Autism Awareness

Kudos to my area media stations that have joined together to bring awareness to the public about Autism. Their coverage and featured families touched my heart.

Although, it has been years, I often wondered if my toddlers' behavior might have been victim to autism. Seemingly exceptionally bright, her uncontrollable tantrums out of nowhere, and obsession with counting, sometimes left me perplexed. I was fortunate enough to only have experienced the terrible twos early. But for many, the families of autistic children are often falsely informed about behavioral treatments and misdiagnosed. Early intervention seems to be critical.

There are new guidelines now that screening be done between 18-24 months old, although some autistic children are diagnosed between the ages of two and three years most are not diagnosed until age four. I always was fearful of the possibility during those early years.

Autistic children often have trouble with verbal and non-verbal communications, social interactions, and may not be affectionate with others. Mine did not have any of the signals, she was very verbal, in fact, I swear she could read when she was two years old. However, she had a real problem with social interaction with her peers and any environmental changes. Perhaps because she was an only child in an all adult environment. At age two she literally failed the day care social environment and I was advised to give her 6 months to try again.

The symptoms of the disorder affecting the brain vary widely, two children with the same diagnosis may act quite differently and have different skills.

I'm not sure if the fact that we acquired our first family puppy when she was age three could have been an intuitive intervention or not, but like most autistic children, she related very well to our dog. An estimated one out of 150 children has a disorder related to autism according to a 2007 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a growing number of parents are looking to service dogs to provide protection and companionship for their children.

More than 24,000 children will be diagnosed this year in the US alone. There are many success stories that involved early diagnoses, intervention, and constant communications. There is still so much unknown and more to be done to understand and combat this disorder. Ironically, just this week, a court ruled in a case of a possible vaccine connection between childhood vaccines and autism. A unique but rare situation associated with the disorder.

The Autism Society of America publishes a newsletter, sends monthly emails, and maintains a good website where parents can get information. Another good site which is being promoted by our local media is AutismSpeaks.