Today is the first annual World Autism Awareness Day. In December the UN proposed and declared April 2nd to be a day of raising awareness throughout the world for Autism. The state of Quatar actually took the lead in the proposal.
“Autism knows no geographic boundaries – it affects individuals and families on every continent and in every country,” said Suzanne Wright, co-founder of Autism Speaks. “The celebration of World Autism Awareness Day is an important way to help the world better understand the scope of this health crisis and the need for compassion and acceptance for those living with autism. This remarkable day – the first of many to come – promises to be a time of great hope and happiness as we work to build a global autism community.”
Since I love 2 people with autism, I thought I'd do my part to raise awareness today. Here's some sobering stats:
-Autism affects as many as 1 in 150 children and 1 in 94 boys
-Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the world
-More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with diabetes, cancer and AIDS combined
-Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism
-There is no medical detection or cure for autism, but early diagnosis and intervention improve outcomes
There are many theories and much research going into finding the cause of autism. It most definitely is a complex cause with a number of factors that work together against our children otherwise the cause would be much easier to determine. There has long been a debate between the medical community and parents (this is somewhat of a generalization--some in the medical community would be on the side of the parents) about whether early childhood vaccinations contribute as one of the factors to the cause of autism. Many parents see a huge change in their child after certain immunization shots that make them think the shots are a cause of their child's deterioration. The medical community has always refuted this. But recently some parents have won a law suit wherein the US government made an unprecedented concession concluding that childhood vaccines contributed to symptoms of autism in 9-year-old Hannah Poling. This is a HUGE statement and opens the doors for more helpful discussion and steps to change. If you are interested or have any young children of your own and are contemplating your immunization choices, click here to read the full article on this case. It is well worth it to be informed on this issue! I fear that the history books will look back on our time and mourn for what we have done to entire generations of children.
Happy World Autism Awareness Day and please spread the news!
“Autism knows no geographic boundaries – it affects individuals and families on every continent and in every country,” said Suzanne Wright, co-founder of Autism Speaks. “The celebration of World Autism Awareness Day is an important way to help the world better understand the scope of this health crisis and the need for compassion and acceptance for those living with autism. This remarkable day – the first of many to come – promises to be a time of great hope and happiness as we work to build a global autism community.”
Since I love 2 people with autism, I thought I'd do my part to raise awareness today. Here's some sobering stats:
-Autism affects as many as 1 in 150 children and 1 in 94 boys
-Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the world
-More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with diabetes, cancer and AIDS combined
-Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism
-There is no medical detection or cure for autism, but early diagnosis and intervention improve outcomes
There are many theories and much research going into finding the cause of autism. It most definitely is a complex cause with a number of factors that work together against our children otherwise the cause would be much easier to determine. There has long been a debate between the medical community and parents (this is somewhat of a generalization--some in the medical community would be on the side of the parents) about whether early childhood vaccinations contribute as one of the factors to the cause of autism. Many parents see a huge change in their child after certain immunization shots that make them think the shots are a cause of their child's deterioration. The medical community has always refuted this. But recently some parents have won a law suit wherein the US government made an unprecedented concession concluding that childhood vaccines contributed to symptoms of autism in 9-year-old Hannah Poling. This is a HUGE statement and opens the doors for more helpful discussion and steps to change. If you are interested or have any young children of your own and are contemplating your immunization choices, click here to read the full article on this case. It is well worth it to be informed on this issue! I fear that the history books will look back on our time and mourn for what we have done to entire generations of children.
Happy World Autism Awareness Day and please spread the news!
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