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A for Autism

Posted on: April 11, 2008

Children start their education from the alphabet “A” and proceed on. For adults I think learning “A for Autism” won’t be a bad idea as most of us lack the awareness about this condition.

It gets quite impossible to find a way into your child’s brain and when a child has a condition of Autism, things are more worse, but not out of control. Autism is a disorder to most of us but its better to take it as a condition that can be overcome. By that I mean to say a person with Autism can be helped to live a better life.

Autism can be defined as condition where a child lacks basic social
interaction, communication, avoids eye contact, seems unable to decode body language and sense the feelings of others, and their behavior remains restricted and repetitive.

Numerous researches have suggested that Autism can be caused or triggered by genetic, metabolic or by environmental factors. Some also say it can be caused by maternal antibodies and has often been associated with prematurely born toddlers or children who are small and low in weight at birth. But a general link to this condition is still missing.

Autism strikes one out of 150 U.S. children as per the estimation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the global estimates suggest that the cases could be one to two per 1,000 and close to six per 1,000 worldwide.

Though the advanced science is still trying to figure out the root cause of this condition and the curable drugs for it, significant advances have been made in developing methods of behavioral training that help autistic children find ways to communicate, since the condition was first noted down in books in mid 20th century. These techniques, however, require prodigious amounts of persistence, time, money, and love. As per a recent study by Canadian researchers, parents with autistic children lost an average of $6,200 from their expected annual income, or 14 percent.

Intensive, sustained special education programs and behavior therapy early in life can help children with Autism acquire self-care, language, social, academic and job skills.

By the time I finished writing this article, three children were diagnosed with Autism in U.S.

Autism Resources

Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD)
8630 Fenton Street
Suite 410
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(301) 588-8252

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
10801 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852
(800) 638-8255

The Association of Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH)
29 West Susquehanna Avenue
Suite 210
Baltimore, MD 21204
(410) 828-8274

The Autism National Committee
635 Ardmore Avenue
Ardmore, PA 19003
(610)649-9139

Autism Research Institute
4182 Adams Ave.
San Diego, CA 92116
(619) 281-7165

Autism Society of America, Inc.
7910 Woodmont Avenue
Suite 650
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 657-0881 or (800)-3-AUTISM

National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities
(NICHCY)
P.O. Box 1492
Washington, DC 20013-1492
(800) 695-0285

Department of Education Office of Special Education
Programs
330 C Street, SW
Mail Stop 2651
Washington, DC 20202
(202) 205-9058, (202) 205-8824

Idaho Center for Autism, LLC.,
5353 Franklin Road,
Boise, ID 83705.
Phone: (208) 342-0374 Fax: (208) 331-2017

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