- Today on "Austin Insight:" Federal budget cuts hit home for Austin's public health efforts.

And it's Autism Awareness Month.

We'll talk with some advocates about the importance of representation.

"Austin Insight" starts right now.

- Support for "Austin Insight" comes from: Sally & James Gavin.

And also from: Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants.

Bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(bright music) - Hello, and thanks for joining us.

I'm Laura Laughead.

Monitoring diseases like measles, free and low cost vaccinations, healthcare screenings, managing diabetes, these are just a few of the services and programs that federal funding has helped Austin's public health team deliver.

Until now.

The city recently got word that the federal government is canceling grants and contracts for some public health programs.

About 30% of the city's public health efforts are funded through federal grants.

Money that pays for about half of the department staff or more than 320 employees.

Public health director, Adrienne Stirrup, recently presented details to city council members.

- And so this is kind of the situation that we're in.

I've called it death by a thousand cuts.

And so the department has been working to prioritize because we know that local dollars cannot fill the gap of federal funding.

- We know that our public health department has about 40 million that they receive on an annual basis in grants.

And so knowing the loss that we already have in Austin, knowing that it could get much worse, I think it makes our upcoming budget deliberations even more challenging because we're having to make decisions, budgetary decisions in our community amidst this chaos and confusion from the federal government on a daily, if not, hourly basis.

- And Adrienne Stirrup, director of Austin Public Health, joins us now.

Adrienne, thanks so much for being with us.

- Thank you for having me.

- So we'll talk specifics about the budget cuts in just a moment, but first, the concept of public health sort of became controversial or even politicized during the COVID pandemic.

So can you please remind us of the overall purpose of the many public health programs and the services your department provides?

- Thank you for that.

My predecessor used to say that public health is kind of like air.

You don't really know you need it and how much you appreciate it until you don't have it.

And so in public health, we're all about population health outcomes.

And that means working with community to ensure health.

So, we are everything, from immunizations, and that's not just COVID.

We do all childhood immunizations.

We do flu, we do pneumonia, we have WIC clinics.

So that's about helping moms and babies have a healthy start in life.

We do neighborhood services, places where people can come and get important health screenings so that they can have information and be able to take good charge of their health.

We support food pantries, we have employment support.

So all of those factors that really drive health outcomes, those things that happen outside of the doctor's office, that's where public health is.

- From years of COVID, now measles, public health officials really have not appeared to get a break lately.

And now as for those budget cuts, who will be most directly impacted by these cuts?

- Our entire community.

Public health is not just about a specific population.

A lot of times, people get confused and think that public health is really about healthcare for the uninsured.

But as I said, it's really about population health outcomes.

It's that disease surveillance, and that just means disease tracking, it's infection control, it's food safety, all the illnesses and things that can affect anyone no matter where you look, how you look, rather, where you work.

Public health is really about community safety.

And so when we make cuts to public health, our entire community is at risk.

- Undoubtedly.

Definitely sounds like a challenging time for public health right now.

Once again, that's Adrienne Stirrup, director of Austin Public Health.

Adrienne, thank you so much for taking the time and breaking this down with us.

- You're welcome.

Thank you.

(bright music) - Speaking of healthcare, our Decibel team continues to focus on the Rundberg community.

And in our next story, Decibel reporter, Blair Waltman-Alexin takes a look at a special group of community healthcare navigators called Promotoras.

(kid laughing) - My husband, we always think that we're gonna be together forever and we gonna grow very old.

But, yeah, you never know when life is gonna change.

(melancholic music) (seagulls squawking) I am gonna be helping you with the application, okay?

Do you have any covers right now?

- No, ma'am.

- Okay.

We laugh because they say, "Thank you, Doctor."

And we were like, "We are not doctors."

(laughs) (Teresa speaking in foreign language) We are a group of Promotoras.

We help the community with the MAP insurance.

That way, they can go to the community clinics like Community Care, Lone Star, People's Community.

