norton smith shares his biography of president gerald ford, titled an ordinary man. he talks about ford's personal life, anti-establishment politics, as well as his efforts to heal the country following the water gait scandal -- water gate scandal and his controversial decision to pardon richard nixon. >> fellow americans, our long national nightmare is over. >> the irony, of course, about the whole phrase, whoever wrote it, is ford didn't want to use it. ford thought it was kicking a man when he was down. don't you think that's a little harsh? and hartmann made the case, no in effect you don't understand, mr. vice president. people need to hear this. they need to hear it from you. the final surprise, of course, is that -- [indiscernible] -- >> richard norton smith with his

book "an ordinary man" sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. you can listen to q&a and all of our podcasts on our free c-span now app. host: 20 because it is the director of argosy -- of advocacy. good morning. thank you for giving us your time. tell us about the organization and what it does. guest: the autistic self advocacy network is an organization run by and for autistic adults. we focus on policy that impacts autistic people and people with other developmental abilities. expanding medicaid and health services. we provide policy education material aimed at people with

intellectual disabilities so for example, school kids that may -- break them down into -- we run at a variety of programs including leadership training for autistic college students. that's a quick overview of what we do. host: for those who are still may be getting a sense of what it is. how is it defined these days and how would you describe it to people? guest: autism is a development of disability. it is something you are born with. it affects the way you think, move, socialize, communicate. it affects the way you plan and organize, your executive function. it can affect you in daily life we may need more assistance like caring for yourself. there are a wide variety of ways autism can manifest. there is a common saying if you know one person who is autistic you know what is a person but it is different for every person. host: for people who are diagnosed with autism and those that know them, their

misconceptions that you have to fight against or kind of educate about. what will be the misconceptions? guest: the idea that people do not -- autistic people do not care about others. i hear that one frequently. autistic people care about others as much as everyone else but we do not have an innate sense of what other people are feeling so i cannot look at you know that you are upset or bored. you would have to tell me how you are feeling. it is not that i do not care. i just do not know. that is very different from not caring about you as a person. host: how many people in u.s. have autism? guest: one in 36 children in u.s. artistic and based on 2020 data. the cdc does not take numbers for adults in the same way. we can guess that numbers are similar but fewer adults have official diagnosis because diagnoses have gone up in recent years as doctors learn more about autism and recognize the

way in manifest. host: how has it changed as far as diagnosis process? guest: many more doctors are familiar with autism so it is not be missed as many kids as previously. there are diagnostic disparities, it is harder for young girls get diagnosis. there were racial disparities and we have seen those narrow. used to be harder for children of color. host: if a doctor is going to the process of diagnosis, what signs are they looking for? what questions do they ask in determine a diagnosis? guest: some of the things they look for his symptoms of autism like not making eye contact, socializing in a different way. there different ways autistic children play in the typical children. for example, they may pretend

play let's and play in different weight with toys like lining up toys. autistic children may have repetitive behavior like steaming. as a normal thing -- it is a normal think. it is one of the traits doctors will look for. host: zoe gross joining us for this conversation. director of autistic self advocacy network. eastern/central timezones, 202-748-8000. mountain/pacific timezones, 202-748-8001. for those with experience with autism whether you have it yourself, parent or caregiver, 202-748-8002. you can always text at 202-748-8003. we hear about those with autism but what is it like for caretakers? what do they have to do with? guest: it is different for every

family. and every caretaker. the amount of support autistic people need is different person-to-person. some think parents and children face as advocacy in school system. it can be difficult for public school system or private to get the kid the support they need and get inclusion that is best. some schools will say we offer special education services but have to be in a separate classroom away from the other children. parents have to fight to get inclusive services for their child. as people grow up, and h on the school system they are still dropped off of services and is difficult in this country to get home and community-based services is a scam is will feel pressured -- as families will feel pressured. to live in an institution, your rights are not respected as if you live in a community but to

get community services as a hard dial for many families. host: president biden on autism awareness issued in a proclamation. said proud to sign an executive order adv diversity, equity, inclusion to help create new jobs for americans with autism. we' helping state and local vernments tap into federal funds to hire more americans with disabilities like autism to implemen practices, we are cracking down on employers who discriminate on the basis of disabilities and that we are fighting at the unfair use of minimum wages. what is the federal government do when it comes to dealing with autism? guest: those are great examples of ways of looking at the federal workforce, they can make a difference. under the obama administration, federal wage was largely eliminated and that was a practice far people disabilities get paid less for the same work.

