It Is Autism Awareness Month

If you are reading my blog you are probably pretty aware of autism already, but I figured I’d pass along a few tidbits of information just incase.

1 in 110 children have autism in the US, 1 in 70 boys

Every 15 Minutes a new case is diagnosed

It can cost up to $3.2 million to raise a child with autism

Autism is more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined

Autism is the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the US

Children with Autism have greater rates of Gastrointestinal, sleep, immunological and seizure disorders

Autism prevalence figures are growing

Autism costs the nation over $35 billion per year, a figure expected to significantly increase in the next decade

Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases

Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism

There is no medical detection for autism

Because autism is a spectrum disorder children with autism may range from the mildly effected to severely afflicted. Some children are non-verbal while others may talk quite well. The children “look” like normally developing children and often their disorder is thought to be bad behavior or poor parenting by the unknowing public. Often they have additional problems and disorders which make life even more challenging such as hypotonia, sensory processing disorder, OCDs, Tourettes Syndrome, Tuberous sclerosis, Anxiety, bi-polar and bowel disease. Many ASD children are considered elopers, which means they may wander off. A Danish study in 2008 found that the mortality rate in the autism population is twice as high as the general population. Many of these seats were attributed to drowning associated with the individual having wandered off.

When I read the statistics above, especially the 1 in 70 boys will be diagnosed with autism statistic, I often think of the Howie Mandel show Deal or No Deal. I imagine myself with a metal briefcase standing next to Howie and we have gone through a few cases already, 30 to be exact. Howie taps my case and asks me if I believe my case hold the autism or not? On the real TV show the contestants really have nothing to lose and very much to gain, but in my little game I’m not playing for money, I’m playing with my son’s future. Unfortunately for Matthew my case did contain the autism. Howie did not give me a congratulatory fist bump and the pretty models didn’t smile, opening their cases to reveal better choices. No, instead we got OT and PT, special diets and special education, and a child that tells me “Mommy, I don’t want autism. I don’t want to be different.”

I hope you are aware of autism. But more than that I hope you will help make a change. I hope you will demand better for our children before this epidemic effects 1 in 50 children, even before it effects 1 in 80. Really, if we have a show were people can win $1 million simply by choosing the right box out of 100 that should show you just how dire autism really is! Stay we..