When I was young and in school autism was something that I didn’t really think about. The closest I got to knowing someone with autism was watching Rain Man. But in 2007 I started to listen more about autism. I was 24 years old and I was pregnant with my first child. I read all I could about autism in my subscription to Parent magazine and talked with my doctor about the laundry list of questions that I had. She assured me that there was nothing to be concerned about and not to stress myself out. There was nothing that I could do to prevent my unborn child from having autism.
I did further research about the disability and the more that I read the more I promised myself I would do whatever possible to ensure that my child did not get autism.
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D started to look for a cause to his son’s Autism. At first, he thought that it may have been caused by the MMR vaccination like many others. Then he remembered how sick his son became after the shot and the amount of acetaminophen he gave him. Could it be that commonly known over the counter drug that was causing this disability? Acetaminophen rapidly gained traction as a great suspect. First, Schultz found that the rise in autism corresponded to the rise in acetaminophen use(Parker). He remembered two cases of deadly poisonings in which drugs containing acetaminophen were tampered with, first in 1982 and then in 1986. These two events caused temporary declines in the use of acetaminophen. Schultz explained, “I saw that children born during both of these acetaminophen poisoning episodes were less likely to have autism. And I knew. Acetaminophen use was linked to the rise in autism rates.” He continued, “Children who used acetaminophen at age 12 to 18 months were more than eight times as likely to be in the autism group when all children were considered and more than 20 times as likely to be in the autism group when limiting cases to children with regression.” These same kinds of affects where not seen with use of …show more content…
At the end of the day though no one really knows the true cause of autism, similar to cancer. It is reasonable though to say that genetics has a part to play in the disability. The cause could be from a mutation that comes from the male sperm, the genetic mix of both partners or the age of the parents. Like many other disabilities, it is likely to happen more in boys then in girls. But if a girl has autism the symptoms are more severe.
It is also easy to see that everything that people are exposed to or ingest can have effects on them or even their unborn child. I think it is very important to know what you are buying in the grocery store and in house hold cleaners and goods. If your child puts it in their mouth you should know what it is made of. Not saying that is going to prevent autism but that is a good over all rule of thumb to keep them safe. In the end autism is the same as a lot of other diseases and disabilities only time and extensive research can lead to the true cause of autism. There is no easy answer and more than likely it is not going to be a quick turnaround in lowering the numbers. But with continued research it seems clear that there is something in the world around us and who we are in our human DNA that is causing this growing epidemic. As a parent of a child with autism I will do everything possible to make this a better world for the
autism were studied, it was suggested that measles was related to autism. Seven years later they did another study that involved 4000 children and found just the opposite, shots had no connection to causing a person to receive the diagnosis of autism”. (Offit 1) (Thinktwice 1) There are probably multiple causes for
1 in 68 people in the US have autism, this includes 1 in 189 girls and 1 in 42 boys. Autism is a difference in perception; technically it’s a developmental disorder that is the result of a difference in brain chemicals. Scientists don’t know what causes autism or why it’s stayed in the human gene pool for so long. People with autism could have a wide variety of symptoms, but some of the most common characteristics are fixations on things they like, reliance on routines,and lack of social skills. Autism can be formally diagnosed at ages as young as 3. There is no medical test to diagnose autism, rather a trained professional in the psychology field will perform a developmental screening and a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation. When a child is diagnosed with autism, therapy is strongly recommended. The earlier treatment starts the better because certain aspects of the disorder can be lessened through therapy. Therapy helps the mind and the body, certain therapies can help rebuild your brain, so to speak.
Autism-speaks has walk-a-thons for helping raise awareness. One crucial factor and well the backbone of this charity is giving for the finding of the cure. Donate as much money as you can to Autismspeaks.org, every bit counts but before doing that; do you’re research and look into this charity; you’ll find a lot of great information and fact about autism. Autism-speaks has raised money for individuals, families, corporations, and foundations – that combined contributed in excess of $50 million in 2010. People should care about this disease that has infect many young boys and girls because it is a growing disease that has no cure and many young boys and girls are being diagnose everyday. This a untreatable disease. In conclusion, researchers and scientists are dedicated to finding the reason and causes behind autism. They are always trying to transcend their knowledge in the medical world, to try to help these autistic children. New things are being discovered daily. Learning about the subject remains a continuous process. In the future, there will be many new therapies, medications, and alternative medications and treatments hopefully in the next couple of years to help your child. Parents are really the best teacher for their child. Autism has been diagnosed to many children in the last year. Scientists feel there has to be a reason why this illness occurs, especially in
There are a lot of controversial theories about what is causing autism. The organization Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), this group has a movement called Defeat Autism Now (DAN). Through this movement, a lot of professionals and families who have children with autism unite to work together to see if they can find different theories of what is
Autism is a disorder that I seem to hear more about every day. I hear about it on the television news, in news articles online, and even personal blogs that I read. It seems that everyone has some knowledge of autism and most people know someone personally that it affects. As far as my own personal knowledge and experience of the disorder, I learned it at camp. I have volunteered many years for at Camp Tik-A-Witha. This camp provides a week long session for children with special needs (mental and physical handicaps) called Elizabeth Gwin Session. While volunteering at camp, I have seen children with blindness, Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome, and autism.
