Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness month, so of course I've gotta add my 2 cents in here.

For a couple of months now I've been receiving that free Babytalk magazine, which I appreciate since I've been out of touch with the whole newborn thing for the last 6 years... but in this issue, there wasn't a single thing in there about autism. I could not believe it! There was one page devoted to milestones and "red flags", but nothing about autism and the signs to watch for. It shocked me, because then I thought about how much everyone knows about SIDS and what they should and shouldn't do to prevent it, but not many people are aware of the signs of autism and it affects so many more children and families than SIDS does!!! Autism affects 1 in 150 children, and among boys that number is even greater. Isaac began showing signs and delays as early as 6 months that eventually led to his diagnosis. No one should wait until their child is in their toddler years to learn the signs of autism and then do something about it. Example: The year we moved here I was out working in the yard and started talking to our new neighbor, and I mentioned how Isaac has autism. She asked me, "What's autism?" *blink blink* Was she serious? Yes, she was, and she's a mother of young children also! I take it for granted that just because I live with this every day doesn't mean the rest of society knows or understands what autism is.

So I'm including a list of my favorite resources, along with the reminder that
1) Autism is NOT caused by vaccines, and
2) Autism is NOT cureable. You can treat the symptoms/delays and it does make life easier, but autism never goes away. It's always, always there. Anyone who claims their autistic child has been "cured" received a misdiagnosis to begin with.

Autism Society of America
http://www.autism-society.org/

Autism Society of Oregon
http://www.oregonautism.com/

Autism Speaks
http://www.autismspeaks.org/

Autism Support Network
http://www.autism-pdd.net/

Autism Oregon
http://autismoregon.org/

Help Autism Now Society (I've met this mom, and she's super neat)
http://www.helpautismnow.com/

A website with world-wide events (by the way, Oregon has one of the highest rates of autism, yet very few autism-related functions are held here... Why is that?)

http://www.worldautismawarenessday.org/site/c.egLMI2ODKpF/b.3917085/k.8FDB/Event_Schedule.htm

And some good resources for Asperger's, which I believe my husband and many members of his immediate family have a mild form of, but are undiagnosed (just one of his siblings has been diagnosed with Asperger's):

Kathy J. Marshack, Ph.D., P.S. website
http://www.kmarshack.com/therapy/asperger/faq.html

Tony Attwood website, leading expert on Asperger's
http://www.tonyattwood.com.au/articles/completeguide.html
And a fantastic book of his:
http://www.tonyattwood.com.au/articles/completeguide.html


And this is not necessarily autism related, but it's about "Ability Awareness" and is touching:
http://www.imtyler.org/