Do you know someone with Autism? This is Autism Awareness Month. Let's all become aware!
The other day my daughter's kindergarten teacher and I were chatting as I was picking up my son from Chess Club.
She had to send my daughter to the library. My daughter wasn't in trouble, but her class was. See...my daughter has ASD, that is Autistic Spectrum Disorder. While much improved, she tends to repeat questions that are asked of her as her brain tries to process what people are saying. It gets a lot worse when she is anxious, and school makes her very anxious.
The problem in her kindergarten class that day...kids were giggling and laughing because she was repeating the teacher's question as she desperately tried to figure out what the teacher was asking her. The teacher had my daughter leave the classroom so she could talk with the children about differences in people. That we are all different, and that we don't laugh or giggle when we see our peers struggle.
My daughter is a "cupcake" as stated by some of the professionals at her school. She rocks. I agree.
Autistic Spectrum Disorders include Aspergers, PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified), and Autism.
I won't go into all the details about the differences in diagnoses, but needless to say it can make life a little challenging for some people. The world of Autism is filled with controversy. I am of the personal opinion that we as a nation are toxifying ourselves and our children. No matter what you think about Autism...allergies, childhood cancers, etc are also on the rise.
The Department of Defense reports that 1 in 88 dependents are diagnosed with an ASD and the UK (United Kingdom) just annouced their numbers...
1 in 60 children
1 in 34 boys
are diagnosed with an ASD.
I would love to tell you that all kids diagnosed with ASD's will be okay, but that is not true. Some people with ASD's head off to college, get married, and have kids. Some have trouble maintaining work. Some live in group homes or with parents. Just as there is a spectrum of functioning as young children, the same is true for our ASD adults.
I encourage all of you to learn a little bit about the toxins that we put into our bodies and our environment, and the impact that it can have on the neurological/immunological development of our children.
There are many great resources and social networking groups on twitter and facebook for ASD families.
Being a blogger and social networking chick here are some ASD related blogs and networks online.
#asd on twitter
Advertures in Autism (she has a great blogroll of other Autism blogs to read).
Clipart was provided courtesty of Design By Cher
Excellent discussion, or hopefully will be. My wife was so paranoid about getting certain shots for our son because she bellieves they can bring on things like Autism. It's really a high intensity subject as the surgeon general would have you believe that the shots are fine... Oh, I know I can trust them! I know those filthy rich drug companies don't buy senators either... *wink* *wink*
Greg, it can be a touchy decision for many parents. I know of a few recently who have decided against certain vaccinations for fear of various complications. I'm not quite sure what I would decide if I had young children now, but I'm sure I would research the information fully. Regarding drug companies, I don't trust them at all! Especially with any new drugs, I honestly don't think they do enough research or disclose everything fully.
My wife printed out around 300 pages on the subject! We did alternative schedule with Preston spacing out the shots and prolonging the MMR as long as possible. Cara had mentioned that babies are expected to get like 15 shots when they are born as opposed to said 5 or 6 when I was born. No need to still give POLIO shots! So silly.