As some of you may know, my nephew, Finn, has Autism. A beautiful little boy, my cousin and her husband work closely with therapists every day in order to help him live a life that we see as normal. To hear him asking for things (please?) when I talk to her on the phone brings untold joy.
I learned this morning through an email that an old friend from High school's son also has Autism. This makes two "old friends from high school" with autistic children and one sister-cousin. And NWJR. When the movie Rain Man came out when I was a child, I remember my parents explaining Autism, and how it was a pretty rare occurrence. It seems to me that it's not so rare any more. I never thought I would meet an Autistic Individual. Now I know that I meet them every day.
Emily sent me the following link this morning. According to the email, the band "Five for Fighting" will donate $.49 every time the video is viewed to Autism Speaks, a research charity. Watching this wonderfully put together picture video nearly had me sobbing at my desk. Please. Go watch. Learn. Understand.
Someday, I hope that Finn will look me in the eye and smile. It would be a gift to hear him address me as Aunt. Through therapeutic efforts, I'm confident that he will.
Devan
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Autism just seems to be all over the place these days, and it's important to learn more and do more about it. Good Post Gina.
Buzz
I have a TIME Magazine article where a doctor talks about being in Medical School in the late 70's, and the professor brought in a person who had Autism. "Pay attention, because you'll probably never see a case like this again".
Something has happened. It's not because it's better diagnosed, it's not because people are making this up. Autism is epidemic, and whether it's something in the food chain, something in the environment, or some sort of weird genetic trigger, it's frightening.
I love my son. I'd do anything for him. The best I can do at this point is to work towards a more tolerant world. Here's hoping...
Thank you for putting this up here!!!The more people who know about Autism,the better the chance we have to win this war!!!check out my myspace page to hear an awesomme song by mark leland about autism.Search under Emily Sprong,or look on Ginas freinds to find me!!!Blessings to you all..
Post a Comment