How Significant World Autism Awareness Day Is On My Son's Birthday

April 2nd was World Autism Awareness Day. It was also my son's birthday.

He has autism.

When he was first diagnosed with the lifelong disability, it was relatively unheard of. Back in 1993, at the age of four, he was one out of 2500 who got the short straw. I had trouble finding anyone who knew anything about it. Today, depending on which report you read, autism affects one out of every 100.

Some less informed individuals whose lives have not been touched by the disability protest the dramatic rise in autism is just because it's less of a stigma these days and more easily diagnosed. However, if that's the case, where are all the previously undiagnosed autistic adults?

Autism isn't something you just grow out of, and although there are various degrees, believe me when I tell you; it's not something you can keep hidden. Someone will notice, and it would most certainly be evident to any teacher. However, if you talk to anyone who has been teaching for a few years they will confirm autism was rarely seen in the classroom until relatively recently.

So what happened?

No-one can say definitively although there are many suggestions and opinions. I have mine, and it has much to do with the toxins in our lives and the assault on our young children with multiple vaccines. I feel it is too much, too soon.

The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention call autism, "a national public health crisis whose cause and cure remain unknown".

Like so many others with regressive autism, my son was fine for the first year of his life but something went drastically wrong after certain "recommended vaccines". Life has not been the same since.

Autism affects whole families and tears many of them apart. Depression, exhaustion, finances all add to the stress of living with a child with autism, and 85% of marriages collapse with the majority ending up in the divorce courts.

Financially, autism is a terrible strain and 94% of mothers of autistic children don't work. Many end up home schooling because there are no appropriate educational facilities, siblings suffer and many families find themselves locked inside their houses. It's easier to stay at home than venture outside where the child is often terrified and misunderstood.

I've been there, done that and got the tee-shirt, literally!

My first book was called "I'm Not Naughty, I'm Autistic, Jodi's Journey". On the front cover my son is wearing a tee-shirt on which I'd written those words. I found it easier than trying to explain his unusual behaviour to everyone and it stopped people offering to lend me their walking sticks to beat him, or telling me to give him a good smack on the backside!

Still, I am one of the lucky ones. I've always taken my son out although there have often been times when I've willed the ground to open up and swallow me. Many times I've returned home and cried myself to sleep.

Life goes on though as autism is not a terminal illness and it's not contagious, although you might be forgiven for thinking so considering the widespread ignorance about the disability. Many people are scared of autism and in some countries people with the condition are locked away for their own safety, never being allowed out because of other people's attitudes towards them.

Autism affects people differently, but basically it's a lifelong disability, which affects communication, behaviour and social skills. As there are no two autistic people affected in exactly the same way, there is no specific treatment or therapy.

Autism is a multifactorial disorder, and it has become increasingly evident people on the autistic spectrum have difficulty ridding themselves of toxins from their bodies, especially heavy metals like mercury and aluminium. This makes it both a brain and gut disorder.

Where do these toxins come from?

Everywhere!

They are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, our food, clothes, furnishings and in our skincare. Daily we rub hundreds of toxic synthetic chemicals into our skins, which go straight into our blood streams. Don't believe ALL the hypoallergenic, non-toxic, biodegradable, natural and organic labels you see either, especially for baby products. Read the labels and if you can't pronounce the ingredients and wouldn't want to put them in your mouth - don't buy the product.

As for the heavy metals you only have to look at vaccines and dental work to discover the source of most of them.

On 2nd April, autism was mentioned at the United Nations, on tv channels, on the worldwide web and even on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. It generated significant media cover, which is good. People now know the word. All we need now is for them to understand the condition and the incredible difficulties faced by families.

Meanwhile, all the fuss of World Autism Awareness Day went completely over my son's head. For him, April 2nd was just his birthday!