Sherrod Brown: “One of the more eye-opening meetings I have had in my 12 years in Congress was with the family of an autistic child. The…”

“One of the more eye-opening meetings I have had in my 12 years in Congress was with the family of an autistic child. The first time I did that, it was sobering to listen to the mother and father talk about their son's diagnosis of autism, a disease about which the causes are disagreed and generally unknown. It is sobering to learn what these caring parents deal with every working hour of every day, trying to carve out as normal a life as possible for their son, trying to break through emotional barriers, intellectual barriers, barriers they do not fully understand, barriers that no one really fully understands. It is sobering to learn the steps that these parents take to improve their son's development: consulting with the developmental pediatrician; a child psychiatrist; a clinical psychologist and occupational psychologist and therapist; a physical therapist; a speech and language therapist; as well as often a social worker, if they have the wherewithal to be able to get the best they can for their son. Many families in our health care system that does not cover many people so well do not.”