(Teresa speaking in foreign language) It is a very low pay for people with low income.

- I can help him.

- Okay.

(crowd faintly speaking) - Texas needs help connecting people to their healthcare systems, and in North Austin, around the Rundberg, St. John area specifically.

The Promotoras are amazing because they are part of the communities that they serve.

They're trusted messengers.

I'm Julie Weeks.

I'm with Austin Voices for Education and Youth, and I'm the director of Family Resource Centers.

We realized that there's a lot to do to connect families to the medical access program called MAP.

And so we just started building insurance clinics through our family resource centers.

And our Promotoras, our community health workers, are the ones that we trained through Central Health to be able to help people apply for MAP.

(health worker speaking in foreign language) For those residents in Austin who don't qualify for Medicaid, they may qualify for the MAP program.

It's not insurance, but it is a discount program that does give access to the healthcare system.

(contemplative music) Because Texas doesn't have Medicaid expansion, many low income adults, that is the way that they access the healthcare system in Austin.

(contemplative music) - The size of the uninsured population in the state is I think around 20%, 21%.

Studies have shown in Texas that people have more like eligibility to enroll in different types of healthcare coverage.

So those would be things like Medicaid, ACA, Affordable Care Act.

But part of the issue is really about knowing what their choices are.

One of the biggest issues that we've identified through that is trust in the system.

(health worker speaking in foreign language) So having a community health worker who is, you know, of the community is just an incredible resource.

(health workers speaking in foreign language) - Okay.

It is a little hard for some of them, but they can see that, "Oh, okay, so I know you from the community."

So it's like we are equal, you know, and they can talk more to us.

Ola, hello.

(Teresa speaking in foreign language) Okay, that's fine.

We can....

I never thought I was going to do something like this.

I was doing tie-dyes for 22 years.

I would sell my T-shirts, my dresses, everything, all the clothes.

I just stopped because my son was little and my husband got sick.

(somber music) He was being with diabetes.

He was having only 25% working his kidneys.

He went to do his dialysis and they call me at six o'clock and he has a heart attack.

After my husband passed away, it's like I had to live the day by day.

We were not prepared for that.

(somber music continues) (birds chirping) (phone ringing) - [IVR] Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system.

(Teresa speaking in foreign language) - I feel like we are working all the time.

We don't prioritize, I guess, the time to go having all this checkup.

I feel like that's what happened to my husband.

(phone ringing) - [Client] Hello?

- Hi, my name is Teresa Rivera.

With my experience, I tell people like, "Yeah, don't wait.

Just go to your doctor, you go to your clinic."

They need to know before they're at that point.

(health worker speaking in foreign language) I feel like I'm doing something good for so many people, and I love it when they see us on the schools, outside, and they will say thank you to you.

One kid later on came back and say, "Thank you so much because y'all saved my life."

I think that's what he's saying.

That's why it's important to me.

I'm doing something good for the community.

I can help you now.

Okay, let me start with (faintly speaking) (solemn music) - Coming up soon from Decibel, a report on Dobie Middle School.

Why it may be closing even though student performance there is improving?

Meanwhile, April is Autism Awareness Month.

A time to learn more about the unique challenges people with autism face, one of which is being seen and better understood.

In a new PBS kid show called "Carl the Collector," the main character is a raccoon who has autism.

The show had a major impact on a local boy who put into practice a lesson he learned from one episode.

- Who likes to ride their bike?

I'm a teacher for second grade.

The kids in my class may have autism or ADHD, language and speech delays.

- Is it right there?

- Yes.

They love "Carl the Collector."

- I have a few collections that can help with that.

- We're gonna look and listen for details.

My local PBS station helped provide me a lesson for using "Carl the Collector."

- We can be detail detectives.

- [Speaker] The activity was modeled upon what they saw in the episode.

- Tell me what it means to observe.

My kids responded so positively.

