Autism Epidemic

I was just reading a magazine which had an article called The Autism generation, and in it there is mention of how the number of children with autism is doubling every 5 years. The word Epidemic was used twice.

In the story is mention of how on lady with an autistic child says "They are dropping like flies." followed by the words It's and epidemic. And it scares me.

There are also words like ... before long one in 30 children could suffer.

This parent of an autistic child is I am guessing NT as there is no where in the article mention of her also having autism.

What I would like to know is why NT people seem to feel that being Autistic is a disease or something to be feared....

Has anyone ever considered the possibility that the reason more and more children are being diagnosed with Autism is due to the fact that Autism is actually the next evolution in human development ?

Sure being Autistic is hard a lot of the time, but that's because there are more NT people in the world then Autistic spectrum people... If it was reversed and there were more Autistic people than NT people then maybe things wouldn't be so much of an issue for us autistic people.... Maybe NT people would then find life harder and more confusing.... Maybe then we could say lets find a cure for you to stop you being Neuro-typical .... Lets see if you like being told you need to be cured... that you have something that needs a cure.

People don't want to give their child a needle to vaccinate against certain things because they believe these needles are the cause or one cause or even just a possible cause of Autism spectrum disorders... the article I read says how this woman's child was fine until he had his 12 month shots then he changed...

I wonder do people consider that babies once they reach a year old are more aware of their surroundings and more aware of themselves ... so of course a child may start to change once he or she reaches a year old because things may start to bother them now that they are more aware... At 12 months they should be eating food rather than just drinking milk, so obviously for autistic children who have issues with certain foods, taste, smell, feel, they are going to have issue that they didn't have at 5 months old, sounds and light sensitivity may also be more noticeable once a child reaches a year old is is becoming more aware of him / herself and the world beyond.

This person also says ... Yet no one says, "if only my new baby could be ... autistic".

But that statement is so untrue because if I could have a baby I would want an autistic baby because I could understand an autistic child better than I could understand a "normal" child.

I realise why people want to cure autism, but I also don't understand why they want to ... its like saying lets cure blond hair because all blonde's are bimbo's (stupid) ... I am a natural blond although I dye my hair so its never blond anymore, but that's why I choose blond hair as an example ...

Shouldn't the autistic people of the world have a say in whether or not they need to be cured ?

Sure being autistic can be so very difficult and it can cause so many issues ... but most of those issues come about because NT people don't understand about autism.... Yes it would be great to have life be a little easier at times ... to be able to hang out with friends, to be able to talk on the phone all the time, to be able to be as out going as everyone else ... but I am more than just Autism ... I'm kind and caring, I can see both sides of an argument, I love animals so much, I'm smart, and funny (sometimes even NT people get my humour) yet autism is part of who I am, I wouldnt want to be cured of it, because I dont see it as a disease but as a difference.

I cant speak for anyone else who has autism but for me I hate it when people make autism out to be a burden, or a disease that needs to be cured. Yet the word Epidemic used in this story make autism into a disease ... as the dictionary definition of Epidemic is ... n. 1 widespread occurrence of a disease in a community at a particular time. 2 such a disease. 3 (foll. by of) wide prevalence of something use. undesirable.

Piano

I have always liked the piano, as a child after school I would help my mother clean the primary school that I went to, and there was a room that had a piano in it. I would always end up in there messing around with the piano, creating music without even knowing what I was doing.

I think someone at the school, either a teacher or more likely one of the other students taught me to play this kind of scale piece which I dont know the name of but its basically just the black keys and goes like this ...

 FGA  CC  FGA  CC  FGA  CDFDC  AGF  DD  AGF  DD  AGF DD  AGF DDCAD

Then when I got to high school I had one term of music, I wanted to learn the sax but my parents said no, plus having asthma means I probably wouldnt be good at the sax anyway, not enough lung power.

So I did piano and by the end of the term I had learnt to play Amazing Grace. But I never had music again after that term and left school halfway through the next year ... Yes I only did one and half years of High school ....

Anyway now I have a piano / electric keyboard... not a full piano but good enough to learn stuff on.

I dont have a music teacher, I'm just teaching myself... I'm not that good at knowing what not is what, but if it has a not is written with a letter  - CDEFGAB - then its easy for me.

So within the first hour I had of having the piano I had taught myself the first 2 lines of Jinglebells... after messing around with the piano it was probably just 5 or 10 minutes of playing for me to work out jinglebells, I decided to practice for at least a month each song to be sure that I had it in my head and fingers but after a few days of just playing jinglebells it became annoying and maybe even a little bit boring... so I started to teach myself the first line of Jambalaya (On the Bayou) and withing a few minutes I had that in my head.

Then I decided to try The Lion Sleeps Tonight ... so again just within 5 minutes and I had the first 2 lines of that song also learnt.

I do not know if this is fast or not, but I do enjoy it and I think I may have an aptitude for piano, as a child I did have a slight aptitude for drawing but I never persuded that and now that ability is just a tiny smudge now, no longer what it was or what it could have been.

Now I just have to learn how to play with both my right and left hand at the same time.

I may end up seeing if I can find someone to teach me to play... I'm teaching David what I learn, so then we can both play together.

:)