Autism

The latest statistic shows that 1 in 144 children have autism.

In my house, it’s 1 out of 2, my youngest son Ryan.

We always knew something was a bit “off” — crying at changing the channels, lack of verbal communication, but we attributed to being a “late bloomer”.  However, when we took him to see the psychologist, it was like getting punched in the gut.

Ryan had been having these weird “spells” as we called it over the last few months. We always knew Ryan had delayed speech, failed to make eye contact, and at times would perform these unusual spinning movements. But he was still young so we figured he would “grow out of it”.

I suspected there was a problem, but it would never happen to “my child”.

After talking about it and getting some advice from only our closest friends and colleagues, we went ahead and made an appointment with a child behavioral specialist…and she confirmed what I had been fearing all along.

Ryan was diagnosed with Asperger’s Disorder, a type of autistic spectrum disorder . What Ryan was experiencing was sensory overload, where the sound and images of the television that night caused his brain to malfunction.

“To you and me, certain everyday sounds and sights are like “fingernails being scratched on a chalkboard” to children like Ryan with this syndrome.”

Things that most people take for granted like bringing your kids to restaurants and church, were all but impossible for my wife and I. It was obvious we needed help. Our doctor did reassure us that with early intervention Ryan may have a chance to have a normal life.

However, our medical insurance found it was not in their best interest to pay for the long road of speech, occupational and physical therapy that awaited Ryan to get better. As a result, I ended up paying the majority of his medical bills out of pocket.

Over the last few years, I have been trying to raise awareness in the internet marketing community, because I think it’s a great path for these kids to become self-sufficient and generate their own income.

My charity drive is entitled Marketers on a Mission, where some of the best and brightest in internet marketing have helped to contribute.  The proceeds go to helping Pioneer Learning Center, a non-profit school for autistic children.

For more information,

Click Here to Learn More about my Charity Drive - Marketers on a Mission