April is national Autism Awareness Month. To many of you, that won't mean more then a new colorful ribbon that you might see people wearing or some information on the TV talk shows or news, but for many others this is an important time to raise awareness about our loved one's autism.
Autism is a lifelong neurological spectrum disorder that affects a person's social communication and behavior. There has been more information in the news recently about Autism Spectrum Disorder because of the data that the Centers for Disease Control released in February 2007. The CDC found that the prevalence of autism in the USA is now affecting one in every 150 children. That means that every day 50 new families face a diagnosis of autism, and one in every four American families have a loved one with autism. Alarming, yes! The diagnosis is growing at an incredible rate of 10 to 17 percent each year.