I saw children engage with others that would normally be more quiet because they were so excited to complete this activity.

- That could be fun.

Pay close attention to the details.

- As a teacher, I'm always looking for ways to connect better with my kids.

And so "Carl the Collector" helps me to do that.

- Yeah.

- That's right, you were going.

- Hi!

- Daddy!

- So you guys watched "Carl the Collector" on a video in class?

- Mm-hmm.

- You are Carl, he's a Carl.

- [Son] Onto construction.

Onto construction.

- We went to a birthday party at the indoor play place.

- That's where I got the cut.

- Above the eyebrow?

- Uh-huh.

It was really bad.

- Then we got in the car and we explained what was gonna happen.

That's when he started getting nervous going to the emergency room, right?

The doctor was working on his forehead, and he had just completely stopped answering everyone's questions at that point.

I was laying completely still with his arms by his eye, and his eyes were closed.

And we were like, "Dude, what are you doing?"

And he said, "I'm doing my 'Carl the Collector' breathing."

- It's okay, Carl.

Mama would say, "take some belly breaths."

- I just thought it was amazing that he self initiated that calming mechanism.

I mean, to me, it's "Carl the Collector," you know?

That he's just gonna collect stuff and, like, the show's gonna be around his adventures on collecting.

And so the fact that there's, like, other life lessons, you know, like, here's how to do a calm breathing method, I think that was so amazing.

Sit right there.

You need two tinies?

- They are just too cute.

And "Carl the Collector" has some surprisingly good fashion.

Well, joining us now is autism advocate, Karissa Winters, whose daughter actually has autism, as well as the executive director of the Autism Society of Texas, Jacquie Benestante.

Thank you both for being here.

- Thanks for having us.

- Yeah, thank you so much.

- Absolutely.

And so let's first talk about representation like we just saw in the "Carl Collector" show.

And, Karissa, it's something that you've addressed specifically in your work.

Can you talk about why that's so important?

- Well, representation is so important not only for the families that have family members that are autistic and are impacted by this every day and the people who live with autism, but also from the people outside looking in, so that they can have empathy and really understand what autism is and the different things that people who are autistic may go through.

And so I think like, you were talking about "Carl the Collector."

I love that there's a show that, you know, has a representation.

Because, for example, I remember when my daughter was younger, she would have these meltdowns, we'd be in a store in public, and people stare at you and they'll judge you, thinking, "Oh, this is a bratty kid."

No, she was overstimulated.

The lights were too bright, too loud of noises.

And you never know when that may happen, so if people see a show like that and they see these, you know, references to things like that that happen, then they'll be more mindful to not be so quick to judge and think, "Oh, maybe I don't know the whole story of what's going on."

- Jacquie, your organization's programs include helping people, like you said, the outside in, people like first responders or others better understand autism.

So why can't otherwise routine encounters maybe be scary or really tricky for people who have autism?

- Yeah, that's a great question.

Routine encounters are always, I mean, not always, but they can be really, really tricky for autistic kids and autistic adults.

And we really do try to, you know, we talk a lot about autism acceptance, but we really try to teach the community how to understand autism and recognize it, as well as help kids and adults understand how to interact, you know, in just various situations, whether it's first responders or healthcare setting.

We have kids that are scared to go to the doctors and things like that.

And, yeah, they're just different for everyone, and there's a lot of anxiety when it's, like, a new place or it's something you don't always do, or, like, fire trucks have all the sensory issues, you know, the first responder things.

And usually, it's an emergency situation, so it's all around just very, very tough for autistic kiddos and adults sometimes too.

- And in an emergency situation for any human being, that's just already high stress, very chaotic, and doubly so for someone who may have sensory issues.

- Yeah.

- And for both of you, I wanna ask, you touched on this, but autism, it's not one size fits all.

It presents differently in every person.

So can you elaborate more on that and maybe some common misconceptions that people may have about autism?

