Autism......Take a Walk, today is World Autism Awareness day, April 2, 2008

Take a walk….today is World Autism Awareness Day April 2, 2008

Autism has charged into our lives at an unprecedented rate. This has put a further burden on parents, already facing raising a child in a fast changing world. Autism has no known cure, though there are plenty of theories, but none seem to have gained traction as a sure fire path to a cure. It is treatable and manageable, though it takes a focused approach of behavioral and developmental therapies. Families have banded together to help each other, and a group, Autism Speaks is a way to help your knowledge search.

Currently the diagnosis rate is one in one hundred fifty American children, a rate that has been steadily increasing in the last 15 years. It appears to be the fastest growing developmental disability according to Dr. Andrew Zimmerman of the Kennedy Kreiger Institute Center for Autism and Related Disorders in Baltimore.

An autism diagnosis usually rests on three distinctive symptoms; difficulty in social interactions, problems with verbal and non verbal communication, and repetitive actions or motions or obsessive interests. The range of these behaviors can range from mild to severe.

Oftentimes parents start noticing when their child fails to engage verbally by age one, or speak by 16 months. Some children don’t smile or make eye contact, while others seem to have hearing impairments or don’t seem to know how to play with toys. Sometimes the child seems normal, then, all of a sudden, seems to lose their language or social skills.

I believe it is likely this is a genetic code error, and not an environmental one. It was not broadly recognized, as late as the 40’s.Others think the causes range from environmental chemicals, or maybe an autoimmune disorder, to maternal or obstetric factors. There is no one size fits all treatment strategy, but starting early on evaluation and training early seems best. Due to the malleability of the brain at a young age, proper early training brings better results. The training of each task is varied, but repetition and positive reinforcement, the results are encouraging.

Sometimes a song or movie brings to light to the public awareness of a problem. One such notable movie that won an Oscar was Rain Man, which was played by Dustin Hoffman. His character was a savant, a variant of autism. It also starred Tom Cruise and was a movie that was very popular.

While it is not clear on the cause, mercury does not seem to be a cause. This was a popular idea some felt came about from immunizations. Subsequent studies found no causal link. The position of the Institute of Medicine, the National of Academy of Sciences and the NIH support this position. Children with autism who have not been immunized also develop symptoms at the same 12-16 months time frame as the immunized babies.

Below are some resources for parents in the Santa Cruz area to check out. There are local Autism support groups in the Santa Cruz area, so get help early. Read some of my other blogs on Santa Cruz real estate and related health and senior topics.

• Balance For Kids
• Santa Cruz County -helpful programs
• Special Parents Information Network
• Autism Santa Cruz

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