Just The Facts, Maam

A while back I ordered puzzle piece pins for the men in my family to wear on their lapels. Since then, I have read that the “puzzle” is a controversial sign for Autism and that some people are unhappy with it. I am not one of those people, however, because sometimes I do feel that Riley is just a little puzzle that we are trying to figure out.

Anyways, I have been keeping a card from the pins in my jewelry box that states facts on Autism and such. I just got it out and looked at it and it has the facts that you see everywhere, “1 in 150 children are diagnosed, 1 in 94 boys” We all know these facts by now. What I wasn’t really aware of, was the amount of private funding that Autism receives. I will list them here, but first, I want to state that out of all these diseases, I am not saying that because my son has Autism, it is more important than any other disease or disability out there. We have dealt with cancer, alzheimer’s, diabetes, ADHD, etc. in our family and they are all horrible in their own ways. I am just shocked at how more people are affected by Autism, yet there is less funding. What is up with that? It’s almost like, “Oh, they have Autism. Well, there’s no hope for that person so we are only going to pay for therapy, and, oh yeah, it’s only the therapy that we choose in our network, and, oh yeah, it’s 50 miles from your house but near your zip code, and, oh yeah, we are just going to deny coverage and see you squirm!!!!!” Can you tell that I have insurance issues? Here’s the chart:

Leukemia:
Affects 1 in 25,000/Funding: $310 million

Muscular Dystrophy:
Affects 1 in 20,000/Funding: $175 million

Pediatric AIDS:
Affects 1 in 8,000/Funding: $394 million

Juvenile Diabetes:
Affects 1 in 500/Funding: $130 million

AUTISM:
Affects 1 in 50/Funding: $15 million

Ridiculous! These are facts from 2005 and I have researched to see if they have changed with no luck. These are still listed on autismspeaks website. Funding and research seriously needs to catch up and I’m excited to see so many blogger moms and dads out there to make people aware of what’s going on! Yea bloggers!! Keep it up because I learn something from each one of you!!

Here’s a picture that Riley drew on the whiteboard yesterday. Can’t the world just be rainbows and sunshine?