April was Autism Awareness Month and I wanted to leave this month with some food for thought.... I woke up this morning to a newscast reporting that there are 1,200 known cases of the Swine Flu worldwide. I've noticed that facebook, twitter and myspace is going wild with peoples comments about how scary the Swine Flu is becoming. It is frightening... this is something that we would definitely be aware and concerned about, especially how it effects our children. But... what if the Swine Flu effected over 67 MILLION individuals worldwide (about 1% of the worlds population)... how would people reach then? Would there be mass hysteria? What if more individuals were effected by the Swine Flu than paediatric cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined?! Would people refuse to leave their homes?! What if, it had no cause AND no cure?!
Well... those facts aren't about the Swine Flu BUT they are about individuals effected by Autism! More than 1 in 90 children are diagnosis with Autism. It is a hidden worldwide epidemic. Autism is a brain development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. So many of these children are misunderstood, mocked and most times, misdiagnosed. And... One in 90 of those children is my son 8 year old son Alijah. At 2 1/2 years old my son didn't talk in complete sentences, lined everything up he could get his hands on and didn't even call me Mom. I was a very young girl and didn't know too much about babies let alone what Autism was. I was lucky enough to have a great hospital that pointed me in the right direction. My son was diagnosed at 3 and we were blessed enough to receive speak therapy, specialized education and behavioral services. My son is 8 years old and he is healthy functional child who the doctors diagnosis as "high functioning" He will be able to live on his own, have his own family and have a career one day.
But we were lucky... there are thousands of families that don't know about services available or know how to find the information that can help their children and their families. There are thousand of people that don't know what Autism really is, how its effecting our children and why awareness is so important. Education is key when it comes to this disorder. There are several websites that specialize in Autism education and awareness. If you can Google Lil Wayne's latest lyrics, you can Google Autism. Take 30 seconds our of your day and learn important about a disorder that statistically will effect you directly, someone you love and/or someone you work with. The information is out there. Please be aware of it.
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