Obama, nearly one year after inauguration

Posted in Autism on 11. Dec, 2009

A year ago I spent a lot of time blogging about Barack Obama. As the U.S. election neared, I liked what I heard from him—concrete statements, not just pseudo-promises with no teeth like Mr. McCain was giving us here in the U.S..

After the inauguration, I blogged Change and Hope, taking two of the catch-words from the campaign.

Stimulus money was applied to autism research. Tom Insel (head of NIMH and chair of the IACC) gave credit to the fact that they had a Strategic Plan in place. It is easier to justify spending money when you can tell someone (the president in this case) exactly what you intend to do. Dr. Insel noted that in a recent meeting, Mr. Obama restated his commitment to allocate $1B towards autism research.

The Whitehouse’s web site includes a page on disability policy. A few of the steps Mr. Obama has taken include appointing a special adviser on disability policy and applying over $12B in stimulus money towards IDEA (special education funding—the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act).

What we haven’t seen yet is the appointment of an “Autism Czar”, or an increase in IDEA funding to full levels. Also, the IDEA funding from the stimulus money is not a long term commitment.

This has been a very tough year for Mr. Obama. He came in to office with a major economic crisis and (or compounded by!) two wars ongoing. Those are huge distractions for anyone, but I would like to see focus applied especially on long-term, full funding of IDEA.

I am curious as to what other people think of promises made during the election and where we stand now.

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