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'Vision' Becomes A Reality
Newly Opened Centers Will Serve Burdened Autistic Residents
By Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin
Hershey — After five years of discussion and planning, Pennsylvania opened three regional centers yesterday to aid the treatment of autistic residents, Pennsylvania Secretary of Public Welfare Estelle Richman announced.
The Autism Service, Education, Research and Training (ASERT) programs are commencing operation at the Pennsylvania State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Autism diagnoses have dramatically increased in the last two decades, according to health officials. The number of Pennsylvanians living with this type of social and learning disorder rose from two in every 10,000 people in 1989 to more than 40 per 10,000 in 2004, according to the state’s Autism Task Force report.
Pennsylvania has struggled to provide every autistic Pennsylvanian with services to keep their futures healthy and bright. Following the recommendations of the task force, the state Department of Public Welfare devoted $1.6 million to creating each of the three centers. They are places Ms. Richman hopes relatives, patients and caregivers will seek resources to keep the autistic community well cared for.
She said families with autistic loved ones are already becoming aware of the centers through advocacy networks.
“The train has left the station,” she said. “It is indeed beginning to pick up more people.”
State Rep. Dennis O’Brien, R-169th, of Philadelphia County, joined Ms. Richman and members of the Hershey Medical Center’s administration to acclaim the formation of the facilities. A founder and chairman of the Autism Caucus, he has worked for more than two decades on issues of mental disability.
“Now we can look out and we can see a vision,” he said. “And that vision is something that will have a tremendous impact.”
Marc and Kathy Lubbers, Lebanon County parents of Anthony, an 8-year-old living with autism, said it makes them happy to have the Hershey ASERT center up and running. They said Anthony has been fortunate to receive exemplary treatment but added too many families with autistic children stumble along the path to quality care because the system is so vast and complicated.
Advocates for the autistic and otherwise mentally disabled acknowledge that despite some of the dents the state has recently made in the backlog of those waiting to get treatment, obstacles still lie ahead. According to the nonprofit Pennsylvania Waiting List Campaign 21,161 people all through the state still await services and 4,608 of those cases are deemed immediate concerns.
Many of those state residents are put in this situation because they become eligible for fewer public mental health services once they reach adulthood.
“The entitlements fall away,” Pennsylvania Bureau of Autism Services Director Nina Wall-Cote said. “We really are challenged there.”
Bradley Vasoli can be reached at bvasoli@thebulletin.us
The Autism Service, Education, Research and Training (ASERT) programs are commencing operation at the Pennsylvania State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Autism diagnoses have dramatically increased in the last two decades, according to health officials. The number of Pennsylvanians living with this type of social and learning disorder rose from two in every 10,000 people in 1989 to more than 40 per 10,000 in 2004, according to the state’s Autism Task Force report.
Pennsylvania has struggled to provide every autistic Pennsylvanian with services to keep their futures healthy and bright. Following the recommendations of the task force, the state Department of Public Welfare devoted $1.6 million to creating each of the three centers. They are places Ms. Richman hopes relatives, patients and caregivers will seek resources to keep the autistic community well cared for.
She said families with autistic loved ones are already becoming aware of the centers through advocacy networks.
“The train has left the station,” she said. “It is indeed beginning to pick up more people.”
State Rep. Dennis O’Brien, R-169th, of Philadelphia County, joined Ms. Richman and members of the Hershey Medical Center’s administration to acclaim the formation of the facilities. A founder and chairman of the Autism Caucus, he has worked for more than two decades on issues of mental disability.
“Now we can look out and we can see a vision,” he said. “And that vision is something that will have a tremendous impact.”
Marc and Kathy Lubbers, Lebanon County parents of Anthony, an 8-year-old living with autism, said it makes them happy to have the Hershey ASERT center up and running. They said Anthony has been fortunate to receive exemplary treatment but added too many families with autistic children stumble along the path to quality care because the system is so vast and complicated.
Advocates for the autistic and otherwise mentally disabled acknowledge that despite some of the dents the state has recently made in the backlog of those waiting to get treatment, obstacles still lie ahead. According to the nonprofit Pennsylvania Waiting List Campaign 21,161 people all through the state still await services and 4,608 of those cases are deemed immediate concerns.
Many of those state residents are put in this situation because they become eligible for fewer public mental health services once they reach adulthood.
“The entitlements fall away,” Pennsylvania Bureau of Autism Services Director Nina Wall-Cote said. “We really are challenged there.”
Bradley Vasoli can be reached at bvasoli@thebulletin.us
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