Palin has a Nephew with Autism

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Palin and special needs

By ANNE SUTTON – 6 days agoAssociated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Palin is frequently seen at campaign

stops cradling her infant son Trig, who has Down syndrome. Her decision

to give birth to Trig even after learning her fifth child would have

the condition has burnished her anti-abortion views with conservatives.So

viewers of Wednesday night's presidential debate might have been

somewhat taken aback when McCain said his running mate understands

"what it's like to have an autistic child."Not directly, perhaps, but Palin does have a teenage nephew with autism.The McCain-Palin campaign provided few details about her nephew except that his mother is Palin's sister, Bruce.McCain

used that family background during the debate to bolster her

credentials. Palin, he said, was "a role model to women, a reformer,

understood special needs like autism" and understands special needs

families better than "anyone in the country."Palin touted her

own record supporting special needs children in an interview conducted

via e-mail that was published Sept. 30 in her hometown newspaper, The

Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman."It is our hope that by providing the

necessary funding support, we can touch more children with special

needs who did not have opportunities before due to the prohibitive

costs of providing the appropriate care," Palin wrote.That said,

programs and spending for special needs children haven't been a

highlight of Palin's 21 months in office as Alaska's governor, during

which she has focused on cutting a deal for a natural gas pipeline.Spending

remained flat for the Department of Health and Social Services during

her first year in office, although she oversaw a 6 percent increase in

spending on agency operations a year later.State funding for

disabled children this year included $500,000 for diagnostic services

for autistic children, a program that was started last year, and

another $250,000 to train workers in providing early intervention for

them.The governor also successfully pushed for an increase in

education funding for severely disabled students that raised the level

from $26,900 to $49,300 per student this year.But Palin's vetoes

to the state capital budget also struck hard at projects serving such

children. Two months after Trig was born, Palin sliced half of the

$550,000 capital request for an indoor training facility for Special

Olympics Alaska, the local arm of the international nonprofit

organization."We didn't know what happened," said Valdez

Republican Rep. , who serves on the organization's board.

"Especially in light of the fact that the governor herself had a child

who very well would qualify for Special Olympics. It's a great learning

tool."Autism is a complex disorder usually not diagnosed in

children until after age 3. It is characterized by a range of

behaviors, including difficulty in expressing needs and inability to

socialize. The cause is not known.Down syndrome is due to a

chromosomal condition that can be detected through prenatal testing.

People with Down syndrome usually are mildly to moderately

intellectually disabled and they have a distinctive facial appearance.

The chance of having a child with Down syndrome increases as a woman

ages.