Esta ley ordena a entidades públicas y privadas que reciben fondos públicos y ofrecen servicios de limpieza a domicilio en Puerto Rico a considerar a las personas con autismo como personas con discapacidad para calificar para dichos servicios, sujeto a la edad de la clientela del programa.
(Approved December 12, 2002)
To order all public and private entities that receive municipal, state or federal funds, or any other public assistance, related to operating or offering housekeeping services in Puerto Rico, to amend their regulations, in order to stipulate that every autistic person shall be considered as a disabled person, in order to qualify for care services subject to the age of the clientele who receives the services of the housekeeping service program.
Autism is a severe and chronic development disability that normally appears during the first three (3) years of life. It occurs in approximately fifteen (15) out of every ten thousand $(10,000)$ births, and is four (4) times more common in boys than in girls. It can be seen in every race, ethnic group and social class in the world. There is no known factor in the child's psychological environment as the direct cause for autism.
The symptoms, caused by brain disorders, include: (1) disruptions in the speed/rhythm of appearance of physical, social and language skills; (2) an abnormal response to sensations. Any combination of the senses and their responses are affected: vision, hearing, touch, pain, equilibrium, smell, taste and the way in which the autistic person manages his/her body; (3) speech and language do not appear or appear delayed, in spite of having the evident intellectual capacity; and (4) an abnormal relationship with persons, objects and events.
Autism seems to be isolated or together with other disorders that affect brain functions, such as viral infections, metabolic disruptions, and epilepsy. Severe forms of autism may include extremely auto-aggressive, repetitive and abnormally aggressive behaviors. It has been proven that the most efficient treatment consists of applying special education programs with behavior modification methods.
There is no doubt that autistic persons, and their family members, need the help of the housekeeping services available in Puerto Rico. Sadly, some of the providers of these services do not consider the autism syndrome as a condition that warrants a housekeeper. Given this situation, the Legislature of Puerto Rico deems necessary to adopt this legislation to order all public or private entities who receive municipal, state or federal funds, or any kind of public assistance, related to operating or offering housekeeping services in Puerto Rico, to amend their norms and regulations to stipulate that every autistic person shall be considered as a disabled person for care services qualifying purposes.
Section 1.- All public or private entities who receive municipal, state or federal funds, or any kind of public assistance, related to operating or offering housekeeping services in Puerto Rico are hereby ordered to amend their norms and regulations to stipulate that every autistic person shall be considered as a disabled person for care services qualifying purposes, subject to the age of the clientele who receives the services of the housekeeping service program.
Section 2.- For the purposes of housekeeping care services offered by any public or private entity who receives municipal, state or federal funds, or
any kind of public assistance, an autistic person shall be qualified to benefit from this service.
Section 3.- Any public or private entity who declines to offer housekeeping services to an autistic person for understanding that he/she does not qualify as a beneficiary only for suffering from this condition shall not receive economic assistance from the government of Puerto Rico.
Section 4.- This Act shall only apply to housekeeping services programs that offer services to disabled persons as part of their operations.
Section 5.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 275 (H.B. 830) of the $4^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to order all public and private entities that receives municipal, state or federal funds, or any other public assistance, related to operating or offering the housekeeping services in Puerto Rico, to amend their regulations, in order to stipulate that every autistic person shall be considered as a disabled person, in order to qualify for care services subject to the age of the clientele who receives the services of the housekeeping service program, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $6^{ ext {th }}$ of August of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director