Autism Awareness Month - Please Be Aware

A great friend of mine from college has a brother with autism (take note of this sentence for an important future reference). He was kind enough to share with me some of the important facts about the disorders associated with autism, along with some of things he has learned over the years through his personal experience.

Personally, I think that there are a lot of misconceptions about autism, so I'm all for helping my friend get the information out there.

Via my good pal:

Some very important facts about autism: (facts from http://www.autismspeaks.org/)

* Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). The other pervasive developmental disorders are PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified), Asperger's Syndrome, Rett Syndrome and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. Many parents and professionals refer to this group as Autism Spectrum Disorders.
* Autism now affects 1 in 110 children and 1 in 70 boys.
* More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes & cancer combined.
* Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases.
* There is no medical detection or cure for autism.
* Autism affects the way a child perceives the world and makes communication and social interaction difficult. The child may also have repetitive behaviors or intense interests. Symptoms, and their severity, are different for each of the affected areas - Communication, Social Interaction, and Repetitive Behaviors.
* Some red flag signs of autism: No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by 6 months or thereafter; No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter; No babbling by 12 months; No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months; No words by 16 months; No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months; Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age.

And some points my friend mentioned that really resonated with me, and hopefully it will strike a chord with you as well:

* When you are talking about a child with autism, the proper way to say it is "person/child/boy/girl with autism". You don't say "autistic girl/boy/person/child". Autism does not have the child. Always put the child first. While this may seem silly to most people, I promise you that it is an important distinction to many parents and family members involved in the autism community.
* Making a rude comment, glaring, snickering, blatantly ignoring, or making fun of a person with autism (or any person with a mental disability for that matter) does not make you cool or a "bad boy". It makes you a fucking prick and someone who deserves to have their moronic ass dragged out into the street and beaten with their own fucking shoe.
* Have some compassion and understanding. Doing so will help you realize that a person with autism is living an insanely difficult life. More difficult than almost anything you will ever face in your life. How would you feel if you dealt with stress so badly, that the only way for you to deal with it was to beat your head against the wall until it bleeds or hit yourself in the face? How would you feel if you wanted to say something, but couldn't speak it? How would you feel to be made fun or glared at just for walking in public and being who you are? How would you feel to not have complete control over your own body? How would you feel to have to rely on others your whole life for simple things like bathing or going to the bathroom? How would you feel to have to take 5 different types of pills daily? Do you want that life? Compassion and understanding.

Well-spoken, my friend (you know who you are!). You're a great advocate and I salute you for being such an amazing brother to your sibling.

Song of the day: "My Delirium" Ladyhawke (aka Phillipa "Pip" Brown, an indie musician with Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder)