Feb 1, 2020, Provo (UT) Daily Herald: Provo home for teens with autism opens https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/central/provo/provo-home-for-teens-with-autism-opens/article_ffd6a0aa-1a90-5390-97ad-8e5764cd6fd7.html The Heritage Community’s newest facility isn’t meant to just be a house; it’s a home…. The Michael S. Sproul Smart Home will begin seeing residents next week. The $2 million home, which broke ground in October 2018, will house 24 teens who are considered to be on the high-functioning side of the autism spectrum, have a developmental disability or have been diagnosed with a learning disability…. Inside, the home is designed to be a safe space for its residents, with light, homey decor, earth tones, a virtual reality room, sensory spaces and an art room that reminds its occupants that “art has no rules.” The typical stay for a resident at the facility is expected to be 14 months. Wallace said the home will collaborate with the nearby ScenicView Academy, a facility for adults on the autism spectrum. In Utah, 1 in 54 children will be diagnosed with autism, compared to the national level of 1 in 68, according to statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. … The facility seeks to help the traditionally-underserved age group of the autism spectrum. Wallace said most services are aimed at young children or those who are considered to be on the lower-functioning side of the spectrum. The new home hopes to bridge that gap…. “This is on the leading edge of technology that’s available to help this population,” said Holly Mero-Bench, the director of Vivint Gives Back….
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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