Briefing Information

  • Misunderstanding ; People just don’t understand Autism. This leads to bullying, discrimination, prejudice, judgement, ignorance and stereotyping. Educational classes in school, such as bullying prevention can teach students to be conscientious of others and treat those with disabilities kindly and with respect. There is not enough awareness of disability in our schools, as bullying is a constant threat. Students need to be aware that their words and actions hurt people, especially ones that cannot handle certain situations or comprehend them because they are disabled.  Classes to teach students these important lessons would prove to be extremely beneficial to the overall public mistreatment of the disabled.  Children with disabilities would feel more accepted and they would be treated normally amongst the other students.  There wouldn’t be a social distinction between them like there is now. The public’s ignorance can be fixed with education programs in school. Teaching kids more about diversity not just in race but in mentality can lead to a more public understanding and tolerance towards the Autistic and disabled in general.
  • Misunderstanding also leads to unaware parents not diagnosing their children until long term damage has already been done. The problem starts with unaware people, missing the warning signs and the intensifying odds of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) diagnosis. Many don’t realize the potential that something is very wrong until much later, when the surefire sign of impaired speech development sends parents scrambling for answers. It is even possible, especially likely in underdeveloped countries, that parents never having their child diagnosed and given the help they need.
  • Public schools can raise the future parents to be aware of the increasing prevalence of ASD, warning signs and importance of early diagnosis. With new generations of more educated parents the new generations of ASD children they have, the more aware parents will pick up of the warning signs and be more likely to realize, and perform early intervention that can lead to many long term benefits.
  • Diagnosis ; What really needs to be pushed is the necessity to test your kids for Autism, because so far early diagnosis is our greatest weapon against Autism. But these programs and professionals are not easily accessible, according to “The Urgent need to Shorten Autism Diagnostic Odyssey” by Dennis Wall and Glenn N. Saxe, “There are approximately 5 developmental pediatricians for every 10,000 children at risk for a diagnosis of Autism.” It is  clear there are not enough personnel of this profession for providing proper care to the “1 in 68” children at risk for ASD. If early diagnosis is one of the greatest weapons we have against ASD there needs to be an improvement to the diagnosis process to make it easier for families to access and follow through with. A lot of the diagnosis process rests on the families shoulders, it is up to them to see the early signs and find their child the rare doctors that can help, along with paying out of pocket for much of the visits and therapies. Parents need to bring in their child for early testing and if necessary intervention, but if it is too expensive and not available to them, they likely will not til it is too late. A great way to help improve a child with Autism’s communication and social skills is going to early intervention therapy.  With this option, parents can help their children thrive while learning and many other aspects in life.  Statistics show that these classes have proven to significantly impact a child’s ability to learn and interact. Thankfully these programs are generally  accessible, as they are available in every state, and parents don’t need health insurance to use them, but they do need to pay with their own money for some, and typically still travel a great deal for them due to the lack of professionals in the field. Because of the lack of awareness and education for the warning signs and prevalence of ASD many families lose opportunities for helping their children. The key cause of the average diagnosis age remaining at 4 years old in the United States is lack of awareness and the process of diagnosis being so laborious and strenuous. Two issues we hope to resolve with our advocacy group.
  • Both parents and students need to be aware of the commonness of Autism and how they can help others with it.  For parents, it’s important to understand the warning signs in their children early. These include:
    • “Doesn’t make eye contact (e.g. look at you when being fed)
    • Doesn’t smile when smiled at
    • Doesn’t respond to his or her name, or to the sound of a familiar voice
    • Doesn’t follow objects visually
    • Doesn’t point or wave goodbye, or use other gestures to communicate
    • Doesn’t follow the gesture when you point things out
    • Doesn’t make noises to get your attention
    • Doesn’t initiate or respond to cuddling
    • Doesn’t imitate your movements and facial expressions
    • Doesn’t reach out to be picked up
    • Doesn’t play with other people or share interest and enjoyment
    • Doesn’t ask for help or make other basic requests”

According to Autism Symptoms and Early Signs from HelpGuide.org.

  • Goals ; Our hope is to as a group make these signs universally known, the simple increase in awareness can greatly help millions of Autistic children. With enough awareness this can be a very efficient way to combat ASD. It doesn’t require a surplus of money to ask schools to educate more about ASD, it just takes a lot of influence. With enough support we can possibly pass legislation on new policies and laws in the education for ASD. Another issue mentioned was how laborious and flawed the process is and how detrimental this is to the diagnosis of the children. With a push in education for ASD this also can lead to an increased interest in the profession. We are going to ask the government to help us make this process easier, by opening more offices for diagnosis, more therapy establishments, and more requirements on insurance to pay for the necessary help these children need.
  • Since there is no cure for Autism, and the causes are still debated, the only way we can combat it is making the lives of those with ASD and their families the best they possibly can be. We hope to help them as much as we can, because the current state of this system and their lives is unacceptable.