we were happy to have that ended. that is an example of the kind of go work the federal government can do. there's a lot autistic people need to meet congress to act on it. expanding home a community based services under medicaid to congress to enter into something congress in the last year has not been able to do. we are pushing for that. host: we have some calls lined up for you. zoe gross of the autistic self advocacy network. chuck you're on with our guest. caller: hi. we have an experience with having difficulty keeping our child in school on a regular basis. they seem to try and punish them

for being autistic, adhd, and who have been fighting here in our county with our school board on a regular basis to try to try and make this a better situation for our child. there is no reason for them so punish and suspend children with autism for being autistic. is there any thing at the federal level that can help us? host: thank you, chuck. guest: there are few things i can recommend. it is true schools disproportionally suspend or punish kids with disabilities, especially children of color at a higher rate with case without it. there is a few things i would do. know your kids right. a resource for families of newly diagnosed children.

in this resource it is called a start here we go over your case rights -- kid's rights. and get in touch with an organization and they provide a lot of support and resources that can help you deal with your kids right in schools and what schools you need to intervene because of school affecting your child's rights. host: frank calling from connecticut. you are own. caller: good morning. i know of some efforts that are out there to help support autism is he having a live performances of theater or music that will change lighting or sound a little bit to make it more appropriate for the audience members to enjoy/ i know of theater development fund in new york city for a

special performance on broadway shows but are there other efforts out there that you know of that are helping to ultrasound and lightning so that individuals with autism can enjoy the live performances more? guest: there are no specific names but there are performances popping up both in theater and in a movie will be shown with the lights on and volume turned down or even there is some stores have light centered shopping kairos where there are fewer people in the store and they do not play music in the stores to make the environment more friendly for autistic shoppers. it is something we are seeing more and more. it is a good thing that places in public accommodation are aware of ways they can help autistic people to access services. host: a caller talked about his child education. what is a public school required

to do when it comes to an autistic student? guest: required to identify that the kid has disability and then to get the kid individualized education plan that assess their needs and what the school can provide. there services the school should have the option to provide. some school district have less funding than others and so will provide less or you will have to fight more to get the services. the school is required to abide by what is in the interval i should plan -- the individualized planning. planning for the kids life after high school. host: as far as the actual classroom situation, do autism students automatically get set aside with other autism students? how does that work? guest: it depends on what the school wants to do. we always advocate for inclusion. we know that is the best

practice for autistic and non-autistic kids to learn together and it promotes inclusion later in life. if you grow up in a classroom with autism because your heart for a job, you're more likely not to discriminate because you know autistic people and you know what they can do. that's one example of the ways inclusion is good for society but also best for learners. host: but as a for teachers to teach his students who have it in students who don't? guest: the teachers need to be aware of what is in the plan and be able to provide that but they do not either do it alone. there are teachers assistance or kids one assistant in classroom to be provided by the school district. host: in arizona on the line for those experience with autism. thank you for calling in. caller: i have two separate things. one is personal, the other is

federal. i get a little crazy sometime as a parent of an adult child with autism because people think she is going to be a little odd. she's going to have some inability when she functions at the level of a four or 10-year-old depending on her homosexual never live in dependently. i'm happy she is totally trained. the second thing is the federal issue, she is on the medicaid and medicaid weber. young man she is dating is also higher functioning and lives independently with support. at one point there were talking about possibly getting married and living together but if they do that, they lose all of their benefits. they cannot ever get -- it will save money for the federal and state support system because she will be with him in the

evenings, she will need the 24/7 care she currently has in her group home but that is never going to happen but that is nevr going to happen because if they get married they lose 90% of their financial support, they lose all their personal support system. she -- someone would need to be with her when she was not home. she would lose everything. and so would he. that is possibly one of the most frustrating things she can and will never live as close as she desires and able to for normal life. guest: thank you for bringing that up. it is something many people do not know about and we talk about quality we do not have full marriage equality. that is something that is really important for people to know. it is something many people do not realize. host: we have a follow-up. the amount or the ratio of

people who can live on their own. what is that like? guest: i do not have information for that. all need support in some way of us get by with support from family and friends. others may need to support more often. supports throughout the day or support 24/7. it is difficult to say what counts as living on your own. live in your own apartment or -- or their staff do all the time, it depends on how you measure it. host: $25 billion sent to states, do you know what the money does when it comes to research? guest: i do not have those details. host: that is ok. kevin in georgia. good morning. you are next. kevin in athens, georgia. one more time for kevin.

