We are parents and treating professionals of children with autism who want our children and clients to have access to ALL proven methods of therapy prescribed by their doctors. There is a lobby to remove the options of other approaches (e.g., relationship-based) from insurance plans, thereby grossly limiting parents’ choice to only one treatment approach (behaviorism). Parents should have the ability to choose the treatment they feel gives their child the best chance for success.

On October 19 2004 my son Dillon Thomas Geary at the age of 9 yrs passed away from a staph infection. When We had the autopsy done on him they could not find the source of infection due to the amount of antibiotics that were given to him . Dillon passed from a simple 3 pin close reduction in his right elbow. 4 days later my son was on life support and pronounced brain dead from an infection that could have been prevented. It has been a long 10 yrs Dillon passing tore our family apart and we have never been the same. I hope that I one day will have some sort of closure to his loss and help another family so this don't ever happen again to another little boy or girl. Thank you for your time. Gina Geary and The Noyes-Geary Family

UPDATE: On Aug. 6, Sen. Mark Warner sent the research behind this petition to the FDA. Now we just need a hearing! Thank you, Senator Warner! According to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3543732/ and many other studies, women are significantly more likely to die prematurely when their ovaries removed. Average age at surgery is 42. Those women are are 70% more likely to die before age 80 than women who didn't have the surgery. Women older than 45 still die prematurely - risk only decreases 6% for each year past age 45. At no age is this acceptable for women who receive no benefit. I, and about 14 million other women in the U.S., were made seriously ill when our healthy ovaries were removed at the time of elective hysterectomy. This is done 55% of the time women have a hysterectomy despite the fact that only 2% of all women have a risk of breast or ovarian cancer, and might benefit. Though 14,000 women die of ovarian cancer each year, 365,000 healthy pairs of ovaries are removed in women with no known risk. This is a national health crisis. Unsure this is accurate? http://www.gynreform.com/citations.html Though it's not well understood outside of medicine, ovaries make hormones that we need for our entire lives. Our lifespans have been cut short by these surgeons. These doctors publish study after study in their own medical journals, then ignore the data and continue doing things that are making us gravely ill and lead to our premature death. This must be addressed in Congress, in court, and they must be made to stop. A complete revision of their training and accreditation processes, one that indoctrinates them with a more appropriate way of looking at patients, must be a top priority. Visit www.gynreform.com and www.overy.org for more information.

A nursing home costs taxpayers on average 3 times what home and community based services do. In home and community based services a person with a disability can live in their community and give 2 to 3 home care workers employment. Some will also be able to work and pay taxes themselves and not need SSDI. Help people with disabilities to remain at home and save you Mr and Mrs taxpayer from even higher taxes then we pay now.

My petition is about legalizing Medical Cannabis at the federal level for all states. My son, Cameron, has a very rare condition called Rasmussen's encephalitis, also known as chronic focal encephalitis; it is a rare inflammatory neurological disease. This disease is characterized by frequent and severe seizures, loss of motor skills and speech, hemiparesis (paralysis on one side of the body), encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), and dementia. While most if not all seizure meds have severe side effects for his body. a drug from cannabis (CBD), a compound derived from cannabis has been known to treat this syndrome and decrease seizures by 54% if not more in children with this syndrome. There also needs to be a study in conjunction with this treatment for this very rare condition, so kids like my son Cameron can live as close to a normal life as possible with this rare condition.This really needs the world's attention.

Hearing loss and the associated problems affect a very large number of seniors, and their families. Personally, as my hearing worsens, it is sometimes impossible to understand what people are saying. This gives me and millions of others the feeling of being out of touch with family, friends and the rest of society. Hearing aids are out of reach for most retired people. Support this petition for the sake of your parents and eventually yourself.

We talk about America becoming very overweight, bad eating habits, lack of exercise etc. We talk about youth in our community who have no guidance, mentors or respect a place to go where there's positive energy and a chance to interact with people/adults who can assist in guiding them. This is an opportunity for us to connect with our youth by providing a service that will help them in many areas and help build confidence and structure. If we fix up a area, build an area where there are trainers/mentors where those of all ages can come together and for those who can't afford otherwise in a safe setting. There have been many closures of Community Centers where people can no longer have such services, and youth have no where else to go for positive mentoring so this would provide a great service and can be provided all across the board. I am the founder of a group/organization called "DEM BOYS OF PROSPECT PARK" as well as a few other personal trainers have been providing such services for the past 3-5 years in Prospect Park, Brooklyn N.Y. free of charge daily having lessons in Calisthenics, Martial Arts, Boxing and Cardio Workouts. We have even started three sites (Facebook, YouTube & Instagram) where we upload and perform in video's to help those along the transition to becoming fit and leading healthier lives with a passion in our hearts to help those succeed. So help us help you and yours in leading a fulfilling healthier lifestyle!!!!

