A Mother's Message

An interesting blog post from the Huffington Post--a mother's message to the President about the rise in autism.

Dear Mr. President:

I received a form letter from Vice President Joe Biden recently -- one of those mass emails one gets but rarely reads. I read that if I were to make a donation of $5, my name will be thrown into a hat for a chance to have dinner with you. Alone.

I imagined what I would say to you, Mr. President, if I had the opportunity to have dinner with you. And of course I knew what the answer was without hesitation. I would speak with you about the rising number of children diagnosed with autism. In 20years there has been a 600-percent increase in diagnosed cases of autism. I would direct you to the countless news stories regarding the rampant abuse of those same children and adults living in group homes and institutions. I would ask you to help set up communities where individuals with autism were treated with respect and would have more control over how they lived, allowing them to pursue their interests and encouraging them to follow their dreams.

Mr. President, I would tell you about our trips to Central America with our daughter Emma for stem cell treatments. I would encourage you to put more funding into stem cell research, umbilical cord stem cells, using the patient's own stem cells and any other form of stem cells that might prove viable in restoring the lives of hundreds of thousands, even millions.