National Autism Awareness Day

2 April 2010 will mark the third annual celebration of World Autism Awareness Day - a day to increase and develop world knowledge of autism, by bringing together autism organizations from around the world. The aim is to give a voice to the millions of individuals worldwide who are undiagnosed, misunderstood and looking for help.

In December of 2007, the United Nations passed a resolution declaring 2 April as World Autism Awareness Day. The resolution was introduced by Nassir Abdulaziz al -Nasser, Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations. According to a press release by the Representative of Qatar, "member States should break the 'barrier of shame' of people suffering from autism and raise international awareness of the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of the brain disorder, which was estimated to affect 35 million people worldwide."

The focus of many of today's autism organizations is to help raise awareness of autism and the other pervasive developmental disorders. The Autism Society of America and Autism Speaks are two of the more popular organizations dedicated to keeping attention focused on autism spectrum disorders.

There are several benefits to raising awareness about autism. The more people that know about autism, the more likely that research funds will be dedicated to understanding this developmental disorder. As more research is conducted, breakthroughs in autism treatment are more likely, suite101.com reports.

National Autism Awareness Month

In the US, April has been designated as Autism Awareness Month. During the month of April, television shows dedicate episodes to the varying aspects of autism spectrum disorders. In the past, companies and autism organizations have also teamed up to raise funds and awareness. Toys R' Us and Autism Speaks have created a partnership allowing customers, shopping both online and in retail stores, to donate money to support Autism Speaks.

Autism reports

Raising autism awareness is an even more important task now that one in 110 children in the United States are on the autism spectrum. At no other point in recent history has the need for autism awareness been so important. ASDs are reported to occur in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, yet are on average four to five times more likely to occur in boys than in girls.

Prior to the 2009 revision, the autism prevalence rate was at one in 150 children. This represents a significant jump in autism spectrum disorder diagnoses in the four years that passed between the 2002 and the 2006 study results. There are many ways to promote autism awareness with the first step being an accurate look at how autism affects children in the United States.

If four million children are born in the US every year, approximately 36,500 children will eventually be diagnosed with an ASD. Assuming the prevalence rate has been constant over the past two decades, we can estimate that about 730,000 individuals between the ages of 0 to 21 have an ASD, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states.

Around the world, people will be joining together to bring awareness to autism, a often undetected disorder.

Jodie Humphries

Jodie Humphries graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA Hons in Creative Writing in 2008. She has worked for GDS Publishing for the digital group since July 2009. She has previous experience with writing for the web, running her own website since April 2007.

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