Firefighters in Downers Grove Illinois have found and rescued a 20 year old man with autism whose parents reported that he might be lost in the sewer system. Apparently after being notified by the family that the man might be in the sewer system the firefighters lifted man hole covers looking for the man. The article on mysuburbanlife.com, Downer's Grove Reporter, does not specify how severe the man's autism was, stating only that he was deaf, but given the facts it is a safe assumption that he is functionally impaired by his autism disorder. This father of a severely autistic 15 year old son is very happy to hear of the man's safe return to his family.
No word yet on whether the very high functioning members of the Board of Directors of the Autism Self Advocacy Network who campaign, in the harsh glare of major media attention and in high level political and government institutions, against curing autism disorders have complained about the firefighters interference with the man's right to roam as a free ranging "autie" or "aspie".
