Week 7: Anything Blog

Growing up I have been around two special needs uncles. One is more of a level one, high functioning autism, which means he needs the help of his parents and has trouble socially. Overall though he is able to hold a job at Kroger and make his own dinner. My other uncle was more of a level two which meant he needed constant supervision, had a lot of problems interacting socially, and had many repetitive ticks including asking the same questions over and over again like "When's your birthday?" Because I have grown up in an environment that is accepting and loving of people with special needs, I have involved myself in volunteer groups and my school's TASK programs to help kids like my uncles. Autism is a mental disorder that begins in childhood. It is commonly noticed in children around three years old that have difficulty developing socially. Sometimes they seem to be developing normally, but are very quiet and focus on random items for long periods of time. It is estimated that 1 in 110 kids will be affected by autism, but autism is a spectrum with different levels of disabilities. Below is a picture of a summarized spectrum. No one is sure what one reason may cause autism, but doctors believe that environment, brain structure, and genetics may play a role.  If you want to learn more about autism follow this link.