April is "Autism Awareness Month". What families should know about this condition?

Question

http://www.autismspeaks.org/

Thank you for your answer, and have a wonderful day! :)

http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer

I'm not American, and don't support or have any kind of connection with these sites. My only intention with this question is to raise awareness about autism.

Answer 1

First.. I have to respond to chikkenbones accusations with this response I got from the site themselves:

Thank you for contacting Autism Speaks. I can say with 100% certainty that this is not true. Unfortunately there are people who do not believe in our organization however there are many more who utilize our services and appreciate what we do on a daily basis. Please visit www.autismspeaks.org for more information. Have a nice day.



Best,



Lauren Havanki

Assistant Outreach Coordinator

AUTISM SPEAKS

99 Wall Street, Research Park

Princeton, NJ 08540

P [phone] x17

F [phone]

[e-mail]

Next I'd like to say that there is a lot of information out there, and each and every Autistic child is different and the spectrum is wide...... meaning NO ONE TREATMENT or ASSISTANCE will fit all children..... each parent and professional that devotes their time and life to this should be respected in their researches, because they see a factor of improving quality of life for those who need it. Provide theories and information, and yes, are looking for WHAT is causing it .... is a mystery, a difficult one, that no one has the perfect answers to, but anyone who is trying to spread awareness, appreciation and dollars for research, and educational assistance for teachers as well as everyone else to understand this disability more...... Well... I applaud their efforts time and devotion.

What else should parents know?.. they aren't alone... there are many parents with the same struggles, there are many programs with family support and encouragement, there are many people who are ignorant about Autism and what it Really is, make them aware, one day at a time, April is Autism Awareness month.... share your story with someone today.
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1 in 166 kids are being affected with Autism, one theory is this is caused by mercury, but no one knows for certain WHY this is happening, I do not believe that it has any type of genetic links, since it would be next to impossible to believe each of us 1 in 166 pairs of parents can be linked so easily to a similiar medical outcome.
I can respect another parents views, but when faced with what is, to me, "a rumor"... I seek facts... not that I will take all of anyones reseacrch into complete fact for my son, I don't trust ANYONE that much with my children....and I don't expect that anyone else should either. But when faced with a rumor, I can't just take one word over another, that wouldn't be reasonable to me as a person. I took the question and comments to an Autism Speaks rep, because when faced with one view, it should be able to be addressed with another view, if for no other reason than to find a truth in the middle somewhere. Do I speak for Autism Speaks?.. NO... Do I speak as a parent of a son with Autism, YES... by all means, my kid's the greatest, and anyone looking out for ways to help his quality of life, through educating others on what autism means, well, thats a good thing in my book.
The need for awareness stands strong, many educators and people in general are dumbfounded on how to help or understand a person with autism. The stereotype of rainman is one I hear often, and that is just not a good representation of the spectrum of autism....
Knowledge is power, even if it hits on some nerves on what they believe. It's better than not discussing it at all. Even in controversy, I'm glad people are diving in for information and schooling themselves on what facts are out there about autism.... and raise the questions of what is fact or fiction....

My best wishes to chikken.. you've been blessed with a wonderful child, as have I, let's pray society becomes more educated and aware on how to appropriately appreciate them as we do.

Answer 2

ALL American families should be aware of this condition, more so if they are families that are going to be having children. Autism is now known to be a lot more common than was once thought - more than 1 in 200 births. It is now being called an "epidemic".

Answer 3

my son was recently diagnosed with Autism. he has been going to speech, developmental, and occupational therapy for 3 months. he doesn't speak and my husband and i know that he may never speak (though he is perfect in our eyes), but with all the resources that we used locally, he is showing signs of progress with being around other people, especially in public. all i can say is that the more awareness people have about Autism, the better.

Answer 4

Autism Speaks does NOT speak for me or my family. They are actively funding development of a prenatal test for autism. That's what they mean when they say their objective is to find a cause and prevention of autsm. In other words, they are funding eugenics.

I find it personally offensive when a group of people are basically saying that my child and members of my family should be prevented from being.

Autism Awareness month should focus more on the pending genocide that will be inflicted on autistic persons through fear driven abortions. It should focus more on the light sentences given to the murderers of autistic citizens. It should focus more on how Autistics as a whole are treated like second class citizens.

Of course this is the ugly side of Autism Awareness and instead of addressing the real problems, you'll wear your little puzzle piece lapel pin and feel good about yourself. If you have an autistic person in your family, I urge you to realize what you support when you support Autism Speaks.

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Crap, you are delusional. Do you expect someone from the outreach (PR) division to give you an answer that will show them in a negative light? They are professionals who are paid to spin things their way-that's what PR is. Autism Speaks is well funded and undoubtedly has great spinsters. If part of their stated objective is prevention of autism, how do you suppose that will be acheived? Since studies so far have pointed to a genetic link vs environmental, the only way to prevent autism is to prevent autistic persons from being born-period.

Are you aware of the T4 program of in the early years of the Nazi party? It was the forced sterilization and mass killings of the disabled in Germany that preceded the more aggresive Jewish campaign. The link below gives lots of info on it. Since their objective was not going to be well received by the public, it's existence was denied and during implementation, people were mislead into thinking they were going to be receiving better services. In other words, it had all the appearance of being beneficial to disabled citizens when in fact it was geared on their extermination. Do you see where I'm going with this?

So yes, when somebody tells me that they wish to prevent my child, I do get upset. History repeats itself and when I see the same ideas of eugenics resurface in guise of "research into the cause and prevention of autism", I'm gonna call them on the eugenicist ideas they are putting out there.

Until groups like Autism Speaks become for the autistics and not against them, I will speak out against them.

Answer 5

Hi Moonriver,
I think, there are simply more children being diagnosed, because there's now "a name", a set of criteria, and more awareness.....
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I don't agree with organizations such as : "Autism Speaks" and "Cure Autism", now!, who wish to cure autism, because being autistic is intrinsic ... it is a part of who "someone" is, and it could not be removed (even if a cure existed) ... without irreparably damaging the person.... To cure them, is to destroy them, and to replace them.. with people who the more narrow-minded subset.. of the normal people can better tolerate.....
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I believe "neurodiversity", is something that should be as respected and appreciated, as ethnic diversity and cultural diversity.....
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A fiend of mine, has a son in this condition...
I've learned that "experts" and "authorities" are often neither, since they themselves often do not have autistic children... I often find that I am more up-to-date on current research, and news about autism than they are, and that they tend to give outdated and sometimes very bad advice.. about parenting autistic children....
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I don't believe the media-hyped tide of fear, pity, and talk of suffering does anything to help autistics live in our world, or for us to better understand, how to make life "easier", for them... I think it hinders progress.... So, my friend is raising her child with a "healthy", "positive" view of autism, and emphasizing everything he does well, as opposed to concentrating on things he doesn't do well... or doesn't do at all, and trying to make him do them.....
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Autistic people (at every age and every level of apparent ability) can - and DO - lead satisfying lives, make a contribution, have fun, relate well to other people, etc.... This is not to deny that autism can be very hard for families to cope with, and sometimes difficult for autistic individuals themselves... They just want to paint a "wider picture".. and facilitate acceptance.....
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Thanks, for the question! :)

Have a beautiful day!

My regards!

Take care!

Answer 6

Anyone who has a family member with Autism
Anyone who works in educational field
Anyone who thinks they have some kind of mental disorder cuz they cant function properly in the world and they know it and are trying to find out whats wrong with themselves cuz the idiot psychologists dont have a clue....