When will we wake up as a society to chnge the way we are hurting ourselves?

My wife Jennifer and I have a daughter with Autism Spectrum disorder Called PDD(nos) Pervasive developemental Disorder not otherwise specified. It is autism awareness month Throughout April. for those that are familuar with autism there have been some talk shows that have been very informative on Autism. The CDC is saying that the statistic is 1 in every 150 Children will be effected by some form of Autism. Lets examine this. You have a better chance to get Autism than to win the lotto, get Aids win at bingo or to get hit by a car. That should be scary. but yet there are very few people aware of this problem. If it is this prevelant now. what will theodds be in 1-10 years. will we waste that much time before we do something about it. are we going to say "it aint my problem it doesnt effect me" It is a matter of survival to get a handle on these problems and figure out not only how to prevent it but to help the ones that allready are dealling with Autism. With Alisha we were so blessed we don't have all of the issues that autistic people have she isnt a behavior problem she doesnt bang her head against the wall. I am gratefule for that there are people who are out there that have kids that go un diagnosed because our medical community either sees no profit in it or doesnt care at all. If it wasnt for some very caring people at out local BACH ECI center in out area we would have never gotten the diagnoses as soon as we did. when your child at 2 1/2 has no words,doesnt point,hug ,or says mama or daddy there is a problem it isnt "she will talk when she is ready" there is a problem. So I urge anyone who wants to learn more and feels that they could help someone they know by sharing information that is ready and availible from the computers,magazines,tv, and books to learn and share all that you can. anyone who has an expectant loveone educate them it doesnt mean we should dispose of the children it means we need to educate ourselves so we can help them achieve thier highest potential and make known that we want a cure for Autism and our Polititians carrers depend on thier ability to effect change and implament polocy to help with therapies and cures for this growing epidimic

I have a problem with the "E" word used in relation to autism. Autism is not an epidemic by definition or by prevalence. It is a term used for infectious diseases which autism is not. Secondly, it is a term used for a sharp unexpected increase. Since the diagnostic criteria has been broadened recently, it was expected to rise as it has. We are now seeing a leveling off and true reflection of ASDs as more people who were previously excluded are now included in the spectrum. The rate of increase is consistent throughout all ages. In other words, it's not just something new happening to children. Adults who were previously undiagnosed are falling on to the spectrum and their rates are increasing consistent with that of children. While I agree that most people could stand to learn more about autism, it hurts our efforts if we are crying wolf (epidemic) constantly when there isn't one. Scaremongering is not as effective as properly educating folks on what autism is and more importantly, what it isn't.

I am also curious as to what you mean when you say it is important to figure out how to prevent autism. Would you like to see autistics prevented? How would that be achieved-through prenatal screening and abortions? Not long ago, prevention was a priority for Down's syndrome and as a result, 90% of them never get a shot at life despite drastically improved quality of life for them. Tell me how that benefits the self esteem of those with Downs. Is it the right message to tell people they should have been prevented? That's exactly what you are telling people with ASDs and we wonder why some older adolescents on the spectrum turn violent and rebel against everything. If you're told from day one that you are defective or less than human, it's considered racist if it's against another ethnic group but totally acceptable if it's directed at the disabled. That's where our real problems lie-in our perceptions of those with disabilities.

As we go through another Autism Awareness month, we should try to see the world through the eyes of someone on the spectrum. The world is not built to accomodate them which makes their struggles all the more difficult. This is where pressure on the politicians should come from. There are plenty of autistics who do not wish to be cured. They just want many barriers removed that keep them from enjoying a full life. Autism is visible in every single aspect of my child's life. If he were "cured" from who he is, we would not be able to recognize him as he would become a different person. I do not want a different child. I want respect and acceptance for who he is.

what an excellent response to this. I could not agree with you more or have responded better myself.
I am autistic and I am not a problem to be cured. You cannot cure diversity. Report It

We have a Daughter with Bi-Polar and ADHD, it took us four months to even get a doctor to diagnose and begin treating this (Meds). I believe that where politics and policy come into effect is through the deregulation of Insurance companies and KickBacks (Special Interest Monies paid into the politicians. There are many issues that we as Americans must simply stand up and say to our Government/Political
officials :"Do what is right for the People of Working Class America or get out of office". These are the only choices we should give them as THEY WORK FOR US/WE DO NOT WORK FOR THEM--We Hired them, We can FIRE THEM.

You are right the statistics on Autism is staggering.
And if I were a young adult thinking of a family I would be very concerned with the odds.

My daughter worked at a home for teenage boys who were autistic, so I am not personally touched by the disease, but I know from her experiences. It must be heart breaking to have a child who can't fill their potential because of autism.

