Editor, The month of April is Autism Awareness month and April 2 was Autism Awareness Day worldwide.
Autism is the fastest growing development disability in the U.S. It affects the brain in the areas of communication, emotions, and socialization (may not be all three may be just two).
There is a child diagnosed with autism every 20 minutes. In the 1980s there was only one out of 10,000 people diagnosed. Today there are one in 150 diagnosed. From these 150 children, one in 94 boys are diagnosed (out of every six cases, only one is a girl).
However, the signs usually do not show up until the child is 18 months to 3 years of age, usually because the child may develop and mature normally and then all of a sudden regress. That's why it is called the silent epidemic.
This year there will be more children diagnosed with autism than cancer, AIDS, and diabetes combined. There is no medical detection or cure for autism. We can only hope that by speech, occupational, physical therapies and lots of love that our children will gradually reverse by coming out of their little worlds and becoming a part of ours.
I know that we are a small community, but we do have several individuals in our community who are on the spectrum. All I ask is that you educate yourselves and help these children and their families by either making a donation or by not staring at the child who acts differently because that is who she or he is, unique. If you need more information on autism and the warning signs or would like to make a donation to help researchers, please go to AutismSpeaks.com. They can answer any questions you may have.
Autism is the fastest growing development disability in the U.S. It affects the brain in the areas of communication, emotions, and socialization (may not be all three may be just two).
There is a child diagnosed with autism every 20 minutes. In the 1980s there was only one out of 10,000 people diagnosed. Today there are one in 150 diagnosed. From these 150 children, one in 94 boys are diagnosed (out of every six cases, only one is a girl).
However, the signs usually do not show up until the child is 18 months to 3 years of age, usually because the child may develop and mature normally and then all of a sudden regress. That's why it is called the silent epidemic.
This year there will be more children diagnosed with autism than cancer, AIDS, and diabetes combined. There is no medical detection or cure for autism. We can only hope that by speech, occupational, physical therapies and lots of love that our children will gradually reverse by coming out of their little worlds and becoming a part of ours.
I know that we are a small community, but we do have several individuals in our community who are on the spectrum. All I ask is that you educate yourselves and help these children and their families by either making a donation or by not staring at the child who acts differently because that is who she or he is, unique. If you need more information on autism and the warning signs or would like to make a donation to help researchers, please go to AutismSpeaks.com. They can answer any questions you may have.
Terra Deloach
Glennville
Glennville