Light It Up Blue For Autism

This blog has nothing to do with writing, but it's a cause that is very near and dear to my heart. You see my 7yr old twin boys have autism, and April is Autism Awareness Month. I refer to them on my Facebook and Twitter as Mouse and Rabbit. I am asking each of my friends to replace your porch lights with a blue light bulb in recognition of autism awareness starting tonight through tomorrow night. Show support to those who have Autism. Also tomorrow is blue day where people wear the color blue to show support.

There needs to be more support shown for those dealing with this and their families. Right now, as it is stands 1 out of 110 children will be diagnosed and 1 in 70boys. I know new numbers come out later this year, and those numbers will more than likely be higher.

Here are some facts that I got from www.tacanow.org/

U.S. FACTS:

• A new case of autism is diagnosed nearly every 20 minutes
• There are 24,000 new cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year
• The economic impact of autism is more than $90 billion and is expected to more than double in the next decade.
• Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases.
• There is no medical detection or cure for autism

If anyone has a child who is delayed and they suspect something is wrong, speak up; listen to your "mommy gut" as I call it. I knew something was wrong 24-48 hours after their MMR shot at 18 months old. They regressed to no talking, no eye contact, screaming non stop, but I was brushed off by the doctor. Even my husband thought nothing of it at the time. Now, he wasn't being mean at all. We were told it was because they are boys and born early. I didn't stop until a doctor finally listened to me when they were three and not talking, but it still took time for them to get the official diagnosis and help.

I was told by a speech therapist that they would never function normally, never talk, nothing. Well, I told her where she could shove her thoughts and found a new therapist and I started teaching them sign language. They are now 7, and yes in an Autism classroom, but they talk, can do simple math, write their names...everything people told me would never happen.

Okay, I'm going to get off my soapbox here, because I could write on this for hours. Please show support for families dealing with Autism on a daily basis.