From the desk of Derotha Ann Reynolds
A few decades ago when I was in college, I remember watching a film which described autism as a relatively rare condition. The children involved were mysteriously snatched from the real world, forever distracted and engaged in a dimension whose boundaries we could neither see nor break through.
And now, suddenly, in the 21st century we are confronted with a virtual epidemic of autism and related disorders. The popular descriptions tout the frightening statistics of 1 in 150 children being afflicted with autism. It is an alarming situation, as though the Pied Piper is visiting our culture, and thousands of children in every county and state are being whisked away, marching to the tune of some distant rhythm, leaving us heartbroken and mystified in their wake. Can we learn, as a society, the song that will lure the children home, shattering this invisible mental prison with a soaring note of understanding and triumph?
There is a lot of interest in the subject all across the nation. There are fund-raisers, consciousness-raisers, television announcements, medical theories, and heart-broken parents beating their chests. There are a few celebrity endorsements, and a spattering of alphabetical societies. The goal of the American Autism Association is to focus on remedy through a sustained dialogue between the medical, political, and social avenues that are opening up in the public battleground associated with this struggle.
E. L. Christy, the Founder and President of the American Autism Association wrote this mission statement with action in mind.
Are you a parent, bewildered by the array of information available? Are you a therapist, frustrated by the lack of facilities with which to start battling this modern disease? Are you a research scientist needing a forum for discussion and strategy?
Please contact the American Autism Association, and help build the foundation to win this fight.
We greatly need your financial support as we are privately funded by people like you.
100% of the money we raise goes DIRECTLY to the Autism cause.
The only profit from our work is the better treatment and understanding of
Autism, ASD, ADHD and related disorders.
* note: Today the rate of autism has grown to nearly 1-100 nationwide.
