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Autism Awareness Month

Last April, our blog article talked about Autism, its many faces and how it affects children and their families. Today, a year later, we’d like to revisit this subject and talk about Autism Awareness month for 2013.

As we mentioned last year, nearly 1 in 88 children will be diagnosed this year with the disorder. However, the CDC has recently reported that as many as 1 in 50 US school children have autism. Though controversial, the new statistic is based on a national phone survey of over 95,000 parents during 2011 and 2012. Though only 25% of the parents who were reached had agreed to answer questions, CDC officials still feel that the survey portrays a valid picture of how families are impacted by the disorder.

Autism is considered to be a spectrum disorder, meaning there is a variation in the way it affects different people. Each child with autism possesses his/her own unique set of abilities, challenges and symptoms. Among the many possible symptoms, there are common ones, such as:

  • Impaired social abilities such as participating in group activities in school, lack of empathy with other kids, and the inability to understand humor.
  • Communication difficulties such as a delay in speech development or no speech development at all, repeating words and phrases spoken by others or media like TV or radio, lack of eye contact when asking for something, not appearing to understand basic questions or directions.
  • Limited interests.
  • Becoming pre-occupied with a narrow subject, while not grasping the larger picture.
  • Behavior issues such as repetitive movements (rocking, spinning, hand movements), inability to engage in imaginative or make-believe play, development of routines that will cause distress if broken or changed.

During the month of April, organizations such as The National Autism Society and Autism Speaks celebrate National Autism Awareness Month and take the opportunity to educate the public about the disorder and the issues within the autism community. It is their hope to make more people aware of the disorder, let them know that there is help and resources if they are needed, and rally support to make needed changes for funding and research.

Again, we ask that you show your support by donating money to the cause, educating your family and friends, asking your political representatives to support autism legislation, or volunteering your time to children suffering with the disease. Any of these things can make a real difference in the lives of children with autism.

The Ward’s Apparel family can empathize with the many struggles these families face, as their grandson Jeff has autism. Join us on April 27, 2013 for the 5th Annual Autism Walk at the South School in Martinsville, IN. 

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