- I think for me, especially having a child that's autistic, I remember when she was born and then, you know, she got diagnosed at three.

And people were like, "Oh, does she play piano?"

And so people had this idea that she was gonna be this baby piano genius.

Or, you know, "Oh, is she really good at that?"

or "Does she do this?"

Or she can't read, she can't talk.

And so I think that it's that educational component that you are speaking to, and it's so important.

- Absolutely.

And, Jacquie, would you like to add to that?

- Yeah, I mean, there's so many myths, and you touched on a lot of them.

But, you know, we see a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings about people with autism, whether they're, you know, highly intelligent or, you know, they have cognitive challenges.

And, you know, we've seen a lot of people who have autism who are, you know, just misunderstood.

And especially for those that are nonverbal autism and have a high level of support need, people assume that they have a low IQ or they can't communicate.

There's a lot of presumptions made about people that are nonverbal, which aren't always accurate, so we always suggest like, presume competence, assume they can understand, you know?

You don't know what that person can do until you've met that individual.

And we have similar misconceptions, you know, like males with autism should be, you know, engineers or computer programmers or have a special skill.

Not everyone with autism has a special skill, you know?

There's a lot of people, and then parents are like, "My kid doesn't have a special skill.

Why not?"

You know?

So, you know, there's so many misconceptions.

But, yeah, it is true.

I mean, if you've met one person with autism, you've really met one person with autism.

Just like all humans, everybody is unique, you know, and everyone has strengths and challenges.

So... - Well said.

Well, definitely an important conversation, and thank you for having this conversation with us.

So important, especially during Autism Awareness Month.

Thank you both, Jacquie, Karissa, for being here.

- Thanks for having us.

- Thanks.

(gentle bright music) (gentle bright music continues) (gentle bright music continues) - This week marks 30 years since a bomb tore through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

Now a new Netflix documentary takes a closer look at the aftermath, showing the chaos and the acts of courage, as well as the hunt to bring the bomber, Timothy McVeigh, to justice.

In the film, you'll hear from survivors, first responders, and even from McVeigh himself.

Take a look.

(pensive music) (birds chirping) - We were having breakfast, and then there was this explosion that rocked us out of our table.

(pensive music continues) - [Reporter] The whole front of the federal building is gone.

All floors to the roof.

- [Reporter 2] We need all fire and ambulances you can get.

- [Reporter 3] You probably heard it and felt it, an explosion of some kind downtown.

- We've never had a bomb like this in the United States.

(siren wailing) (pensive music) (crowd screaming) - I started screaming.

- [Speaker] People were walking like zombies.

- I thought maybe I was dead, but I was buried alive.

- This is going to be the largest investigation in the history of the FBI.

- I see that there was no license plate on the rear bumper of his vehicle.

So I hit the lights and siren and pulled over.

I'm pulling my weapon out, and he said, "My weapon is loaded."

Well, so is mine.

- [Reporter 4] We are told that a suspect is under arrest.

- McVeigh.

- McVeigh.

- Timothy McVeigh.

(pensive music) - The anger is growing by the hour here in Oklahoma City.

- I think they should let him loose out front.

Let everybody have (indistinct).

(pensive music continues) (siren wailing) - Joining us now is the director of "Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror," Greg Tillman.

Greg, thanks so much for being here.

- Thank you.

- So, Greg, this week, it marks 30 years a rather grim anniversary.

Why was it important for you to be the one to tell this story?

- Well, I think it's important to just continue to tell this story.

Because every time you go out and interview somebody else who hasn't spoken about this story before, you get another facet, another look into what happened, and another reminder of kind of the horrible result of hatred and divisiveness taken to its extreme.

- Well said.

And speaking of just that, did you uncover anything new or maybe anything that surprised you about the bombing during your time researching and making this documentary?

- What we...

The thing that I'm most proud about in this show are some people who really haven't spoken about what happened to them and the experience talk to us.

