April has been designated as Autism Awareness Month. April 2nd has the official designation by the UN as World Autism Awareness Day and in the US we have extended this for the whole month. Many readers of my blog know that my oldest son Avi is diagnosed with Autism. His official diagnosis is Pervasive Development Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (AKA PDD-NOS).
Pervasive Development Disorder is basically a synonym for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Simply put, people with PDD or ASD have brains that just function a little differently than everyone else. Sometimes, the person will have what is often called classical autism. This is what you often see on TV shows or in movies. It is the other types of ASD that are more common and unfortunately harder to detect and diagnose. The most well-known ASD (outside of classical Autism) is Asperger Syndrome. People with Asperger Syndrome usually have a lot of difficulties with social interaction and they may show restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests.
If you do not fit into one of these categories, PDD-NOS is often the diagnosis. I prefer using ASD or sometime High Functioning Autism as they are more easily recognized by more people. Because PDD-NOS is a spectrum disorder, not every child shows the same signs. The two main characteristics of the disorder are difficulties with social interaction skills and communication. Signs are often visible in babies but a diagnosis is usually not made until around age 4. Even though PDD-NOS is considered milder than typical autism, this is not always true. While some characteristics may be milder, others may be more severe.
Once a child with PDD-NOS enters school, he or she will often be very eager to interact with classmates, but may act socially different than peers and are unable to make genuine connections. As they age, the closest connections they make are typically with their parents. Children with PDD-NOS have difficulty reading facial expressions and relating to feelings of others. They do not know how to respond when someone is laughing or crying. Literal thinking is also characteristic of PDD-NOS. They are unable to understand figurative speech and sarcasm. About 1 in 110 kids today are diagnosed with ASD and in NJ, it is even more, 1 in 95.
It has definitely been a struggle having to deal with Avi, but thank God he has been in a great school for over a year now and we have a great therapist for him. Avi has come a long way in the past two years, but there is still a long and winding road ahead of us. One of our biggest challenges over the next few years is going to be Avi’s preparation for his Bar Mitzva. Unlike his two siblings, Avi has had almost no Jewish education and has very little interest in it (although he does try to get involved with Jewish holidays like his interest in doing art projects for Passover).
Together with a few other people in my Synagogue, I have started a special needs committee. Our goal will be to create a Jewish education program for kids will special needs. Not just ASD kids like Avi, but for kids with all kinds of special needs. It will take some time and energy, but I am hopeful that within a year or so we will be able to have something in place. Like my friend Rina told me, all kids deserve the chance to have a Jewish education. As things progress, I hope to be able to report about them here.
In the meantime, PBS will be showing what looks to be an amazing 6 part series on Autism. This will be episodes of the Newshour and will air on Monday – Thursday April 18 – 21 and Monday – Tuesday the 25th and 26th. You can check your local listings as to when it will be on. Please click here to see the PBS press release on the important series. I urge all of my friends to watch as many episodes as you can.