ok. leo in illinois. caller: good morning. thank god for fox news. i a conspiracy theorist previewed my youngest son developed autism back in 1999, 2000 and as a dad i had four healthy sons before that. i did a lot of research into what would cost us. we bought a condo in atlanta. the stars aligned and i ended up in atlanta. we bought a condo down there. ice to come home from work -- i used to come home from work and the smoke where did. i found out later that the epa standards were requiring all of this furniture, anything -- 99%

of it came from china, to have unusual, so would not burn. the standards were created for that reason. my conspiracy theory came true when there were flooring companies and i had the same floor that i found out later. host: what is the question? caller: this is more a statement form. i did not have a question. host: ok. i guess it goes back to what people think is the cause of all this. guest: there is many different things floated across, a lot of them have not panned out in research. we know that autism is genetic because we know that if you have autistic relatives who are more likely to be autistic yourself. the people have looked for --

people have looked for specific genes but have not found one. it is genetic but it is complicated and is not going to be like other were refined when jean and that is it. host: when it comes to those who advocate immunization are the cause, how do you respond? guest: it is been well studied and there is no proof. we have found the vaccines are safe and do not cause disability like autism. i understand people concerns but is been shown that it is untrue. host: nicole joins us from new jersey. thank you for calling. caller: thank you for having me. zoe, thank you for being on today. i was hoping you could touch on the conditions of autistic students when it comes to being restrained and different methods of control that are being used. i know in some states it is legal to electrocute them. i think that a lot of people know about it. guest: restraint and seclusion

in schools and use of electric shocks. restraint and seclusion is, in many states. if you google your state and restraint and seclusion you will find information about the school district in your state are using this and how restraint is when the student is held down by teachers, face down and that can be dangerous and even fatal. when it is not, it is still very traumatizing. seclusion is when a student is put in a room by themselves and their force to be there for a period of time and it is privatizing and it has killed so this before. where trying to time -- if somes going to be harmed because most of the time when he strained his use it is more in the line a punishment for behavior in teachers therewith. a band would get with bill -- a band would get rid of it.

in electric shock, there is one institution in massachusetts and in that institution autistic students are given painful electric shocks that punishment for behaviors this edition does not like. this can be from swearing to getting out of your chair without permission. people have been shocked because of screaming in pain because of the electric shock. it was condemned by united nations in 2013. they've been advocating for decades and there was a ban on the use of these electric shock devices and unfortunately the ban was overturned the d.c. circuit court on a technicality. we're working with the fda to get them to reissue a ban that will once and for all use -- and the use. host: bob is necks from oregon. -- next from oregon. caller: good morning.

we have experience in california school that our grandson has light autism and we found a soon as the child got to school and had to roll call, a phone call was placed to the house to come and get them. in our educators also undertake training in learning to how to deal with children with autism, even if it is light autism, instead of pushing them away. we found a some of the school could collect the money from the child for the day, he was sent home. that is plain wrong. that is leaving him behind. guest: absolutely. that is in essence were autistic kids are pushed out of education and it is something you will find the school would not have the right to do that, but many

schools do things that are not legal in the way they deal with students or disabilities. host: if a child close to public school, does education stop at 18 or other opportunities for him or her? guest: there are other opportunities. some students go on to a trade school or college. there are some programs, these are post secondary education for people with intellectual disabilities and these exist in many colleges across the u.s. and will help students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to access college experience. if college is not an option, there is also programs because life skills or transition programs that will help students access the community and learn things like taking public transportation or different jobs and look at what they want in the next stage of their life.

