1. Autism is a brain disorder it is NOT a mental illness.
2. All autistic people DO NOT always act like Rain-Man. Rain-Man was a savant:
Taken from Wikipedia
“An autistic savant (historically described as idiot savant) is a person with both autism and Savant Syndrome. Savant Syndrome describes a person having both a severe developmental or mental handicap but with extraordinary mental abilities not found in most people. This means a lower than average general intelligence (IQ) but very high narrow intelligence in one or more fields. Savant Syndrome skills involve striking feats of memory and arithmetic calculation and sometimes include unusual abilities in art or music. Savant Syndrome is sometimes abbreviated as “savantism” or “KC“, and individuals with the syndrome are often nicknamed savants. This is a source of confusion since a savanter is a person of learning, especially one of great knowledge in a particular subject.”
NOT ALL AUTISTIC CHILDREN ARE SAVANTS!!!
3. Autism is characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests.
4. 1 in every 146 have autism, this is an increase from past history. And each year it increases.
5. Boys are 4 times more likely than girls to have autism. But, just because you have a girl… Doesn’t mean they will not have it! I have two from the SAME father in the spectrum.
6. Autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or obsessive interests. My son if very intelligent. But, he lacks social skills of a “normal” child. My son is often misunderstood children are cruel he is often times picked on. 7. Early intervention is the BEST way to start the fight. I encourage every single parent who notices a significant developmental delay. Please let your Peditrition know at your next well baby check and encourage your Dr. to make a referral to your your early intervention agency(the agency vary from state to state)
Being an activist is a full time job. I welcome people to ask me questions! I have a plethora of useful information in my noggin!
Thank you Kia from the Biggest Loser 3 for providing some of the information above…
Christopher is one smart cookie..you should be proud on how they both had turned out. You faced a lot of challenges and you have overcome them!
Comment by Shannon — October 9, 2007 @ 12:08 pm |
I find all of this to be true. I’m an autistic 15 year old boy. I’m not stupid, I’m just a little different. I find it harder to understand things and people. It’s frustrating allot. But I’m capable of doing pretty much anything a “normal” person can do. I’m currently into computer programming and I’m only in 9th grade. It’s no C++, but it is enough to get my work done at the moment. I even have my own web site. Thanks for letting people know about the truth. Allot of us would/will appreciate it.
Comment by Devon Day — May 18, 2008 @ 2:48 am |
I am so glad that each time I do a search on the net about Autism I see more and more people who advocate for Autism. I love the top caption for your blog. Doesn’t that say it all?! I also advocate for Autism. I have some phobias and other problems so I am so capable of understanding how they feel. I know Autism isn’t a mental problem, but I know how it feels to be different from others. It’s no fun, especially as a youth. I was teased for being poor, beat up for no reason at all. I kept to myself and didn’t even bother anyone, yet kids were relentless in their abuse towards me. I know what it feels like to not fit in and to know you are different. When I see how misunderstood Autistic kids are and how teachers aren’t even trained on how to handle Autistic kids it bothers me greatly! Tomorrow morning myself and my friend are going to meet with the Principle of our kids’ school to discuss how they have not been properly handling her son who is Autistic. I feel like I am going off to battle in situations like this…like I have to make sure I have all of my weapons in order. Good news in all of this is that Obama is making it possible to get more research and testing done as well as helping families in the areas of medical and benefits, etc. I am excited about this! =)
Comment by Liza — May 11, 2009 @ 8:09 pm |