Is the CDC quietly revising autism numbers behind our back?

I don't normally do this, but I am linking to the article on new autism rates I wrote at Examiner.com simply because I am still reeling at what I found out. I am having a hard time believing it but the CDC appears to be trying to bury new numbers as to the rates of autism in the US. The rate is now 1 in 100, or 1% of all kids in the United States will be diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. WHY isn't this all over the news? Your guess is as good as mine. Read the article. What do you think?

T, who is NOT a Conspiracy Theorist, but is searching for an explanation

Tina Cruz is a writer, wife and mother of three children, two who have high-functioning autism, one who has Asperger's tendencies. She advocates for autism awareness and education, as well as acceptance. She views autism as a growth process and the opportunity to connect parents for support as a privilege. She is the Special Needs Editor at typeamom LA Special Needs Kids Examiner at Examiner.com and her own site, Send Chocolate reflects her passion for her children and autism. t Autism Sucks is her brainchild.

A Super Mom I'm Not

This is my first time posting to this blog, so bear with me. Its just that this topic has been weighing heavy on my mind lately and it hit a chord on my blog, so I thought I'd share. -------

Scattered. Space Cadet. Flake. These are all terms I'm sure have been used to describe me. Maybe because over the years I've backed out of more than my fair share of commitments. Its gotten so bad that I now run when I see a well-intended parent seeking volunteers for some good cause.

Its not that I have a fear of commitment, its just that I can never commit. If I do, the Murphy's Law that is my life automatically kicks in and all hell breaks loose. Either there's a meltdown, a rage, sheer exhaustion or all of the above involved. Lets face it, these tend to get in the way of making 100 cupcakes for the school play.

Then I'm left to make that awkward phone call telling the nice organizer I can't do whatever it is I'm supposed to do. This is followed by the equally awkward silence or heavy sigh as the person on the other end of the phone expresses their obvious displeasure with me.

Its during these times that I really wish I could scream at the top of my lungs, "Don't you get it, I have REAL problems here." But since I don't make a point of advertising our situation, there's no way for those in the outside world to know. To them I look like any other mom -- one with messy hair, more than a few extra pounds and no make-up yes, but pretty average all the same.

So, how do I keep getting myself into this situation? Because deep down I want to help. I'd like to be the one helping others instead of the one accepting it all the time. In my dreams I fancy myself the room mom, the cookie mom, the church volunteer. Then my kids could remember their mom as the one who was always involved, always there to lend a helping hand, instead of the one too harried to brush her teeth.

The solution? I have a few ideas brewing. I'm toying with the idea of sporting a sign that reads something like: DANGER: SPECIAL NEEDS MOM. APPROACH WITH CAUTION. Or maybe I can just hand out cards describing our present catastrophe. The problem is, after reading a few lines of what our average day is like, I'm not sure anyone will believe me.

That's what happens when you have children with hidden disabilities. They "look" normal, and for the most part can act normal too. So even if you do 'fess up, many people will look at you in total disbelief. Then starts the minimization. "Oh, it can't be that bad." Or, "honey, all kids go through that phase."

So I think the next Super Mom who corners me in the parking lot asking if I could "be a dear and....." will just be given a link to this blog. Maybe then she'll find a little empathy for my scattered brain. If nothing else, it will give me a good exit so I can wallow in my flakiness in peace.

I am the mother of four children -- a teenager, a toddler and tween twins. My twins both have their "issues", one with Asperger's Syndrome and Bipolar, the other with Bipolar and ADHD. This means our house is anything but quiet and reserved. I also write a blog, Raising Complicated Kids,that chronicles our experience with our not-so-average family.

Autism-Through A Sister's Eyes

Autism, a six letter word here meaning "a neurological disorder that can change lives and wreak much havoc" has taken residence in my home for years. Both of my siblings have been diagnosed with high functioning autism. Autism certainly isn't easy to live with. I share a room with my seven year old sister, a feat that requires much patience at times.

How do you explain that at 8:00 in the morning, you don't yell at the cat to get out of the closet? (Who cares that the cat is wearing a tiara? I'm trying to sleep!) How do you explain that you can't understand someone when they are yelling at the frequency of a car alarm? How do you explain that you are busy and can't play with plastic toys? Again and again and again and...

When they wake up at 3 in the morning because they had a bad dream or they sob their heart out because they miss the cats that died in a fire...when they ask "why God?"... when you yourself ask "why God?" When you meet someone new and they ask "Is she five?" and you say "No, she's almost eight" and it breaks your heart...when she's excluded from a group of kids, and you see the parallels between seven-year-old girls and high school cliques, and big-sister syndrome kicks in which makes you immediately want to go make it better, but you know that, sooner or later, you just won't be there...When you are having a bad day, and she comes up, wanting a hug, and you snap at her to leave you alone, and her face crumbles, and you feel lower than the bacteria that live on bacteria that live on a piece of dirt...And when you apologize and she forgives you like nothing ever happened, that's autism.

And when all is said and done, yes, she still has autism, but she is your sister, and she does need to be loved. Autism is just one aspect of her, not what defines her. And, as hard as that is to remember, it makes all the difference.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go love my sister.

picture of eyeglasses, cc, via flickr, sheepguardingllama

JBug grudgingly admits that she is Tina's fifteen year old daughter (after all, she has to have someone to blame for her DNA) and is big sis to JBear and JBean. She blogs for Geek 4 Kids, (with the younger siblings and Tina) and her personal blog is FlyingLogicMonkeys.

Now we are condoning discrimination? oh, HELL no!

Sorry, I am crossposting this on all of my sites. I simply feel the issue is too important to ignore. Thanks!