host: does autism fall under the umbrella of neurodiversity? guest: yes. neurodiversity is a large invalid term that refers to disabilities that are in your brain. neurological diversity and the refers to the idea that the variety of disabilities in people's brains is a natural part of human diversity. that is the idea of neurodiversity. that is to be reflected and it is not something we should be scared of. host: autistic self advocacy network, director of zoe gross. sally, hello. caller: hello. i am calling because my brother has an autistic child and he is not able to have speech and they

kick him out of school because he was throwing up all of the time. he still throws up all the time. i was wondering what kind of help is therefore really autistic child -- is there for really autistic child because they live at home because they believe people will take good care of him if he went to a nursing home? not a nursing home, but a home. they have been taking care of him and he is very destructive. everything in the kitchen is in the living room. everything in the bathroom. he is hard to take care of. i wonder what alternatives there are to help him. guest: one is respite care when

caregivers can get someone to come in and take over the role of caregiver for a shorter period of time so they can have a break, like a weekend getaway or anything and it helps people take a deep breath and get more unwinding time. that is critical for caregivers who often do not get time off. globally in what it is at home and not an institution, a community-based services invited to medicaid waivers. -- provided through medicaid waivers. host: you talked about congress needed to due more on medicaid. guest: many states have very long waiting list to get on waivers. there is a bias in medicaid where if you qualify for medicaid you are entitled to care in an institution but life

is not a in an institution. people do not want to go there. we are not automatically entitled to a care in your home. to be on a waiver. you waive your right to go to an institution because those are automatic entitlement in institution. the waiting list can be up to 10 years long depending on the state. we need more funding for medicaid home and community-based services so they can reduce the waiting list and states can increase pay direct support. people providing the care are underpaid. that leads to shortage in staff. all of that cause instability in lives of people who depend on the people for care. we need to increase the pay of direct workers. it is critical for us. host: a viewer ask fractionation on differences or symmetries of those with autism and those with alberta syndrome? guest: there are combined into

one diagnosis in latest diagnosis manual of the dfm. these to be different and it was found that there is not a bright line of between them and clinicians. so they were combined into one diagnosis and people who used to have a diagnosis of asperger syndrome's now fall under that autism umbrella. host: to washington dc, our viewer is alex. on the line for those who experience autism, 202-748-8002. host: hi. can you hear me? host: yes. caller: i'm a speech therapist in public schools in maryland and i feel fortunate to work in public school in maryland because maryland does have solid

services for students as they transition out of high school and to adulthood. they have the department of disability administration that provides lifelong funding for students who qualify and most students i work with, two thirds of the students in high school have a diagnosis of autism, and they are set up well. i want to point out that students move for whatever reason, the services are not the same state to state and am wondering what types of effort is there to standardize the services that are available for people with autism live in across the country and not just based on luck you happen to live in a state that has good services. guest: thank you for that question. we want to improve services in every state but the standardize across states would require coordination in the way

education system works. within states we can do the most to improve them so that if you do have been to move to another state, people in that state have an advocacy to improve. i would not say there are huge efforts to standardize services. that is unfortunate because sometimes people can move and lose their services. host: the guest mentioned public school system he works in. if you are asked charter schools or school voucher program has practices that receive autism related to services? guest: i do not know a ton about this. not all charter schools are required to provide services with disabilities -- to students with disabilities but even though they get public funding, i do not believe have all the same requirements that regular public schools have. i cannot speak too much to this. host: john in minnesota.

caller: good morning. i've heard of autism spectrum. can you explain what that is and what different symptoms may be for mild is to most severe? thank you. guest: it is quite a spectrum because there are different ways autism can manifest. i would not say it is a simple as one and mild and on the other end severe. i think of autism as more as a sunday where you have more of this trade a list of that trait. everyone has different levels of each different trait so you might have greater sensory sensitivity or you might need more support or you might need that speak fluently or need help with the speech or using a

speech to text device so there are different levels of different traits in different people. i would not say it is a simple as someone has little bit of very trait or all the trays are maxed out. it is not a volume bar in that way. it is different in each person. host: if i were a parent, or any advice you would give to parents that there were signs they are experiencing with their children that might suggest the child may have autism? what would you look for? guest: i would say how's the kid reacting to their environment. do they have sensory sensitivities? are they sensitive to loud noises? are the adverse to certain textures when they touch them? are they having trouble with eating and exploring different kinds of foods? i would look for those repetitive behaviors, stemming as i talked about and look at how the kid is socializing, whether they are very outgoing

or overwhelmed by opportunities to socialize with other kids. not every artistic person will have every trait of autism. so because you say my kid to eat anything or my kid of socialize easily, it does not mean your kid is definitely not artistic but those are signs people look out for. host: gary joins us from pennsylvania, good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. pedro i would like to thank you. my grandson -- he is autistic. my grandson is autistic. i'm trying to explain to the people that all of us for sick have trouble -- all autistic