The majority of the American people want and support full legalization of marijuana. 23 states have legalized marijuana one way or another. Kansas deserves to have the benefits of it legalized too. Police devote thousands of hours to arresting, and imprisoning marijuana smokers, many of whom are otherwise law-abiding citizens. That alone could be money used for schools which are in dire need of tax money to continue educating our young. Cannabis has legitimate medical affects including uses for epilepsy, pain from AIDS, nausea from chemotherapy, glaucoma, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, depression, anxiety, and the list continues to grow. Cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco . Marijuana is less addictive than tobacco or alcohol and compares favorably to those drugs on nearly every health metric . Casual use by adults poses little or no risk for healthy people. It is proven time and time again that alcohol impaired drivers and causes rage. By legalizing the use of marijuana the crime rate will drastically change. Also providing money for schools, roads, bridges, and relieve taxpayers as a whole.

When my brother James was diagnosed with Autism in the early 1990's, this disorder was very rare. In 2000, 1 in 150 children were identified as having autism or similar disorders. By 2010, this number reached 1 in 68 (CDC). Many of those diagnosed will never be able to care for themselves, and many have health and behavioral problems that make them difficult to care for. My brother's first residential placement in Virginia fell through after 3 1/2 years in May. Months of searching yielded only the terrifying reality that there is no other residential placement in the state that can meet his needs. His behavioral issues, while very common in adults with Autism, make it so that no care facility feels that they are equipped to handle him. The nice "homes" that you see on television and in movies for adults with disabilities do not exist; not for people like my brother. James and others his age are only the crest of a demographic tidal wave about to hit. Unless we act quickly to create the infrastructure and the programs to care for those who will never be able to care for themselves, we will be left with countless struggling families with nowhere to turn for help. People with Autism and other disabilities deserve to have real adult lives where they can live in supported, social environments with caretakers who understand their needs. Families deserve to know that their loved ones can be cared for after they can no longer do so.

I care about this issue because AA is not what it appears to be. It sooner or later fails for 95% of the people who try it. AA and NA also foster cultures of sexual and emotional abuse. Part of the problem with the misconstruction of AA and 12 Step Program in the larger culture is that AA misrepresents itself to the media and also to newer members. However, all those that understand 12 Step Program know that AA in particular is based on a very literal interpretation of its texts. This is especially true for what is known as the Big Book. Thus, working the “steps” means following verbatim directions laid out in this text. This methodology is more religious than scientific, and is more cult-like even than religious. True, at times AA espouses most if not all of the various Christian virtues. However, the core principal of the Step program is forcing the “alcoholic/addict” to realize that any pain the “alcoholic/addict” has ever felt is the “alcoholic/addict’s” own fault. While this idea runs throughout the steps, it is most obviously presented on p.62 "Selfishness--self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt" (p.62). If this idea were applied carefully and with exceptions, it might be a reasonable code of ethics--assuming that one considers being void of “self” a useful therapeutic objective. However, the use of “invariably" serves as a universal endorsement of abuse, not for a therapeutic coming to terms with the past. Thus, at the most obvious level anyone who enters AA with trauma, abuse, especially sexual trauma and childhood abuse, is almost certainly going to be further traumatized in AA and NA. Those that do well in AA tend to be narcissist abusers or sociopaths and many of their victims are newer members. Of course current AA members, increasingly aware of the growing Anti-AA movement, insist that anyone who complains of ill-treatment in AA is inferior in one way or another. AA argues that AA critics didn’t “work a good Program,” but outside of AA a more accurate term for AA’s tactics is not surprisingly “blaming the victim.” Thus, for those paying attention, the Pro AA attacks on Anti-AA dissenters prove the core claims of Anti-AA, whether AA acknowledges this as valid or not.

I started this petition because I was diagnosed with T1D in 1972 at the age of 14 and have lived with this disease for 43 years. From December 2014 to May 2015 I had noticeable improvement in glucose levels when I was given a 6 month opportunity to use CGM. The acute implications associated with T1D lessened. I had constant awareness of my glucose levels and therefore was able to treat the highs and the lows prior to a major medical event that could have put my life in jeopardy. This biotechnology makes a difference because it improves lives and decreases healthcare costs associated with the management of this illness and the medical complications that result from chronic high glucose levels.

Being in recovery we have experienced firsthand the negative impacts on recovering addicts when not provided a sufficient amount of time in an inpatient treatment facility.