The Autism Epidemic
In recent years, Autism has become more apparent in our communities. About one in every sixty-eight children, about 1% in the total population, are diagnosed as autistic in one form or another. Due to the recent spike of autism, the National Autism Awareness Society has rose up to explain autism and how we are all affected by it. For the past-quarter century, Autism Awareness Month aimed to spread awareness and acceptance for people living with autism.
Autism is a spectrum condition that affects a person’s social interaction abilities. Most people affected do not have great communication skills and often do not want to communicate with others. Being a spectrum disorder, autism can be minor or affect patients to a major extent. Some people may not have any noticeable signs of autism while others need help to manage this condition. Many people with autism typically show signs of this condition when they're infants, either not making sounds at around one-year-old or not being able to say one-word phrases at two. There are other symptoms, but since it's a spectrum disorder, the signs for autism aren’t exact. Only about ten percent of people diagnosed with autism have a distinctive characteristic that can be associated with their condition. The other ninety percent of patients don’t.
For this month, the National Autism Awareness Society encourages us to learn more about autism and how we can help. Accepting people with this condition is a first step, but being able to understand and live with them is another thing. From this month-long awareness, we want to encourage everyone to recognize that people with autism are still people. Just like any other, they benefit our society. So this month of April, recognize the problems of autism and learn to accept people who live with it.
Dexter Hom