I see Autism in many forms everyday. At work, I may see 5 children with Autism who are on different parts of the spectrum and who exhibit many types of behaviors. Some children are very high functioning with words, but unfortunately the words are just scripted and they are unable to have back and forth conversations. Some children are in their own little bubble that we just cannot penetrate and be invited into their world.

As eye opening as children's behaviors are, the more surprising thing that I have seen is the lack of awareness from the parents or the "passing the buck" of pediatricians.

Now, I do not blame the parents at all for their lack of knowledge about Autism. They've been told that their child isn't talking, but will "catch up". They've been told that their child just hasn't had the opportunity to socialize and that once they start preschool, their behavior will be better. And parents want to believe this so they wait and then once their kids get older, they realize that this may not be the case.

Currently there are waitlists that are 12, 18, 24+ long for some developmental pediatricians. Some sites are not even able to put more names on the waitlist and they leave it up to the parents to continue calling to get their child evaluated.

There needs to be more resources for these families. The diagnosis does not drive the help that the child needs. Any child exhibiting symptoms of Autism, even without a medical diagnosis, can benefit some sort of intervention either from the parents, teachers, or specialists.

Next year I will be running the London Marathon as part of the Organization for Autism Research Team. Please help me support OAR by making a contribution to my fundraiser.

Here are some of the ways that OAR uses the funds raised by the RUN FOR AUTISM team:

$10 provides a Curriculum in a Box professional development set to general education teachers.
$25 provides 15 copies of A Guide to Safety to families and first responders.
$100 provides the Kit for Kids peer education resource to an entire elementary or middle school.
$150 provides 100 copies of a Life Journey through Autism guidebook sent to a community support group or military installation.
$1,000 provides a research grant for a graduate student studying autism.
$3,000 provides a scholarship for a student with autism to attend college.
$50,000 fully underwrites an applied research pilot study.