Please join me in World Autism Awareness Day by lighting it up blue!
Autism now affects 1 in 88 children, 1 in 54 boys.
More children are diagnosed with Autism than diabetes, AIDS, cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy or Down syndrome – combined.
ASDs begin before the age of 3 and last throughout a person's life, although symptoms may improve over time. Some children with an ASD show hints of future problems within the first few months of life. In others, symptoms might not show up until 24 months or later. Some children with an ASD seem to develop normally until around 18 to 24 months of age and then they stop gaining new skills, or they lose the skills they once had.
A person with an ASD might:
- Not respond to their name by 12 months
- Not point at objects to show interest (point at an airplane flying over) by 14 months
- Not play "pretend" games (pretend to "feed" a doll) by 18 months
- Avoid eye contact and want to be alone
- Have trouble understanding other people's feelings or talking about their own feelings
- Have delayed speech and language skills
- Repeat words or phrases over and over (echolalia)
- Give unrelated answers to questions
- Get upset by minor changes
- Have obsessive interests
- Flap their hands, rock their body, or spin in circles
- Have unusual reactions to the way things sound, smell, taste, look, or feel
- This is my friends son Brock:
They are a family living with Autism, and you can read about the beginning symptoms to diagnosis including our denial in the early stages, to what life is like for some children on the spectrum, how holiday's can disrupt everything, their siblings, and how others in society can be unkind.
This story is no different than millions of others, except it happens to be my friends life.
Together we can ALL make a difference!
