Here in the United States we recognize the month of April as Autism Awareness Month.
Autism is a developmental disability that affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is usually detected within the early years of childhood ranging from two to three years. There are several different forms of autism and although the disorder lacks communication and physical skills, some people excel in visual skills, music, and art.
A study shown for Autism back in 2012 stated that the statistics had risen to 1 in every 68 births there is a child with Autism Disorder. Out of those 68, 1 in 54 are boys and 1 in 189 are girls.
Autism not only affects the child with the disorder but also the family due to costs to provide and care for them. A lifetime cost for one with Autism can range anywhere from 3.5 million to 5 million in the United States studies have shown. There are many organizations that help to fund this condition such as Autism Speaks.
It helps for one to know and recognize the signs of Autism. Be sure to have your child screened at a young age if it is not detected at birth. Several websites dedicated to this disorder help and guide one to learn more about the facts of Autism and how to further understand the disorder.
The causes of Autism factor in a number of different things such as rare autism risk genes and environmental factors. These combinations can affect the brain in early childhood causing Autism as well as parental age during conception and complications before and during birth.
The symbol for Autism is a puzzle piece with many different colors which became the logo in 1963 by the National Autistic Society. The significance for the logo can have several different meaning depending on how you want to interpret it yourself. Some identify the puzzle with children, “Our children are handicapped by a puzzling condition; this isolates them from normal human contact and therefore they do not ‘fit in’.” -TeamAutism247.com others believe that it represents something complex as the disorder or an autistic thought process. The colors in the puzzle symbolize hope.
Autism Awareness is something that I personally support because while in high school there were several kids with the disorder. They were our peers, some of which who took classes with others and I because they excelled in English or Math. I would volunteer during my elective hours to go and be a friend or give a helping hand in their environment of their classroom. It felt good to help someone else who may not have the same opportunities as I.
I do not see Autism as a handicap; it only will be a handicap if you let it. There are many who live normal day to day lives just like us “normal people” they just may do so at a different pace or in a different way.