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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

In AZ and Nation, It's Autism Awareness Month

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Monday, April 20, 2015   

PHOENIX – April is Autism Awareness Month, and one focus this year is the dangers of children with autism who engage in wandering.

Christopher Smith, vice president of Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, says children on the autism spectrum often have no fear and don't realize the consequences of going off on their own.

"They might also have this kind of impulsive behavior that makes them go and do things, or explore things that they want to do, without any regard for their safety, or the safety of others, and just kind of take off," he adds.

It's estimated that nearly half of children on the autism spectrum engage in wandering.

In an effort to reduce the dangers associated with wandering, the U.S. Senate is considering a
bill to provide funding for police departments to purchase equipment that can help locate people with autism.

Wendy Fournier, president of the National Autism Association, says the legislation also calls for training for law enforcement agencies to better recognize and respond to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

"It's really easy for a person with a communication disorder to come across as being uncooperative to the police,” she explains. “So the police really need some training to start recognizing autism and other cognitive disorders."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one-in-68 children in the United States is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.




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