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1. Autism and similar expressive language (the sufferer cannot speak)
disabilities have been recognized for over a century. They have existed far
longer. Even now, they are still poorly defined.
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2. There are already almost 200 genes on all 23 chromosomes implicated. Just one
gene has to go seriously wrong. There are also epigenetic and environmental
effects.
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3. We would wager on more than 900,000 people with autism spectum disabilities
in California, more than 8 million people in the United States and more than 200
million people world-wide.
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4. One way to measure the strength of a society is to assess how it treats its
weakest – the poor, the young, the old, the ill and the disabled. The United
States of America in 2016 grades out as C- = better than many, but still not
very good. |
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5. For families, the struggle to communicate and accommodate is often waged in
desperate silence: trying to cope with or prevent seizures, self-injurious
behaviors, tachycardia (heart rate triples), bullying … while discovering food
allergies, environmental sensitivities and what exotic blends of three strong
medications might work for a few months. |
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6. Then after maturity there's a fair chance dementia, diabetes and heart
disease will start 25 years earlier than they would in a neurotypical person. |
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7. And it is very hard to tell how the autistic person feels.
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