Daily Chat Thread for April 12th

by **LuvNStuff** Sun Apr 12, 2009 1:31 pm

Good morning everyone! I hope that this DCT on today, Easter Sunday, finds everyone doing well.

Did you know that April is National Autism Awareness Month? This is something close to my heart as my brother has Autism. So, what is Autism? Nothing to be afraid of, that's for sure. Thanks to Wikipedia, I can share with you that:

"Autism is a brain development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. The autism spectrum disorders (ASD) also include related conditions such as Asperger syndrome that have milder signs and symptoms."

ASD has been found in 6 per 1,000 people, with about four times as many males as females. Diagnosis is based on behavior, not cause or mechanism.[14][99] Autism is defined in the DSM-IV-TR as exhibiting at least six symptoms total, including at least two symptoms of qualitative impairment in social interaction, at least one symptom of qualitative impairment in communication, and at least one symptom of restricted and repetitive behavior. ASD can sometimes be diagnosed by age 14 months, although diagnosis becomes increasingly stable over the first three years of life. There is no known cure

For more information, check out: http://www.autism-society.org/site/P...arch_awareness and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism

Please guys, don't make fun of Autism. It is not there fault and each person is unique. So try to reach out a helping hand, and make sure others don't make fun of people with autism... Like a Star @ heaven

by **teresa :)** Sun Apr 12, 2009 5:49 pm

i have a cousin with autism. i don't find it very funny that some people make fun of people like that. in fact if you guys didn't know i have anger issues sometimes, and when people push my buttons or even look at me funny i tend to explode (sounds emberassing now as i'm typing this). so when i was eating luch at school a month or so ago. kids at my table decided they would make fun of those kind of kids.

i can't go into detail about my little explosion, but one things for sure- i got up out of my seat and got in erin's face and told her everything on my mind...in a loud voice. Twisted Evil