With our 19th Golf for Autism coming up, one of my jobs is to create the signs that we place in the tee boxes around the course so golfers know who is sponsoring the event. Over the years we have tried to make the signs informative with statistics about Autism and communication disorders.
Around then, about 2005, one of the first signs we made said that approximately 1 in every 160 children were diagnosed with Autism.
This year, the signs we are having made says that 1 in 36 children will be diagnosed on the Autism spectrum.
The reasons for this can be argued for sure. Maybe there is more awareness, education, and resources which lead to more diagnosis. Certainly, there can be more cases.
For me, the statistic is astounding because it reflects the number of children and families being affected. There is no cure. For the hundreds of children we here at The Orange Effect Foundation are helping though, there is the ability to communicate – something we can not put a price tag or a label on.
