Aware of Autism This April

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Aware of Autism This April

By Tanner

Published: Thursday, March 31, 2005

Imagine a happy little child who wanted to communicate with the

world so much, but the only way the child could do it was through

flapping of hands, or making funny sounds because the child does not

know how to speak words at all? Or how about a person getting very

frustrated just by being around a big group to the point he has an

outburst? It would be hard not being able to speak to family

members, or even be able to make friends. Sadly, many people who

suffer from Autism have this kind of deficiency that makes

communication in the social and academic realm difficult. April is

National Autism Month, in which the goal is to raise awareness on

this alarmingly growing, yet unknown developmental disorder.

Autism interferes with the normal development of the brain in the

areas of reasoning, social interaction, and communication skills.

Children and adults with autism typically have trouble with verbal

and non-verbal communication, social interaction, and leisure or

play activities. The disorder makes it hard for them to communicate

and relate to others and the world around them. Originally, it was

thought that only one in 10,000 kids was diagnosed with Autism.

Unfortunately, as many as one in 166 children will be diagnosed with

autism today. Unknown as recently as a decade ago, Autism has

surpassed Down Syndrome to become the second most diagnosed severe

developmental disorder.

No one knows how it develops nor is there a cure for Autism. A lot

of academic and professional people are not equipped to deal with

this disorder. In fact, according to student development services,

there are only a handful of students at UAH that are known to have

Autism or any type of disorder on the Autism spectrum. Other

autistic spectrum disorders include Asperger's Syndrome (also known

as high functioning autism) and Rhett's Syndrome. Those with milder

forms of autism may be very bright academically but still have great

difficulties with social skills. The most severe cases of autism can

leave a person mentally retarded and unable to talk at all. However,

a lot of Autistic kids have wonderful and gifted traits such as

communicating by playing a musical instrument, memorizing all roads

in the United States on a road map, or being able to tell you what

day a date will fall on either in the future or in the past.

There are several common signs to look for in Autism. For example, a

person may not respond to affection or smile back at some one. They

may stutter a lot in conversation, not respond well to facial

expressions or they will repeat words repeatedly. It is very hard

for someone with an Autism disorder to see the world from someone

else's point of view. To a non-autistic person, the autistic person

may seem very unsympathetic and uncaring when in fact the autistic

person does not know how to express it or aware of it. Others signs

include sticking to a vigorous routine, overstimulation and

obsession with certain objects, fear of loud noises or distraction

of soft noises that others normally may not notice. One aspect of

autism to watch for is the sudden tantrums that may erupt because of

the low frustration tolerance that autistic people are faced with

due to the inability to express themselves.

One place in the United States that is experiencing a rise in Autism

diagnosises is Silicon Valley, California. The genes that program

these computer geniuses may also be giving rise to Asperger's

Syndrome. What if that was the same situation here at UAH with all

the engineering majors here, what if they give birth to children

with an autistic disorder?

This is why awareness of this developmental disorder is a must. If

not, just think one day, a child who throws extreme tantrums, flips

objects, does not make friends, and does not come to give you a hug,

could be your child or your spouse. The idea was presented by the

author of this article to the SGA about forming an Autism awareness

program at UAH, similar to the World AIDS Day held back in December,

to be held in conjunction with national Autism Awareness Month, in

April. Just like with AIDS, Breast Cancer, and other disorders,

Autism has its own special ribbon. It is made up of several puzzle

pieces that represents the puzzling condition of what causes this

disorder and hope that one day the missing piece of the puzzle will

be found and can be put together once a cure can be found.