Idil Abdull and Al Letson

and for the Somali Community in the Twin Cities where autism is so prevalent among its children.

When researching stories for SOTRU’s Twin Cities episode, there was one story that the entire team couldn’t stop thinking about after hearing it: within the large community of Somali immigrants that live in the Minneapolis area, there is an alarming trend of autism among their children.

We told the story of a mother, Idil Abdul, turned activist, and a father, Abdi Hassan, who has dedicated his life to the special needs of his child. In the spring of 2009 the Minnesota Department of Health conducted a limited study. As Al says in the segment, “In some ways, the study created more questions than it answers.” After all, the big question, the “Why of Autism” is something the world is still trying to figure out. The public health professionals conceded that even the baseline of whether someone has autism or not is hard to determine.

The segment ended with Al lamenting how there has been talk of several in-depth studies researching what might be happening with these Somali children, but, at the time, nothing concrete had evolved.

However, we were all recently elated to hear the news this month that there is now an in-depth study set to happen!

We got an excited email from Idil letting us know that on Tuesday Jan 18th, 2011, the  Center for Disease Control (CDC), National Health of Institute (NIH) and Autism Speaks announced a study of Autism and Somali children in Minnesota. As Idil wrote to us, “Any family that has a child or children in our case knows it is no day at the park and no parent should accept autism is an unsolved puzzle.  We must find cause, cure and better treatments.” With this study, there is a chance for progress on that front!

You can read more about the study in the Star Tribune or on the Autism Speaks website.

LISTEN TO OUR NEWEST EPISODE HERE!

Every city probably has its sandwich—New Orleans its Po Boy, Philly its Cheesesteak, the Chicago-style hot dog with its neon green relish.  The Twin Cities entry may not be as well known, but it is certainly a highly celebrated entity by Minnesotans: the Jucy Lucy.

A Jucy Lucy at The Nook, St. Paul, MN

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It isn’t exactly Lake Wobegon anymore… Once known as the home of Midwestern Lutherans and Scandanavian farmers, the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are now wildly diverse. They have become cities of immigrants, from Tibetans to Somalis, Iraqis to the Khmer people of Cambodia. In this episode, SOTRU explores the worlds within the Twin Cities, from Ethopian Lutherans to Hmong rappers to a Somali community struggling with a devastating mystery.

To listen to our Twin Cities episode, take a look at our pictures from the area and much more, visit our Twin Cities page.

We want you to start the discussion. To share your thought, simply comment on this post and get the conversation going!

One of the first things that attracted me to SOTRU was the idea of telling the stories behind the news headlines– the issues that may inform our lives in a big way, but don’t make it to the top of a newscast or front page of the paper. But, that said, knowing what’s going down where we live is a vital part of having a healthy community… and these are not easy times for the news industry. (more…)