I am a high functioning adult who is on the autism spectrum, who has grown up into a family that values education. My mother is a teacher and my father is a veterinarian. I love learning new things. To remove the requirement of educated workers that help me with the things I don’t know how to do would destroy my quality of life. Plus it would make me extremely frustrated if I try to talk to my staff about things I enjoy but they don’t know what they are because they are uneducated. How are they supposed to give me medication that I require to function if they don’t have an education. Being that I live in a group home I have seen multiple episodes where one of my housemates with disabilities has a crisis and it would take an educated staff member to safely and respectfully help them. I further believe that all care workers should actually undergo additional training to remain current and to develop their skills on an increasing population of people on the autism spectrum. I have lived in 2 group homes in which I see every day staff make fun of individuals and criticise them for their behavior that they can’t control. We need more people with education to be able to understand and sympathise people with different disabilities, not people who judge and make fun of us. Please do not remove the education requirement. In fact strengthen it, too many people are already not educated enough to effectively do their job. 

yours truly,

Christopher Scott Wassell