Where is it Needed Most?

During the holiday season, there is a sense of joy and happiness that seems to flow around. People often reflect upon their actions in the past year that is coming to an end. With these thoughts, during the holiday season especially, people make an effort to help the less fortunate and give to charity. But how should one decide where to give? There are so many causes out there that it can often be difficult to sift through and find the "most important ones". I was reading an opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune whose author thinks that American's donations should be given to the many people in poverty in developing countries  rather than giving to institutions at home in the United States.

The first question that arose when I read this article was, What about the people in the United States who are in poverty? The author, Peter Singer, argues that we should give to people in extreme poverty. "Extreme poverty, as defined by the World Bank, means living on less than $1.25 a day"(Singer). This number is much more common in developing countries than in the United States, because it is a relatively rich country, so therefore less of the population is in this intense situation of need here. Although his reasoning seems to be logical, I feel like Americans who are donating money should first consider problems in their own country rather than those across the Atlantic. The author argues this again by saying that people should give where they would have the most impact; developing countries.

I do agree with Singer that money should be given to more direct causes rather than already wealthy institutions. The example he brings up is one that I think about as well. Singer is a professer at Princeton where a vast majority of the student body was exposed to an excellent education and he does not always see the importance of giving to an institution that is already thriving when he could give his money elsewhere to places that could give as many children possible at least some form of an education. From this example, Singer is saying that he would prefer to donate where the need is greatest. Do you think that there are some causes that are more deserving than others? How would you decide what causes are the most needy?

Is Autism to Blame?

By now, almost every person in the United States has heard about the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the lives of 26. This tragedy has appeared to overwhelm the country with talks of increased gun control and better security measures in schools. Although gun control is a huge topic and one that is of utmost importance, I feel that another topic related to the shooting is not receiving enough focus. I was reading an article that mentioned the recent spike of hate towards children with Autism. You may be wondering how this can possibly be related to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Well,the shooter (Adam Lanza) was diagnosed with a form of Asperger's. This condition is on the Autism Spectrum but at the very low end so therefore is not very severe. People with Asperger's often exhibit social awkwardness but can still function rather normally. On the other hand, people with extreme Autism may have impairments in their communication. In Lanza's case, his form was not extreme but still played a major role in his life.

People were quick to assume that one of the reasons for Lanza's violent actions were related to his Autism but advocates of organizations like "Autism Speaks" are trying to get the message across that this is not the case. The President of Autism Speaks recently wrote a statement that reads,"Several media outlets are reporting that the shooter might have had an autism spectrum disorder. Some have also inaccurately reported that there is a linkage between autism and planned violence. We ask that blame not be placed on people with disabilities or disorders in the midst of these types of tragedies". True to her words, many doctors have agreed upon the fact that Autism is not related to this type of violence. So why then are Americans so quick to blame this disease? I think that a possibility is that with such a tragic event like this one, people do not want to sit with the feeling of an unknown cause and want to find a scapegoat.

In relation to this misleading assumption, there have recently been concerns that more children with Autism will be bullied. Students may  falsely identify the link between Autism and violence and would further exclude these kids from school life. This study found that 46 percent of middle school and high school students with Autism have reported being bullied. These students are already "easy" targets and now with this new association tacked on, it seems as though children with this disability will never be able to escape a cycle of exclusion. Advocates of Autism awareness organizations feel that teachers should better educate students about the condition. To what extent do you think this would help the situation? Do you think this raises an even bigger question about the American's desire to blame?