More Than a Number

Yes I am talking about the new CDC numbers, and yes I am taking my cue from Diary of A Mom. You see when we started our journey into understanding autism she was one of the first blogs I followed. She has a way of writing what we all feel and wording it better than I ever could.

I agree with her I want no part of the shock and awe. My facebook post yesterday after the news broke was:  
 What do you all think? This says autism and related disorders. I think the numbers are up because of better diagnosis. If you remember back in the day there would have been no dx just institutionalization so we really don't know what the numbers were. I also think more parents know what they are looking for.

There was an article attached to this post and shortly after I posted:
  
Now the CDC's numbers are all over facebook. Here come the alarmist pushing the panic button. I said my piece in a previous post and I will now step out of this one.

For the most part I did. I commented on a couple of pages I follow but for the most part I had to bow out. I don't want to be part of the infighting of why this is. To tell you the truth I DON'T CARE why the numbers are up they are and that's how it is. Fighting over why is not going to change a thing. 

Come on people lets put the boxing gloves down. Lets remember these numbers you are fighting over are not just numbers they are people. Living breathing people who have feelings. Remember everything you say they hear, everything you do they see and I for one will be damned if my kids hear anyone say or see anyone do anything that makes them less than.

Yesterday was the shock and awe which I stayed out of. This morning when I logged on there were pictures with the heading on 1 in 88. That's what we need to see, the people not the number. It's easy to ignore a number or a make a number unimportant but when you see the person you cannot deny in Dr. Temple Grandin's words "Different not Less"

The Faces Of Autism

1 in 88 1in 54 boys one is my boy