If we can send men to outterspace we need to be able to figure out why Autism is becoming epidemic

I totally agree. I have been doing much research and I have been learning causes (toxins, immunization shots, antibiotics, wheat), and I have been learning effective treatments. My whole family is sick with autism, mental illness, autoimmnue disorders, neurological disorders caused by the same things. I don't know what to do. But it is an epidemic and its compounding at an alarming rate. I have been researching about how this all came to be and it all comes down to the almighty buck. The people who are in the organizations meant to protect us are bought and paid for and no one wants to buck the system due to realistic fear. I know this sounds unbelievable, I don't want to believe it either. But you know when Congress just passed the law that FDA employees can no longer recieve more than $50,000.00 from each drug company, that just verifies it. In addition, only a handful of professionals know how to diagnose and treat these children. My son was autistic from birth, and even though he was taken to professionals constantly, they didn't pick up on it. When I went back to them, they told me they don't know and they were not taught any thing about autism in school even though they are licensed to diagnose and treat it. How shocking. Yes this is also unbelievable. The handful that know, taught themselves from independent research. Well, my family is doing better now, but I am continuing to do research. Any ideas on how to stop the madness. I tell people around me on how I got my family off of psych meds and reduced most of their symptoms with nutrition and they don't believe me. They say, "if that were true, than every one would know". Well, only a handful of professionals know and the one my son's sees, says practically no one knows this stuff. Anyhow, I will take ideas on how to stop the madness. I am afraid that in a few short years, Americans will all be too sick to run the country. Just to let people know, many European nations have banned most of our food, dental fillings, mercury in immunization shots, etc. They are way ahead of us in detoxifying.

Bravo chikkenb! You have clearly done your homework and you speak for a minority of the population that has and always will be a part of society, unless, that society finds an "alternative" to reducing their numbers. I'm sure I won't be popular with my opinion, but I get so weary of reading nothing but negativity and blame. Surely there has been joy, love, some hope in this experience? Sadly, we have become a society of victims, expecting others to accept responsibility when something seemingly goes wrong, or worse, wanting a quick fix. When the scientific facts prove otherwise (in the case of mercury, vaccines, anecdotal cases of food allergies, and there has been 7 recent studies on thimersol, but they don't get mainstream coverage because it doesn't support the evil pharmaceutical company agenda in the mainstream media, oh, and the original scientist who started up the whole MMRI vaccine scare actually retracted his name from the study, admitting the control groups did not actually qualify, among other things... and he did it for the money, but again, that was squelched, because people want to still believe the MMRI is at fault, even though the mercury was pull from vaccines in late 1990s, and if the theory is numbers are still rising, well, never mind the facts, it's the principle!), people turn away and blame the government or the pollution, anything but the strongest proven link today... and I'll admit it's painful, but that genetic link (it's why many times over families, have more than one child with autism, it is also linked to mental disorders, depression, etc. And it's nobody's fault.). Why can't people accept the probability that it is their genes that dictate this, not a government conspiracy or a milk allergy. Unfortunately there have been too many anecdotal stories not backed up by emperical evidence, and entirely too many irresponsible authors, politicians and even scientists who have capitalized, and I mean big time, on parents, desperate to find something, somewhere, outside of themselves to solve this problem. I worry more about all the companies, quacks, "services" for autism that are not only ineffective, but sometimes dangerous, never mind bleeding the pocket books of parents who don't have the money to begin with. But what if this is simply the child you have, and your challenge is to not only give him/her all the support, love and guidance he or she needs but to celebrate their uniqueness instead of dwell on this as some kind of terminal illness/injustice?

When my son was first diagnosed I was very sad, I'll admit. I scoured the Internet for some kind of "answer", back when there wasn't much about autism, and this was only 7 years ago. I read an essay by Jim Sinclair, an autistic savant, in my opinion. His message hit me like a 50-lb. sandbag to the forehead. In his essay, "Don't Mourn for Us," he encourages parents to resolve their grief. He insightfully pointed out that there is no loss here; for children with autism are who they are, not what they could have been. "Some amount of grief is natural as parents adjust to the fact that an event and a relationship they've been looking forward to isn't going to materialize. But this grief over a fantasized normal child needs to be separated from the parents' perceptions of the child they do have鈥?[this] source of grief is damaging for both the parents and the child, and precludes the development of an accepting and authentic relationship between them."

It doesn't mean I didn't give my son speech therapy, occupational therapy, lots of exercise, limit his diet. It doesn't mean it hasn't been hard and I don't bang MY head against the wall, but I cherish that kid and I'm so grateful for what he can do and his insight that is so unusual, so unlike other boys... I cherish his innocence, his truthfulness, and all that I have learned as a result of being his mother: primarily to just let go, not care what other people think and watch him thrive.