For those of you who aren’t aware, today is World Autism Awareness Day, or as I call it, one of the only good things to come out of the United Nations General Assembly in the last 40 years.
Autism is a disorder that I have come to know very well over the last 16 years, as my youngest brother suffers from a form of autism called Aspergers Syndrome.
I can recall that when he was first diagnosed, there was very little information out there regarding what his quality of life would be like as he grew older. The unfortunate side effect of this lack of information was that schools didn’t know how to handle him, so they assumed that putting him in special needs classes was the way to go.
However, as these disorders are studied more, there have been numerous case studies that have shown that people with various levels of autism are able to function in “normal” classrooms.
Even something as small as mainstreaming those with more functional cases of has made the lives of many much more enjoyable and prevented those who are capable of being in a “normal” classroom from having to deal with the stigma attached to those who attend special needs classes.
I’m quite thrilled to see how quickly the autism support movement has grown. I can remember 10 years ago when I would go to a conference that would be held in a small hotel conference center. Today, autism conferences have to be held at major conference venues and often sell out.
Of course, no progress is perfect and I see the potential for some setbacks for the research that has been and is currently being conducted to make living with autism easier as well finding its cause.
I know that there has been a lot of talk about vaccines playing a role in causing autism in children, however I think that this is something that just seems like a convenient place to cast blame.
While I understand the desire for people to understand what caused their child’s autism, by creating controversy over a hypothetical scenario is only going to be a setback to the many advancements that are continually being researched for those living with autism, as well as those simply trying to research other possibilities for its cause.
Each time this comes up in the news, there is without a doubt going to be a member of Congress who demands that more federal funds be allocated towards researching the vaccine, even though there has been a consensus amongst many of the leading autism researchers that there is no link. Even those who accept the possibility of this link, often state that if there is a link, it currently appears to be weak.
Update: Here is a great article on what it is like to raise and live with autistic children. If you have never lived with or met an autistic child, this is definitely a good article to get a sense of what it is like to live with and raise them. If you have, it’s also interesting to compare and contrast.
