1 in 100. When will you listen?

You got me on a bad day. Not only has it been a bad day, it’s been a baaaaaaaaad week. Today, I’m going to rant, just as a precursor to my Hap-Hap-Happy Birthday To Me party. It only seems fair to share my feelings with others.

As I was browsing around on facebook today, I saw an Age of Autism post about the new autism statistics. It’s now 1 in 100. Does this register with anyone? And when I say anyone, I don’t mean autism parents. I mean government officials, the CDC, perhaps parents of normally developing children (as of now), or anyone else in the general population.

I’m going to tell you a little story. When I was pregnant with my son, the alpha-fetoprotein test came back elevated. This meant that I received a personal phone call from my OB (after hours, mind you) and a very serious discussion in his office the next week. The risk of me having a child with Down Syndrome was elevated because of this test result to 1 in 175.

Here’s my question: tell me why my OB was so concerned about my 1 in 175 chance when there is a 1 in 100 chance for ANYONE to have a child with autism? And nobody cares. Shouldn’t there be a sign somewhere, maybe outside of pediatricians' offices? How about a pamphlet for first time parents? I think it should be tattooed on news broadcasters' foreheads. YOU HAVE A 1 IN 100 CHANCE OF HAVING A CHILD WITH AUTISM.

I know. We have bigger and better things to focus on. The swine flu, keeping eradicated disease rates down, the weather forecast in some foreign country. Pardon me for thinking this is a real concern to every parent in America.

There is blood on the hands of so many people. They know the truth and will not speak out. Until they do, the autism rate will continue to rise.