Autism according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary is defined as “a variable developmental disorder that appears by age three and is characterized by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationships, to commutate with others, and by stereotyped behavior patterns.” Autism was believed to be a psychiatric or emotional illness, and doctors told mothers that they were the cause. They were wrong. The cause for autism is still a mystery, however, the facts remain that autism in children is on the rise. Erin Allday of the San Francisco Chronicle writes, “Environmental factors play a more important role in causing autism than previously assumed and, surprisingly, an even larger role than genetic.” There are theories based on that
Autism can be a beautiful diagnosis to have, it allows individuals to see, hear, and feel things that most people do not. I have had the pleasure of becoming friends with many people who have been diagnosed with different levels of autism and they are some of the most interesting, caring, and intelligent people who I have encountered. So many people in the world do not have personal experience or knowledge of this diagnosis. Individuals
Autism is on the rise. Many researchers feel the reasons isn’t because there are more kids being afflicted with it, but the increased public awareness has allowed this disorder to be more easily recognized and diagnosed at a earlier age.
According to Shangraw (2012), there is no concrete etiology of autism because it is not diagnosed by its cause but on observed behaviors. The Autism-Society (n.d.) stated that a possibility for the cause of autism is the abnormalities in the brain structure or function. In an MRI research study by Piven et al. (1995), they found that an individual with autism spectrum disorder had a higher total brain volume and tissue compared to a person who is not on the autism spectrum disorder. Genetic problems and environmental factors can be a cause of autism spectrum disorder, according to the Mayo Clinic (2014). In genetic problems such as fragile X syndrome or Rett Syndrome, it can be associated with autism spectrum disorder. There is ongoing research regarding environmental factors and exploring ideas such as viral infections, pregnancy complications, and / or air pollutants to determine if they are active factors of autism spectrum disorder.
Autism is a bio-neurological developmental disability. In most cases of autism it is found before three years of age. Autism affects the development of the brain, not so much that the big thing of mush doesn’t grow but people, and kids who have autism struggle with social interactions the most along with many other things, but autism spectrum disorder is found in 1 and 68 children, boys are a lot more likely to get autism it was stated that the boys are 4x more likely to get it
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or more commonly referred to as autism yearly (“Autism Spectrum Disorder”). Autism is a complicated developmental disorder typically diagnosed during the time between infancy and age three ("Autism Spectrum Disorder”) that can cause “difficulties with social interaction, [both] verbal and nonverbal communication, and behavioral problems including receptive behaviors and narrow focus of interest” (Davidson et al. 373). There are different types of autism, including “Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder” (Davidson et al. 377). Little information is known about the disorder, including the cause and a possible cure. According to Nancy Shute, “as many as 75 percent of autistic children are receiving “’alternative’” treatments not developed by conventional medicine…” and that “the therapies are often bogus” or unproven to actually work. Chelation therapy is a treatment for lead and mercury poisoning (“Beware of False”), yet it is used to treat autism because of the disproven theory that heavy metals formally found in vaccinations caused autism (“…And The ‘Final Word’”). Correspondingly, several medicines are used in treating certain symptoms caused by autism and are proven to work; but, untested medications used for other medical
When people find out their child has autism the first thing they think of is, what caused this? Well not one thing causes autism it is and combination of different things. Some of these things are genetic and non-genetic, or environmental, influences. These influences are
Tens of millions of people have been diagnosed with Autism worldwide, effecting both genders, all races, ethnicities and people from all socioeconomic classes. In 2010 a Surveillance Summary was conducted in the United States, where it identified that one in 68 children are diagnosed with Autism (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). It has been recognised
The United States is in the midst of a tragic epidemic of autism. An analysis of the US Department of Education data from 1992-1993 in comparison to 2000-2001 indicates that there has been an average increase of 644% among all US children. (www.autismsociety.org) Recent studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association and Pediatrics have confirmed the autism epidemic is real and not due to changes in diagnosis, population
Autism an epidemic? It seems to be on the rise lately but it’s actually been around since the 1930’s. “Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by repetitive behaviors and impairment in verbal communication and social interaction. It is reported to affect 1 in 100 children in the United States” (autismspeaks.org). In the past fifteen years, the number of children diagnosed with Autism has increased. According to the CDC, the average age of children diagnosed with Autism is 4 and older. Early intervention has been proven to show long term success with children on the spectrum. In order to provide an autistic child with the best treatments and therapy for their development,