Don't ignore adults with autism

I want to hold the mass media, including your publication, as well as the medical community at large, including Alexian Brothers, for age discrimination regarding individuals with autism spectrum disorders age 21 and older.

Your "Autism Awareness" publication is a slap in the face for the countless families with loved ones managing an adult child on the autism spectrum. We simply fail to exist except through our own hard-won efforts of self-advocacy and those who love us.

A few days before this publication, there was a front-page article about the lack of support for housing for adults in Illinois with disabilities. I don't doubt for a second that a big contributing factor is the lack of acknowledgment we receive.

If we, the forgotten children of autism and other disabilities who "aged out" of the system, or who were born too long ago are to thrive, we need your continued cooperation - not the occasional bone tossed out to those like Chip Davis and Brad Torrence.

We can remain invisible no longer. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Allison M. Kramer

Carpentersville