With all the talk about cutting funding and especially for public television and radio, the recent series that Robin McNeil has been hosting on autism is reason enough to support this programming with political support. He tells part of the story from a first person point of view as the grandfather of a grandson with autism, which makes the series more compelling and poignant. However, not everyone is thrilled with the coverage and Mr. McNeil's portrayal of people with autism.
For me Sesame Street and all the arts programming should be enough of a justification, but as a special education attorney and parent of a child with special needs, I felt truly affirmed and gratified to see the quality and scope of the discussions on public television.
We live in a sound-bite society but unfortunately autism and issues surrounding special education do not lend themselves to 20 second clips, if the greater society is going to have any real understanding of the issues affecting families, people with autism and with disabilities generally. This series of programs are worth it and should be shown to Congress the next time there is thought of cutting special education funding, funding for autism research and public television which creates a unique forum to delve into comlicated topics. Here is the link to this programming.
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