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May 22, 2009
May 17, 2009
Something To Ponder, Reason for Hope
I had seen commercials on television a while back indicating that some 1 in 166 children are diagnosed with autism, while a CDC report issued earlier that year indicated the figure was actually closer to 1 in 150 children.
Startling, really.
Autism has touched me personally in only a small way and is one of those subjects I admit to having a painful lack of knowledge. Outside of a cousin I have met perhaps twice in my life (lives in California), an ex-boyfriend's brother with mild autism, and a stepdaughter (also several states away) who also suffers severe developmental delay and mental retardation (the reason attaining diagnosis was difficult, her symptoms being attributed to the other conditions), I have little experience with it and, unfortunately, a topic only briefly touched on in psychology and even pathophysiology courses in college.
I had no clue that some individuals diagnosed with this unfortunate disorder have recovered from it. I had learned there were structural differences in the brain, so now I am left wondering what led to this recovery and - prayerfully - if those structural anomalies have also been reversed. If not, is there a chance the autism could re-develop? Per the article, scan images are still being analyzed.
In any case, I will be highly interested in seeing the outcome of this new research. How amazing it would be to be able to offer these people a "second chance" and/or reduce the incidence of children being diagnosed!
Posted by Angie Lee at 5/17/2009 03:41:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Awareness
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