Keith Duffy has worked tirelessly to raise awareness and funding for autism charities. This year he is running the London Marathon to raise money for the National Autistic Society and Special Provision for the Education of Autistic Children (SPEAC)
WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY on April 2nd 2009 has been designated by the United Nations as a time when autism organisations across the world will come together to increase and develop world knowledge of autism.
The article gives a useful summary of autism:
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Autism is a lifelong developmental disability
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40% of all children with autism wait more than three years for a clear diagnosis
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Boys are 4 times more likely to develop autism than girls
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Only 15%of adults with autism in England are in full-paid employment.
People with autism share three main areas of difficulty:
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Difficulty with social communication – people with autism have difficulties with both verbal and non-verbal language. Often language is taken literally and a person with autism will think people always mean exactly what they say.
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Difficulty with social interaction – people with autism often find it difficult to recognise or understand what others are feeling. They often cannot interpret body language or facial expression. At the same time they find it hard to express their own feeling and emotions. This makes it more difficult for them to fit in socially.
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Difficulty with social imagination – social imagination allows us to understand and predict other people’s behaviour, to make sense of abstract ideas and to imagine situations outside our immediate daily routine. If a person with autism is unable to do that they will find it hard to understand the thoughts, feelings and actions of others and will be unable to predict what will happen next.
Communication based approaches – these build on the strengths of the person with autism to help them communicate in a structured way. Often in schools, symbols will be used to provide an effective communicative environment.
Behavioural techniques – these more traditional techniques are designed to teach basic learning skills.
Specific diets, supplements and medications
For more information and to view the video visit the BBC News website at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7968112.stm
