuses for what she did. She tries to fault the legislation passed last past, saying she's just against "government mandates which falsely label other symptoms as autism". So let's take a look at the actual bill at hand, AB 162, to see what's in it.

“A health benefit plan must provide an option of coverage for screening for and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders and for treatment of autism spectrum disorders…” [...]

“‘Autism spectrum disorders’ means a neurobiological medical condition including, without limitation, autistic disorder, Asperger’s Disorder and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.” [...]

“‘Behavioral therapy’ means any interactive therapy derived from evidence-based research, including, without limitation, discrete trial training, early intensive behavioral intervention, intensive intervention programs, pivotal response training and verbal behavior provided by a licensed psychologist, licensed behavior analyst, licensed assistant behavior analyst or certified autism behavior interventionist.” [...]

“‘Applied behavior analysis’ means the design, implementation and evaluation of environmental modifications using behavioral stimuli and consequences to produce socially significant improvement in human behavior, including, without limitation, the use of direct observation, measurement and functional analysis of the relations between environment and behavior.”

Oh wait, so it just deals with autism... No "false labeling of other symptoms" to be found. And contrary to what she said, autistic kids need these treatments!

So what was AB 162 really about? Let's go back to February 2009 to see what the legislature was working on and what they wanted to address.

{Assm. James] Ohrenschall [D-Las Vegas, and the author of AB 192] has also won the support of several Assembly Republicans, including a key advocate, Assemblywoman Melissa Woodbury, R-Henderson, who teaches autistic children in the Clark County School District.

For their proponents, these laws offer a win-win: They gather support from an energized and well-organized constituency, and they force the insurance industry to pay for treatment that might otherwise fall to the state or school districts, and, in the case of the Silver State, Nevada Early Intervention Services.

If neither the insurance industry nor the government pays, the burden is left with families with autistic children.

Toddre, who has two autistic children, said, “The financial burden is unbelievable to try to give your child a decent future and a decent life.”

So why was this necessary?

Autism, a developmental disorder often impairing socialization, is now diagnosed in 1 out of every 150 children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The cost of effective treatment can reach $24,000 to $40,000 per year per child, with additional costs resulting from the various medical conditions that usually accompany autism, according to Ralph Toddre, founder of the Autism Coalition of Nevada, who also sits on the Nevada Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Insurance companies have traditionally declined to pay for treatment, which usually involves intensive speech and occupational therapy. They assert that the care is not strictly medical even though it arises from a medical condition.

This isn't cheap. Someone has to pay. Insurance can cover it. Or parents can be forced to pay everything out-of-pocket. Or the state can be forced to absorb all the costs. Legislators decided to work with the insurance companies to get them to agree to cover autism related health care.

So why is this care necessary? Republican Assembly Member Melissa Woodbury (R-Henderson) explained.

Autism is referred to by clinicians as Autism Spectrum Disorders, which refers to the wide range of symptoms and functionality among those born with it. The shared symptoms include problems with social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or interests, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Without intensive treatment, autistic children will more than likely become wards of the state when they reach adult age.

Woodbury cited research showing 47 percent of children who receive early intervention and at least 30 hours per week of treatment lead independent lives as adults.

Of those who do not, 90 percent need a lifetime of expensive custodial care.

Autism Speaks, an organization devoted to autism awareness, has even more on AB 162 and what it's really about.

So what did we find? Well, AB 162 was written to ensure that insurance companies couldn't deny much needed health care and treatment to kids with autism. That's all. And despite Sharron Angle's attempts to deflect and change the subject to "taxes!" or "immigrants!" or something else that has nothing to do with AB 162 and autism care, she can't deny that she trashed sound policy and defended the supposed "right" of insurance companies to deny care to children because they may be "autistic" and the care they need isn't what she thinks she needs.



And not only is Angle's dismissal of autism care cold hearted, but it's also foolish, as Desert Beacon notes. Early care now means autistic kids can be grow up to be independent adults. It's still shocks me that Sharrontology would deny that. But then again, she does have a history of throwing common sense out the window. And she has a history of lying about her own words and actions when she falls into hot water over them.

Sharrontology Goes to the Gutter

Yep, she actually said it.

“Take off the mandates for coverage in the state of Nevada and all over the United States,” she shouts. “But here you know what I’m talking about. You’re paying for things you don’t even need.

“They just passed the latest one, is everything that they want to throw at us now is covered under 'autism',” she said, using exaggerated air quotes to deliver the word ‘autism.’

So we "don't even need" for insurance companies to treat fairly people with autism? Does Sharron Angle really want to stoop this low? Apparently so.



So are these people just burdens "we just don't need"?







And this is what Sharrontology bashed.

"Take off the mandates for coverage in the state of Nevada and all over the United States," Angle said. "But here you know what I'm talking about. You're paying for things you don't even need. They just passed the latest one, is everything that they want to throw at us now is covered under autism," she said, using her fingers to make quotes in the air while she said the word ‘autism.' "So that's a mandate that you have to pay for. How about maternity leave, I'm not going to have any more babies, but I sure get to pay for it on my insurance. So those are the things we want to get rid of."

Her comments regarding autism coverage refer to Assembly Bill 162, which passed with sweeping bipartisan support in the Nevada Legislature in 2009. Only two Nevada legislators voted no on the bill: Assemblyman Ed Goedhart, R-Amargosa, Churchill, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Mineral, Nye counties, and AssemblymanDon Gustavson, R-Sparks, Humboldt, Lander, Washoe counties. The bill passed 60-2 in both houses with one legislator absent.

Again, Sharron Angle reveals herself to be so far outside the mainstream and so far from common sense that even Republicans can't accept her extremism! No wonder why she won't talk to any journalists!



And no wonder why she won't talk to any real Nevadans like me. I have members of my own family who are autistic. I have an aunt who's helping to raise her autistic grandson. I know autism, and I know Sharron Angle is full of shit when she claims health care for autistic kids is "things you don't even need". What does she know about autism that I don't know and families dealing with autism don't know?

This just shows Sharrontology will do anything, even throw innocent kids with autism, under the bus to curry favor with teabaggers. Disgusting. She truly is unfit for higher office.