Autism Center must be saved

Quinn: Autism center must be saved By Adam Testa, The Southern
Thursday, June 18, 2009 10:55 PM CDT

CARBONDALE - Gov. Pat Quinn made his message clear within two minutes of walking into Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Wham Education Building, home of the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

"We've got to save the program here," he said, shaking hands with center Director Tony Cuvo before a news conference. "We've got work to do."

The autism center was one of many stops Quinn has made recently on a statewide tour of social service entities, a tour many of his opponents have called fear-mongering.

Quinn, who is promoting citizen engagement in encouraging legislators to approve a state budget including a two-year, 50-percent income tax hike, decried those allegations, calling the tour "truth telling."

A state budget remains in gridlock in Springfield with a new fiscal year slated to begin July 1. A "doomsday" budget projects cuts of up to 50 percent to many of the state's social services, which Quinn said should not even be an option on the table.

"We have to have programs that help families stick together, stay together and move ahead," he said to a crowd of more than 100.

Cuvo addressed the crowd about the importance of the autism center and the role it plays in Southern Illinois. Through state funding, the center has assessed more than 460 children from the region, provided therapy to more than 120 of them, helped many autistic children transition into regular classrooms and affected the lives of families from about 115 communities across more than 30 counties, he said.

"They will have to go out of the region, including out of the state, to get diagnosed," Cuvo said of the effect the closure of the center, which would happen under the state's worst-case scenario budget. "It will be a very sad day for children with autism and their families throughout Illinois."

Quinn said he would not approve a budget that does not include an income tax increase and that cuts funding for essential social services. He also bashed a rumored possibility of operating the state budget on a month-by-month basis for six months, referring to it as the "juvenile way to go" and comparing it to the actions of his predecessor, ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"We are going to fight until our last day, until our last breath to save this program," Quinn said. "I don't want to cut the heart and soul of Illinois."

adam.testa@thesouthern.com, 618-351-5031

We are working hard to save ours in KL too..

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