New York autism programs hit by government shutdown, national park closures
Nearly 100 people with autism have been shut out of the Aviator Sports Center in Brooklyn — which used to offer daily programs for them — because the sports complex is part of a national park. The gridlock over Obamacare and the budget continues as the shutdown is felt throughout the country.
Comments (7)By Dan Friedman , James Warren AND Annie Karni / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, October 3, 2013, 11:56 PM
Julia Xanthos/New York Daily News
Frank Carbonaro Jr. (left) with father Frank Carbonaro Sr. The younger Carbonaro and nearly 100 other people with autism have been shut out of the Brooklyn recreation center that used to shape their daily lives.
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As the politicians bicker in Washington, Frank Carbonaro and nearly 100 other people with autism have been shut out of the Brooklyn recreation center they depend on to shape their daily lives.
Aviator Sports Center, a massive complex of basketball courts, indoor and outdoor fields, event spaces and a hockey rink at federally owned Floyd Bennett Field, has been closed by the government shutdown.
Aviator’s 165 full- and part-time employees are out of work and the thousands of people who use the complex each week are now out of luck — including 100 children and young adults with autism enrolled in day programs there.
Carbonaro’s mother, Karen, is furious. Her 25-year-old son cannot speak, and now he has lost the predictable daily routine that he desperately needs.
PHOTOS: GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FURLOUGHS THOUSANDS OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
“This completely disrupts everything he knows,” she fumed.
“My son knows where the bathrooms are at Aviator; now I don’t even know where he is, or where the group is going to be. I don’t know how comfortable I feel letting him go out and not knowing where his destination is.”
She added, “I guarantee if (anyone in Congress) had a child like any of these children, maybe that would change some of the decision making.”
But in Washington Thursday, the gridlock over Obamacare and the budget dragged on, keeping the government shut for a third day. And there was growing concern about a fast-approaching deadline to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
RELATED: HOUSE MUST VOTE ON SHUTDOWN, DEBT CEILING
Aviator Sports Center, a massive complex of basketball courts, indoor and outdoor fields, event spaces and a hockey rink at federally owned Floyd Bennett Field, has been closed by the government shutdown.
Aviator’s 165 full- and part-time employees are out of work and the thousands of people who use the complex each week are now out of luck — including 100 children and young adults with autism enrolled in day programs there.
Carbonaro’s mother, Karen, is furious. Her 25-year-old son cannot speak, and now he has lost the predictable daily routine that he desperately needs.
PHOTOS: GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FURLOUGHS THOUSANDS OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
“This completely disrupts everything he knows,” she fumed.
“My son knows where the bathrooms are at Aviator; now I don’t even know where he is, or where the group is going to be. I don’t know how comfortable I feel letting him go out and not knowing where his destination is.”
She added, “I guarantee if (anyone in Congress) had a child like any of these children, maybe that would change some of the decision making.”
But in Washington Thursday, the gridlock over Obamacare and the budget dragged on, keeping the government shut for a third day. And there was growing concern about a fast-approaching deadline to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
RELATED: HOUSE MUST VOTE ON SHUTDOWN, DEBT CEILING
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-autism-programs-hit-shutdown-article-1.1475991#ixzz2gr3xbgyr
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