Everyone has a story. While researching on the Autism Society of America Website, I found some touching stories of people with autism spectrum disorders and family members of people with them. These stories show personal growth in people, important accomplishments, and struggles people dealing with autism had to go through.

One story that really jumped out at me was a story about a 21 year old named Rory. Rory is in a band called Rudely Interrupted, and what's cool about this band is that everyone in it has a disability. This band is very unique and was actually the first EVER indie-band to be invited to play in New York to mark the International Day of People with Disabilities. Rory says in the story that he named the band Rudely Interrupted because "it feels like my life is consistently being interrupted". He says that band helps him deal with situations in his life and put everything in his life into perspective. One of my favorite lines from the story is "just because I have a disability it doesn't mean I can't ROCK".

All of the stories I read were very inspirational and I encourage everyone to at least take the time and read one. I'm sure you will be able to connect to one just like I did with Rory.

Throughout more searching on the internet, I have found yet another great website about autism spectrum disorders. This website is the Autism Society of America and like the other website I have been on in the past it shows research about autism, treatments, provides stories, and even has a way to get involved with their programs. If anyone is interested, they an click here to directly go to the website!

While searching through this website, I found a ton of useful information. One thing that I found really interesting is that the website actually offers a course called Autism 101 to help people gain more knowledge about autism spectrum disorders. The course is said to take about a half hour to complete and after a person completes it they can print off a certificate that shows they completed Autism 101. This online course introduces autism spectrum disorders, describes possible treatments, transition to adulthood for people with these disorders, and provides people with more information and resources to get information on. All that a person needs to do to register for this course is be a member with the Autism Society Web site.

Another thing I thought was very cool about this website is all of the ways a person can become involved in helping to support autism. While on Autism Society of America, I signed up to get a newsletter mailed to me directly about information on everything the website has to offer. A person can also sign up to get e-mail newsletters sent to them on the computer. Signing up was simple and took about two seconds of my time. I encourage everyone to sign up!! You will gain more knowledge about the Autism Society of America and all of the great things a person can get involved in.

Get involved today! I really encourage it, and it is a lot of fun. As each post goes by, I become more and more involved with autism groups and communities. It feels great to be involved in such a good cause!

April 2nd 2010. This was a very important day... do any of you know why?

Well, for those of you guys that answered no, I didn't know either when this date was brought to my attention. I was actually laying on a beach in Florida when this day passed. But to my surprise, I recently just found out this day was World Autism Awareness Day.

After some research, I found that this day was just recently recognized in 2007. This day was recognized all around the world and the purpose of it is to raise awareness of autism in society and to encourage early diagnosis and intervention. This day shows the world that autism is a growing global health crisis affecting millions of people. This day is to celebrate the talents and different skills of people with autism and embrace these people with the many events happening around the world. The website I found said that World Autism Awareness Day is to bring all of the autism organization groups from around the world to give millions of individuals who are undiagnosed, misunderstood, and looking for help a voice in the world.

While on the main website for World Autism Awareness Day, I had a chance to look at all of the organizations involved in this great project. There is a whole page that is absolutely huge of groups that contributed and participated in this day. There were groups from all around the world, from Australia to the some places I have never even heard of! The list of groups that participated can be found here.

This was an amazing day and a great event that many groups and people participated in all around the world. I plan on participating next year so I can learn more about World Autism Awareness Day.

A lot of people may be wondering... How is Autism Diagnosed?

I admit, I have wondered this since I was a young child. I always wondered how my parents came to find out how my brother was different than the other children my age. I recently just asked my dad how my brother started showing signs of being different from the normal toddler. His response to my question was shorter than I expected. He just shrugged his shoulders and explained to me how he learned to talk two years later than the normal toddler, he didn't potty-train very well, and he wasn't as social as a normal boy his age should be. His answer sparked an interest for me to look how the doctors actually diagnose Autism and Autism spectrum disorders..

I went back and did some research on my newest favorite website Autism Speaks. As you all know, I just found this website a few weeks ago and wrote about it in my previous post. This website has everything! I was thrilled to find out it actually had a section about how autism is diagnosed in children. Now, all of my questions could be answered and cleared up.

To my surprise, I found that there was actually no medical test to diagnose autism. Behavior tests and psychological tests are conducted on the children to see if there is some sort of delay in the child's development. The website suggests that all children from right when they are born to the age of about 36 months should be screened for developmental milestones on routine visits to the pediatrician. If the doctors have any questions or doubts about a child, the child should be referred to some sort of specialist. A child can go through tests such as hearing tests, lead exposure screenings, and something called the MCHAT. The MCHAT is the Modified Checklist of Autism in Toddlers. This tests includes simple questions about the toddler.

In my next post, I will go into more detail about the development of toddlers with autism.