people do not have trouble. he's one of the top academic students in his class. this summer, he is in seventh grade now, he is going to go to penn university and study engineering. some of the people, sent how poorly -- some of the people, tenant how poorly -- some of the people made comments of how poorly their kids are but my expectation is they are very good and i think it will be a productive person of society. thank you. guest: thank you for saying that it created i want to push back a little bit on this idea that some people are productive members of society and some aren't. everyone we have heard about today whether they need 24 hour care or study engineering in eighth grade as a productive member of society. that is the raw society to take

care of every person in a society. it is not just about are you going to go about a job that results in money, it is about everyone works as a person and all autistic people deserve to get the care they need regardless of what that is, whether someone care every hour the day. host: a story from associated press saying first of a kind study taking a look at the rate of those diagnosed with autism saying that the amount serious system slowing down and more moderate cases rising. in reaction to that study? -- any reaction to that study? guest: we heard different things about this. for example, in women and girls they are behind their rated diagnosis of what is referred to severe autism. in many more cases with what people will call mild.

if refers to the need for doctors and clinicians to recognize the different ways it manifests. so not just when every trait is present on every trait is happening to a high degree but also when people have some of the trays of autism or our -- traits of autism or have learned to hide the traits because it is something that can happen as they grow up it is pressure in our society to act in a certain way people learn to hide the disabilities. host: mike from arkansas for a guest zoe gross. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. my wife and my daughter are both special educators dealing with children from kindergarten through fourth grade and most of the children are loved dearly but they have one child who ways in excess of 200 pounds and repeatedly has violent outbursts.

he blocked my daughter's eye. he pulls hair. he bites. they are not allowed to discipline the child. everybody is scared of him. when does the safety of the teachers and the safety of the other students take precedent over the rights of someone like ms. sciacca -- of someone like this? guest: i'm not sure what the question is what you would like to have with this one kid in school. people who are dealing with issues with aggression are often because of an underlying issue like a medical issue or a need that is not been recognize. san francisco has a checklist and the goes through different symptoms of what is medical issue someone may be experiencing they have a sudden change in behavior and it could be aggression or self injury. this is something to consider when someone is having these

violent outbursts. what is causing it? is the health of the person ok? we do still need to include in the school. i'm not saying anyone should be subjected to something that is not safe. it may be some ways having an aggression issue, other people need to leave the room and that can be disruptive to people's education. the answer is not to take someone out of school because of their disability. host: is that connected to the restraining issue? guest: yes. the better practice is just to give the person space but unfortunately, people will often move to restraint. not only in cases where there is danger but in cases where the student has done something a teacher does not like or breaks a role -- rule. lucy restraint use in those cases. something that is not cause harm or danger we will see it anyway. host: from california, we hear from holley. caller: here i am.

i have a very important thing to say. i think we should not say that this is inherited until we have proven that. we should not cross off any calls until we have absolutely found out what causes autism and autism spectrum problem. i think the vaccines have not been properly studied. maybe because they are being studied by the drug companies that make them. we should absolutely check out who's doing the research and what their motives are. in addition, the vaccines may be safe, but you're getting a dose of preservatives every time you have one. most children get something like 100 shots of vaccines before they are five years old. the variability -- the variability between sexes and how all to the onset comes on will be found out once we get closer to what is causing this. thank you. guest: i hear that is your point

of view but i want to say it has been studied a lot and not just by drug companies but many governments across the world. we have top-of-the-line science same vaccine does not cause autism. it is a question that has been solved. host: another californian joins us, ryan in san bernardino. caller: hello. thank you for this program because -- it is hard to explain. it is been a long journey. when i was very young i could not even look at the chalkboard, i had to look at the back of the room and use my hearing. fast-forward years and have dealt with a lot of things with being severely autistic, at

least according to the idr lab tests. i want to ask zoe what she thought maybe there could be intersection with the disabilities because i've had a terrible time trying to get on and obviously, have given up. i could barely be in the courtroom and handle myself and i have great evidence but i did not get it. i get no services besides food stamps. maybe -- i want to know what is going on in advocacy on that end. host: thank you for giving us your story. guest: trying to get on disability is difficult for many people. there's a lot of paperwork.

