Saturday, April 14, 2007

Autism Awareness Month

******************* This is not a bedrest related post! ***************

Most of you know that when I am not on bedrest, I am a pediatric Speech Language Pathologist who specializes in working with children with autism. I have been working with this population for about 10 years now and I absolutely love it. This month is Autism Awareness Month so I thought I would take a quick minute to post some information on Autism.

* Autism now impacts 1 in 150 children
* 1 to 1.5 million Americans
* Fastest-growing developmental disability
* 1 in 94 boys is on the autism spectrum
*67 children are diagnosed per day
* A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes
*Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism
*There is no medical detection or cure for autism (at this time)

Autism Speaks created a music video of the Five for Fighting song, "World", which features images of autistic children and their families. It is a truly moving video and was the work of Bill Shea. The band is generously donating $0.49 to Autism Speaks for each time the video is viewed - the funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure. When you have a moment, please visit the link below to watch the video and pass it along to your friends and family. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal.

To view the video, click here.

4 comments:

Maddy said...

thanks for posting this! I'd like to come back later and get some speech therapy tips, but it looks like it would be 'bed rest' tips. I don't think I need any tips in that department - I so good at sleeping I don't even need a bed!
Seriously though, I did have 5 month bed rest with my first child and I DO know about terminal boredom.
Best wishes

Anonymous said...

Ashely,

Thank you so much for this post. I've been following you since the beginning of your journey, and haven't left a comment, so this is my first. Our family has been so blessed to have you in our life as our Son Drew's SLP. Knowing how much you've helped him grow is truly amazing. We don't know what we would have done without you and Milestones!! Autism is such a journey. We learn new things on a daily basis. This video is amazing and made me cry many tears. I am passing this on to all who I know. We love you. Jen and Drew

Anonymous said...

The passion you have for your work is wonderful. Keep it up—the world needs you. I’m so proud of you!
Grandpa/Dad Potter

Unknown said...

I thank you for the work you do. My daughter is a very high functioning autistic (hyperlexic) young woman. She took speech/language therapy in elementary school because her language development was delayed. She didn't speak at all until she was nearly 4 and then only when she "needed to". She had trouble with idioms all through elementary school and to this day still has trouble with idiomatic phrases and will ask me to help translate meanings when she is unclear of the message.

Without the therapy she received she would not be able to communicate as well as she does.