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Declaring April 2005 as Autism Awareness Month.
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WHEREAS, Autism was first identified by Dr. Leo Kanner in 1943; and
WHEREAS, This disease is now estimated to occur in 1 out of every 500 births, and research further indicates that Autism is 4 times more prevalent in boys than girls and knows no racial, ethnic, or social boundaries. Over one half million people in the United States today have Autism or some form of pervasive developmental disorder; and
WHEREAS, The prevalence rate of Autism makes the disease one of the most common developmental disabilities, yet most of the public, and professionals in the medical, educational, and vocational fields are still unaware of how Autism affects people and how they can effectively work with individuals with the disability; and
WHEREAS, With appropriate intervention, many of the associated behaviors can be positively changed, even in some cases, that the child or adult may appear to the untrained person to no longer have Autism. The majority of children and adults will, however, continue to exhibit some degree of the disability throughout their entire lives. Although there are still no medical tests for diagnosing Autism, and a cure has yet to be found, a better understanding of the disorder has led to a host of strategies to deal with the disability; and
WHEREAS, Under the Children's Health Act of 2000, the Pediatric Autism Research Act provides 40 million dollars annually to research this disability and hopefully find a cure; and
WHEREAS, Founded in 2001, the Philadelphia Chapter of Cure Autism Now (CAN) Foundation is an organization of parents, clinicians and leading scientists committed to accelerating the pace of biomedical research in Autism through research, education and outreach; and
WHEREAS, Since its founding, the Philadelphia Chapter of Cure Autism Now has raised over $1 million to help fund Autism research, become a l...
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