Walk Now for Autism Speaks Altamonte Springs

As some of you are already aware, I am a team captain and participant of the 2010 Walk Now for Autism Speaks event in Altamonte on November 13. I am walking for my daughter, Isabella. Ironically, this date will mark the one year anniversary of her autism diagnosis. I want to thank those of you who have donated and/or joined my team to walk and raise money. I am ramping up my campaign as the event draws near and if you are not in a position to donate or walk, I ask that you pass this on to your personal network - awareness is my ultimate goal.

Today, I took Isabella to her pediatrician to review some recent labs - a visit unrelated to autism, or so it appears. Her new pediatrician, a super nice guy, always is so amazed with how well she behaves and comments frequently saying "she obviously is high-functioning." Yes, she is. A year ago he may not have been so inclined to say that, but I digress. As he was typing up the notes for our referral to a specialist, he told me that he is including her history of Autism Spectrum Disorder but he is "making a note that she is high-functioning so they don't freak out." I was floored by his assumption that his esteemed colleague of a medical profession would be alarmed that a potential patient would have autism. And, I told him as such. He said that patients with autism take more time, and they might say, "oh, thanks for sending them to me." I told him how unfortunate I thought it was the medical profession felt that way and they should be more accepting considering that 1 IN 150 CHILDREN ARE DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM. I continued to tell him that kids with autism are good kids. And, then it occurred to me how very unaware people are of that scary little word AUTISM including our front line of defense, pediatricians. Okay, here come the stats.

More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than AIDS, DIABETES and CANCER COMBINED.
1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism
1 in 94 boys are on the spectrum
A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes
Autism is the fast growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.
Autism research receives less than 5% of research funding than most other prevalent childhood diseases
There is no medical detection for autism and there is NO CURE
The estimated cost for families for a child with autism is more than $70,000 per year, most of which insurance does not cover

IT IS TIME TO SPREAD THE WORD! Here is the link to MY DONATION PAGE. From here, you can make a donation or join my team to walk and raise money for awareness as well. By participating in this event, you are helping to change the future for all who struggle with autism including my daughter, Isabella. By walking, you are getting us one step closer to finding what causes autism, how to prevent and treat it, and ultimately a cure so no family ever hears those words again. Until then, we walk to find answers and raise awareness about the devastating toll that autism has had on families like ours.

I need you to help make tomorrow be about dance lessons, school lunches and first words rather than therapy, doctor appointments and despair. Together, we will find the missing pieces.