like going to the courthouse, there is a lack of support in navigating the system. there are some places where you can get help dealing with that but is variable depending on what services are available in your area. in some places as well they restrict who can qualify for services. in washington dc, it used to be that to get any services you also have to have intellectual disabilities and at all -- not autistic people have intellectual disabilities. that was just changed and was a good policy change that happened but in other places that are still these needless restrictions on who qualifies for services. host: when it comes to employment, what factors determined someone with autism can make it into the job world? guest: it depends on the person, job, the people who are hiring. for many people, there something they can do -- there something

they can do and it takes an employer who will say i'm interested in working with disabled employees. and it may be overlooked someone's -- if you look at a job interview for my job interview will require normative social behavior -- a job interview will require normative social behavior. it is about how they make the job interview or feel and it is making people feel at ease and it is not something that autistic people are really skilled at doing but does not mean we cannot do the job. it is about changing the way we look at hiring to get autistic people into jobs. sometimes changing the way we look at jobs. there is something called job carving looking at everything that needs to be done in an organization and taking out a particular part of it and saying i think this person can do this work and create the job around them rather than saying these are the 10 jobs we have and who will do its job. there are different services

that can customize employment to make it possible for people who otherwise cannot access it. host: do antidiscrimination laws help to protect against the scrimmage in the workplace? guest: they do and they do not. there is no law that says you cannot hire someone because you -- they gave you a weird feeling in an interview. someone says, i want -- i'm autistic and i need accommodations and you do not hire them because of that, it is not legal. discrimination because autism is not allowed. discrimination that happens because a trace of autism is a blurred line. you're not going to say it is because they autistic i did not hire them, usa we do not click in the interview and there's not -- you say we did not click in the interview and there's not much you can do about that. host: virginia.

caller: hi. my name is carrie and i have autism spectrum disorder and i was wondering if our guest knows about the crossover between adhd and autism spectrum disorder. just because it seems that there's a possibility for what my husband has noted that there could be a crossover between the two. has she any experience with that diagnosis type situation? guest: adhd is a commonly co-current condition with autism. i have those. i do not know how commonly they intersect but it is a really common thing. some of the trace of adhd and autism are similar. to get diagnosis is a process of exploring do you have all the

trace autism and adhd there are not really traits top -- typically trace it to autism. executive dysfunction, planning and organizing, and prioritizing that is a core trait of both autism and adhd and many people do not know this is a trait of autism but it is. but you can have adhd as well and autism. host: when will you diagnosed? -- when were you diagnosed? guest: autism as a young childhood and adhd, later. host:-- what you found most beneficial to bring you to the point you are today? guest: for me, accommodations in schools have been crucial. as you go on in school there more challenges and you might need more support. i struggled a lot in college and i was very fortunate my college had a good student disability services program that provided

academic coaching, helped me speak to professors with accommodations i would need and those were helpful. sub pharmacy is also important -- self advocacy is really important. we moved to high school to college to work, in high school, school has a response ability to provide accommodations to you, but in college or the workforce you are in the driver seat of your accommodations and you are the one to say this is my disability and it is what i need and here's what you can provide. that is something that many people are not taught. having these skills is just a critical skill for any person with a disability at any age. host: as far as the work of advocacy you do, what do you look for in the future? what is important as far as an advocacy position? guest: so many things. i've talked about community-based services. that is critical and it allows people to live life the way they

want in their communities and not an institution. we have a crisis in the direct care workforce, as i mentioned earlier. the pain needs to be increased. we also need to see an end to abuse with people of disability. we need to end the electric shocks at the center that caller asked about. we need to see more customized employment and more services that will help people with that. we need less discrimination in health care. there's many, many aspects to advocacy that i think are really vital. host: andrea in ohio, we are just about out of time, but go ahead with your comment or question, please. caller: i just have a comment. i am from ohio. i want to say that ohio is one of the worst states to have a child with autism, one of the worst. i also want to tell you that my

son is 32 years old. he was diagnosed at 2 years old. it has always been a struggle to find education. to be very honest with you, they were talking about -- they only talked about asperger's syndrome and no other when it came to autism. and also the fact that when my son was diagnosed, it was 1 in 10,000 the amount of kids diagnosed with autism. now, it is incredible. it is 1 in 86 or less than that now. i have a hard time believing that it is genetic, because if it was genetic, how is it that they are not able to identify the gene?

host: got you. thank you, andrea. zoe. guest: things can be caused by genes and it's not as simple as one gene turning it on o andr complicated and scientist. but genes can be affected by the environment and the way they interact and several genes that correlate and there isn't something like that. >> you will find their website. thanks for your time. >> c-span is unfiltered view of government. >> you should have access to fast and reliable