As state fiddles, developmentally disabled are waiting

My son, Bryan, is a happy, loving, hard-working, soon-to-be 17-year-old with moderate to severe autism, who attends a NSSEO school in Palatine.

In the two years he has been at his school, he has made great strides in academics and has been exposed to vocational opportunities in the community. He has done so well he is near the top of the list of students afforded additional opportunities to learn vocational skills, up to when he exits the public school system the day after his 22nd birthday.

Bryan will never be able to live with without support from his parents and from community providers and the state.

Our reality is the following. He is among 23,000 young people on the state's PUNS waiting list, and will be among the 1,000 young adults with autism who age out of the public school systems every year.

From at least 2007 on, Illinois has languished at the bottom of all states in funding for services for the most vulnerable.

These are facts that all governors and legislators in Springfield have known for years, including the present governor. We cannot afford any more budget cuts for our kids. A line needs to be drawn in the sand. The state has cut enough and the situation for caring for the developmentally disabled will always be there.

I urge the governor and legislators to get a full state budget in place and start moving the needle on the following: reducing the state's PUNS list and expanding funding, capacity and options for housing and home-based waiver options for the developmentally disabled.

The solutions are out there and it's time to move in a bipartisan manner and get it accomplished.

Mike Baker

Schaumburg

Parent advocate and state advocacy chairman, Autism Speaks

Ed note: Prioritization for Urgency of Need for Services (PUNS) is a statewide database of individuals with developmental disabilities, who get the services they need as funding becomes available.