How many times have a seen the similar headline on various online news sites that says “Autism is more common then previously thought” Seriously, I think at least yearly since Adrian has been diagnosed I think I’ve seen that headline. According to the latest estimate from the Centers for Disease Control the prevalence of autism is up from 1 in 110 to 1 in 88. Of course boys are at much higher risk of having autism at 1 in 54 boys and for girls it’s 1 in 252. The numbers that the CDC is using to get these statistic unfortunately are numbers from 2008 so I’m sure the numbers are even higher and in a few years down the line (or even just next year) we will see the headline “Autism is more common then previously thought” again. Mark my words we’ll see it.
In a way these numbers are shocking and disturbing and in another way I’m not surprised at all.
It made me really think about autism and where we should be putting money as far as autism goes. I’ve been thinking about doing some fundraising of some kind but the problem is I don’t know what organization to support. The way I’m thinking about it is there would be three main areas you could put your money/support and they’re all worthwhile. Firstly would be money towards figuring out the cause/cure. Second would be money to support children/early interventions/technology supports. The third would be money to support adults with autism.
The one I tend to lean towards supporting is supporting children with autism because that’s the stage I’m at right now with my children who are on the spectrum. Although I think supporting adults with autism is a too often overlooked and underfunded cause.
Anyway, lots of thoughts about autism swimming around in my head. I can’t help but to think about how helpless and hopeless I felt when Adrian was first diagnosed and it breaks my heart to know that so many parents are going through that grief right now.