You might remember earlier this year about the teacher from Port St. Lucie, FL who had her class vote on whether Alex Barton, a child with autism, could remain in her Kindergarten class. He was voted out, traumatized and refused to return to school. There was a great uproar and teacher Wendy Portillo was suspended without pay for a year with her tenure revoked.

The school board quietly reversed its decision this week..please read the rest here, and trust me, you need to read it.

Tina Cruz is a writer, wife and mother of three children, two who have high-functioning autism, one who has Asperger's tendencies. She advocates for autism awareness and education, as well as acceptance. She views autism as a growth process and the opportunity to connect parents for support as a privilege. She is the Special Needs Editor at typeamom LA Special Needs Kids Examiner at Examiner.com and her own site, Send Chocolate reflects her passion for her children and autism. Autism Sucks is her brainchild.

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Lookie, we have an award

Autism Insights awarded us with this:

And we all share in this award, all of those who write here at Autism Sucks. You all are wonderful, and I am so glad you are here and a part of this.

About the award:

This award recognizes and gives value to:

1. 1.- Commitment to Quality Education.
2. 2.-Betting on the inclusion of Tics [children with tics] in the classroom.
3. 3.-The effort of parents, professionals and educational centers in incorporating the Tics into the educational process.
4. 4.-The struggle to defend, through the Teaching Values like: Solidarity, Love, Affection, Respect, Effort, Aid, Support, Sharing and Commitment, the future of our children and students.
5. 5.-Recognize and value the effort of the families, professionals and educational centers for integrating effective conditions in the schools and in society for the children and special students, gaining them tons of love and allowing them all the resources at our disposal.

You can distribute this prize freely to those blogs that you consider to be working in these lines.

The Norms of distribution are:

• 1.-Publish the objectives of the prize and link to Recursos Educativos (Educational Resources).
• 2.-Publish a list of deserving blogs to pass on the prize.
• 3.-Communicate to each blog rewarded that they have won the prize.

I'm giving the award to:

califmom: she writes about Tourette Syndrome, cancer and homeschooling
Sweet Schoolin': writes about homeschooling special needs kids
Whitterer on Autism: autism blogger and so much more
The Wonderwheel: two blogs on same domain, one about communication therapy, the other about autism.
5 Minutes for Special Needs: group blog about special needs
Thanks for your contributions to the special needs niche. You guys count! Tina

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Why Can't I Teach My Child Self-Control?

the following is post from my personal blog, dated two years ago.

Trying to teach any child self-control is tough. When you are dealing with a child with autism, there are added challenges. It isn't that they can't learn, they do. It's just that with autism, often learning takes the form of rote scripts that are hard to apply to situations that deviate from the taught scenario. The ability to adapt just isn't there. I tell you this so that I can tell you this story.

Last night, J and I wanted to go out. We don't get a lot of opportunities to do that, because even though I have given birth to the World's Most Responsible 14 Yr Old, let's face it, leaving her in charge of two younger kids with autism is something to question. But last night, my littlest one said that J and I needed to go out. You need to understand that she was falling apart earlier, not so much in a catastrophic way but more in a "I am really whiny and complaining about everything" way. The Wii can do that to all of my children. Hell, it can do that to me!

JBean was trying to convince me that we needed to let them stay home. We were planning on a late movie, so there would only be an hour that the kids would be up. JBug puts them to bed for us. To assure me that I was making the right decision, JBean said:

"Momma, I can do what they taught us in Sunday School today... SPUD.
Self-Control
Pause
Understand
Decide

I can control my self!"

Most parents would be thrilled by this. Instead I took it to heart as my failure. When you homeschool, everything is your fault. I said to to J, "I have been trying to teach her this stuff for years, and she picks it up in five minutes in Sunday School? Maybe I need to send her to school to learn, because she isn't getting it from me. I'm failing." He looked at me and said, "She got it today because you have been going over controlling herself over and over again. Repeat, repeat, repeat. It clicked because of you." My eyes filled with tears, and I spoke..

"That was the right answer."

T, who takes it all too personally

Tina Cruz is a writer, wife and mother of three children, two who have high-functioning autism, one who has Asperger's tendencies. She advocates for autism awareness and education, as well as acceptance. She views autism as a growth process and the opportunity to connect parents for support as a privilege. She is the Special Needs Editor at typeamom LA Special Needs Kids Examiner at Examiner.com and her own site, Send Chocolate reflects her passion for her children and autism. She is the founder and editor here at Autism Sucks.

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Let's Talk about Autism and Homeschooling and ..Craziness

Hey everyone! Today I am appearing on Special Needs Kids Talk Radio, so come check it out! 10 a.m. PST and 1 p.m. EST (noon, CST). We are going to talk about autism, homeschooling and what it's like being the "odd one out" in my family. You can listen by clicking on the link, and then the little special needs square takes you to the show. If you register, you can also chat and ask questions for me to answer on air. Come and listen!

From the website:

We are talking to Tina Cruz today about homeschooling her 3 kids and being the only "normal" person in her household, which makes her the strange one. Tina has a great sense of humor, despite her trials and tribulations

This is the first time I have done this, so let me know you are listening. I am terrified bewildered nervous!

T, who hopes I don't stutter and say "uhm..." a lot

Tina is a writer, wife and mother of three children. The two youngest children have high-functioning autism and the oldest has undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome tendencies. She advocates for autism awareness and education, as well as acceptance. She views autism as a growth process and the opportunity to connect parents for support as a privilege. She is editor and creator here at Autism Sucks. She is the editor of the Special Needs channel at Typeamom, LA Special Needs Kids Examiner. Her personal blog can be found at Send Chocolate.

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