Educating Autistic Kids Must be a Priority

  The picture is of my son, Liam. He has high-functioning autism. He attended a mainstream kindergarten class in North Carolina and failed. My son and I then moved to Indiana in search of a more supportive school system. My son attended a classroom with other autistic children and did wonderfully.

We are now living in North Dakota which has  incredibly supportive school systems. My son is in a regular classroom and has an aid who shadows him throughout the day. She reinforces positive behavior, keeps him focused, and calms him down when he get overstimulated. He is now attending all of his classes but gym.

With 1 in 88 children diagnosed with autism every year, autism has become a global epidemic. The cost of caring for autistic children in the U.S. is estimated at $137 billion a year, according to WebMD. The sooner a child is diagnosed and receives help, the better his chance to be able to function normally in society.

Federal funding for research into the cause of autism needs to be increased, and states must make education of autistic children a priority. We as a society can pay a little more now for research and prevention, or we can pay much, much more later for the lifetime support of our special-needs citizens

Autism is Not Caused by Lack of Discipline

  Yahoo! asked readers and contributors to write short personal stories on caring for an autistic child in honor of National Autism Awareness Month. Here is one perspective.

Raising a child with autism is just a bit different from raising a "typical" child: The emotions you feel are more extreme. The bad times when you deal with meltdowns are awful, but the good times when your child achieves an important milestone feel incredible.

One disheartening aspect of parenting an autistic child is the blame heaped on the "permissive" parents. My son's own father disregards the psychiatric diagnosis of autism. He, like other uninformed people, feels my son's behavior is due to "lax" parenting -- my son just needs a good butt whipping. Never mind that the worst thing you can do is hit a child who is already fearful of the world. Thankfully my son and I were able to move away, and my son is showing great improvement in his behavior.