Autism Awareness Month

April is recognized as National Autism Awareness Month, an opportunity to inform those who aren’t familiar with the disorder about the complexity and challenges of day-to-day life.
It’s a complex disorder that can affect a person’s ability to speak and develop relationships. Autism is a lifelong condition found in the brain, usually during the early stages of life. Executive Director of Mississippi Centers for Autism and Related Developmental Disabilities Wayne Williams said, “One in 68 children have autism. In Mississippi, that’s estimated around 11,000.”
Thousands of people deal with the disorder on a daily basis, but very few people really understand it. Autism is not a single disorder, but a spectrum of closely related disorders with a shared core of common symptoms. Therapist Kristin Webb said, “You can go from absolutely nonverbal where you see the child in the store screaming and crying and flapping their hands and arms and beating their head to a normal looking teenager who is walking through talking to friends.”
Meet Dax. Family members say he was about 18 months old when they first noticed signs of ASD. Dax’s grandmother, Brenda Stover, said, “He was lining thing up and rubbing textures and wasn’t talking or waving bye-bye and stuff like that. So, that’s when we had him tested.”
Dax started on the nonverbal side of the spectrum, but continues to make major strides of improvement through therapy sessions at the Mississippi Centers for Autism and Related Developmental Disabilities. “I gave him some cards and I said ‘hey, what are they doing in that picture?’ and he answered in sentence form, which has not happened. Usually we have to practice and rehearse a lot of things and he just did it. It’s wonderful,” said Webb.
Autism can have a significant effect on individuals and families, but experts say a little bit of support and understanding can make a huge difference.