Autism Awareness Day

April 2 was World Autism Day & I was able to catch a couple of specials on CNN, a station I normally wouldn't watch. I was most impressed by Larry King's interview with Jenny McCarthy, about her son, Evan. It baffles me to no end to realize that simple, standard immunizations Aaron received when he was a baby could've prompted his Autism Spectrum Disorder...along with the overwhelming number of other children who seem to have had the same experience. No one really knows & will probably never be able to prove anything one way or the other, so America is left to just absorb the unknowing & deal with the cards in which it was dealt. One concern expressed by the panel was what the future held for so many who are now dealing with ASDs. Will they be able to become productive members of society, or will they unfortunately become partakers of our Welfare/Social Services systems? Who knows?! I know we are doing everything we can to help Aaron, so he can function as a happy, independent man, but then there are all these new meds that the Dr.s perscribe...all by which are trial & error...what will their long-term effects be? Another, "who knows?". I believe that the burden is harder on those of us who are "middle-class-law-abiding-tax-paying-citizens"...there is no gov't assistance for us...no coupons for meds (at least not after the 1st one!)...no support groups or therapists or evaluations which are free or even discounted...and DEFINATELY NO HELP THROUGH THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM! In fact, kids like Aaron are the ones who DO fall through the cracks, just labeled as kids with innapropriate behavior & send to "special ed" classrooms, when in fact, they are Einsteins just waiting for the right person to notice. I hope & pray that over the next few years there can be some answers found somewhere about anything dealing with ASDs...I'm so sick of "well, it's just such a new diagnosis, we really don't know a whole lot about it". I'm tired of knowing more that the Dr.s about my son's diagnosis...because I have a valued interest in him...not just how much an hour, excuse me, 15-20 minutes, I can scrape from the pockets of insurance co.s & concerned parents! Ok, I have put my soap box back now. I would like to challange you, in honor of World Autism Awareness Day, to learn a few new facts about Autism Spectrum Disorders that you didn't know before. I promise youthat it will not be any less than very intresting.