And Renee Moore was a woman that had not spoken to very many people at all about this, and she tragically lost her six-month-old baby who was in the daycare center in the building when it went down.

And I think she's really the heart of the show.

You know, she represents a lot of people.

A lot of folks lost family members, children.

19 kids died in the building.

But she tells us her story, and I think it's a beautiful thing and a brave thing for her to do that.

This is what happens when people use violence to express themselves.

- And it takes, like you said, such courage to tell these stories and thinking about that little baby that was such an impactful, poignant storyline.

That baby would now be around 30 today, so it's very eerie and I'm sure a very painful week for all of those survivors that spoke to you.

And for those that might not know or remember, there is a link from this terrible event to another one here in Central Texas that we know all too well.

That, of course, being the Waco siege.

Can you talk about the Waco connection and how it became a motive for this bombing?

- Well, Timothy McVeigh, who was the bomber, Oklahoma City bomber in 1995, he was fascinated with guns.

And his whole life, he loved guns and was very concerned with gun rights, and spent a couple years before this traveling around the country.

He's kind of vagrant driving from gun show to gun show.

He was fascinated by a book called "The Turner Diaries," which was...

It's a horrible book, but it's about an American white revolution in America.

And he heard about Waco when it was happening during the siege in 1993, and he drove there and, like so many people, kind of sat on the outskirts of the siege.

And he kind of tries to rewrite history afterwards and talks about how he was so upset with what happened to Waco and how people died there, but I really think what he was mostly concerned about was the fact that the gun rights that he believed the people inside the compound had were being infringed upon.

When he was there, he was selling bumper stickers about guns.

So, he was upset about the fact that he thought the Clinton administration was going to take away his rights as a gun owner.

And in 1994, when Bill Clinton signed the Assault Weapons Ban, that was really kind of the thing that tipped him over the edge.

- And to add a little more historical context, McVeigh chose April 19th as the date because it was the second anniversary of the violent end of that botched Waco siege.

And, Greg, you've also worked on that Netflix documentary, "Waco: American Apocalypse."

And in this documentary on Oklahoma City, it was interesting to see how you included how reporters and other figures early on were putting those pieces together slowly of the two coincidences that turned out not to be coincidences rather at all.

And the last few years, domestic terrorism, especially with anti-government sentiment, has been on the rise.

In 2023, the FBI director testified that domestic terrorism investigations more than doubled since 2020.

That being said, you touched on this a little.

What do you think we as a nation can learn about that from Waco and the Oklahoma City bombings, and especially through your films?

- Well, I do think that as our country becomes more divided politically, and, you know, we live in a world where our media is very fractured now.

You know, we're not trying to just get the truth fast the way we used to from our news, we're getting opinion constantly.

And a lot of that opinion is that the folks on the other side, no matter what side you're on, don't matter.

They're evil, they're an enemy of the state, this kind of thing.

And the more that rhetoric continues, the easier it is for people on the far-left or the far-right to do violence to the people that are being dehumanized by our leaders and by the media.

So I think this is, again, it's a reminder that, okay, if you're gonna do that, then you're gonna have to, like, take a look at the result.

And the result is that hundreds of innocent people in this case, and children, are dead.

And I think it's important to continue to remind people, that's what happens when you use violence to express yourself politically.

- And I think that your message from this film comes across loud and clear.

That's Greg Tillman, director of "Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror."

Greg, thanks so much for joining us.

- Thank you.

Really appreciate the time.

- Documentary premieres on Netflix, Friday, April 18th.

(bright music) And that's our show for today.

You can catch up on all episodes of "Austin Insight" in the free PBS app, or check out some of our stories on the Austin PBS YouTube channel.

Thanks for watching.

We'll see you next week.

(bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) - [Announcer] Support for "Austin Insight" comes from: Sally & James Gavin.

And also from: Suerte, Estee, and Bar Toti restaurants.

Bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(playful music)