World Autism Awareness Day

Children with autism have a special place in my heart also. Some of my kids have had autism or asperger's syndrome. ~K

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—April 2, 2009
Advocates are raising awareness for funding.
Posted by Moira Bugler at Health on Thursday, April 2, 2009 5:54 AM
Many challenges come with raising a child with autism. Parents are often faced with issues like choosing appropriate screenings to determine symptoms and severity. Or the best course of treatment to help their child live a normal life. And when they're school age, what track do they put their child on. Would a special-education setting hinder or support their needs? What about the well-being and support of the parents? So much focus can be put on the child that often parents can be left struggling to find a balance of a normal life while raising a child with special needs.

Advocates, parents and experts are working hard every day to put the pieces together to find a cause or causes of autism. Still, little is known. What we do know is one in 150 American children is living with some severity of autism spectrum disorder. Research is considering many avenues for the cause, from genetic predisposition to environmental culprits.

What's also known about autism is that it's a developmental disorder that can affect a child's speech, social skills and behavior within the first three years of life. Common symptoms of autism spectrum disorder include: Difficulty interacting with others and making friends
Verbal and nonverbal communication problems that can appear when the child starts talking—or a child may regress after learning to talk
Making repetitive movements, like arm flapping
Frequent tantrums
Some degree of learning disability
A mild form of autism spectrum disorder common is called Asperger's syndrome. Children with Asperger's may show some characteristics of autism, but typically have normal or above-average intelligence and learn to speak at the expected age.

Awareness of autism and the need for continued research is growing with the tireless efforts of advocacy organizations like Autism Speaks and Autism Society of America. With events surrounding World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, their hope is to inform the nation of the prevalence, severity, impact and need to support those living with the disorder.

More about autism:
Autism Speaks
Autism Society of America
8 Challenges in Autism Today