Primary components of the rhetoric against Shiloh Hendrix are the unsubstantiated claims that the alleged Somali thief is only “five years old” and “autistic.”
We are addressing the “five-year-old” claim in a different article.
It is well known that Somali families in Minnesota are having their children diagnosed as having Autism Spectrum Disorder [ASD] at rates that are wildly out of proportion to the entire rest of the United States.
According to a 2023 Centers for Disease Control autism survey, 6.25% of Somali 4-year-olds in Minnesota (1 in 16) are diagnosed with autism, compared to 1.89% (1 in 53) of all 4-year-olds in the state. Somalians are 3.3 times more likely to have their four-year-old diagnosed with autism compared to everyone else.
The most obvious reason could be that a large majority of the Somali community is on some form of welfare, and an ASD diagnosis yields extra benefits from MA-TEFRA, EIDBI, and SSI. The word spectrum refers to the fact that an ASD diagnosis can be from a wide range of different issues. Some Somali children are getting this diagnosis for having a “learning disability.” A study on average IQ at Somali refugee camps in Kenya, conducted by the College of Education Research Centre at King Saud University, found that their average IQ was among the lowest in the world. They used a popular non-verbal IQ test known as the SPM+.
There is also an explosion of taxpayer-funded autism service providers in Minnesota that heavily revolve around the Somali community. Somalians have started many themselves. Investigations into autism fraud in Minnesota have begun partly because of the “Feeding Our Future” COVID-19 relief money fraud. A staggering $250 million in COVID-19 funds for meals were misappropriated in Minnesota. In 2022, the federal government charged one White female and forty-six East Africans (Mostly or all Somalians) with federal crimes. Since then, at least another two dozen Somalians have been charged with crimes related to the scandal.
The massive “Feeding Our Future” scandal has led to questions about what other fraud is being carried out. This has prompted both state and federal investigations into autism fraud.
The state of Minnesota is investigating 15 autism providers and has already completed other investigations, withheld payments due to credible fraud allegations and forwarded cases to law enforcement “when appropriate,” according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
DHS said in a statement that these investigations “follow a national trend of identifying fraud in Medicaid-funded autism services.” DHS administers Minnesota’s version of Medicaid, known here as Medical Assistance, which is a federal-state health plan for poor and disabled people.
The Reformer reported in mid-June that the FBI is investigating possible fraud in Minnesota’s autism program, which has exploded in growth since launching in mid-2015.
The number of providers — who diagnose and treat people with autism spectrum disorder — has increased 700% in the past five years, climbing from 41 in 2018 to 328 last year. The amount paid to providers during that time has increased 3,000%, from about $6 million to nearly $192 million — according to DHS data.
The investigations intensified last December with raids on autism centers connected to the Somali community.
