What exactly does it mean when the Center for Disease Control and Prevention announces that 1 in 88 children born in the year 2000 have autism? I believe it means we have a national emergency on our hands! And lets be clear, those numbers are from 2008. Can you imagine what the actual current statistics are?
As a pediatric registered nurse for 35 years, I also believe the proponents of the theory “the increase is due to better diagnosis” are not aware of the fact that 30 years ago, we were looking for these children, but there were few to be found. When I attended Seton Hall University Nursing School in the late 70’s for instance the nursing students had to take an hour bus ride in order to observe the few children with autism we could find. Today, it is rare to meet anyone who doesn’t know someone around the corner, or have a member of their own family affected by autism.
With the yearly estimated cost of autism rising to $137 billion and an educational system ill -equipped to handle the escalating number of special needs children ( to say nothing of the emotional and financial strain experienced by parents) what is a society facing the worst children’s health crisis in our history to do? What we can’t do, is continue to turn a blind eye to the causes of this epidemic. [click to continue…]
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