It’s that time of the year again, Tuesday, April 2nd is the officially designated World Autism Awareness Day
Autism Eastern Cape officially opened it’s Adult Care Facility today, (at last, 10 or is it 12 years after the need was first recognised?)
We had a big wig fly down for the opening function from the department of social services (that’s her on the left) and after a very brief ceremony, prayer, introduction, speech it was all over in 20 minutes or so.
The ribbon across the door had to be repaired after one of the children oblivious to the pomp and ceremony ran through it snapping it in half but after a hasty repair all was well.
As you all know by now, you can’t have an autism function without the releasing of balloons…
We sold the balloons at R10 each, talk about a captive market 😉
The minister joined in and appeared to be genuinely enjoying her time with us
and there they go
Boadicea's Chariot 
I love the pictures Soutie, especially the last one. We have about 65 kids but will probably only allow each class of 4 to 6 to let them off separately in the main front garden. Use of cameras is strict so may be unable to take or publish any pics myself. But I will comment on this post later today after our event!
Morning PapaG
Thank you.
We had 200 balloons, good luck with your event, hope the weather plays along 🙂
A matter of interest re your funding. Do you have to pay for this facility locally? Do you get help from the Govt?
Any funds you raise, do they stay locally?
I am also very interested in a multicultural society if autism is more prevalent in one racial group than another or pretty well spread across the board.
It is notable here in the USA that differing conditions/diseases seem to hit different racial groups, some being totally exclusive. Never used to see this in Wales being somewhat homogeneous!
Birmingham was noticeable for cancer, in that the young were nearly exclusively white or Indian subcontinent and very, very rarely black kids.
One has to wonder how much of these things are generated by genetic predisposition.
Hello Soutie and Mrs. O. (Concerning your #3) , nothing to do with autism (perhaps?) but I found this interesting reading yesterday.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Unintended-and-Deadly-Consequences-of-Living-in-the-Industrialized-World-199164051.html
Yes, off to read it. I have thought for years its bad news, before I’ve even read it! Thanks.
Doesn’t surprise me at all, having grown up in the country and messed in dirt and animal muck/dogs/chickens etc. Never knew any local child who had allergies/or auto immune disease. But then they never ate junk either.
Evening Mrs O
With the exception of that single lottery grant that I wrote about a couple of years ago, no there is absolutely no financial or material input from the government.
It would be pretty tough for me to say that Autism is more prevalent in one race or another, our facilities are being overwhelmed by enquiries from African and Coloured parents at the moment, that could simply be because the wealthier families have opted for a home schooling / care network or that our outreach programmes are making the poorer more aware.
I honestly think that autism is pretty indiscriminate (MMR excepted, I still have to be convinced on that one) and that at least down here its such a new ‘phenomenon’ that perhaps we wont be able to answer your questions thoroughly in my lifetime.
You may remember my answer to Boadicea back in the early days on one of our posts about our public health care being in the stone age? Not much has changed since then.
Interesting Soutie, I wonder why now the upsurge in autism, any great change in the environment?
I have often wondered if neonatal care etc is responsible for so many more conditions being around in quantity. In the past far more infants died being born, nowadays so many are saved, sometimes too many in my personal opinion with all sorts of terrible problems. Life is hard enough when one is sound in wind and limb without starting out on life with a handicap.
Organised chaos – thats what we had! Ribbon strings becoming entangled, Children agitated, children disorientated (mainly by the move into the front playground, and by the crowds) and teachers and staff trying to harness the strings – literally. Having said that we were visited by our local MP and we had an organised 10, 9, 8 … countdown to the release of the balloons. Of course some went off early but that only added to the general excitement. I was 1-2-1 with a boy that didn’t want to know and fled into an adjoining playground to avoid the commotion.
And Soutie, I have pinched your photo for 4 weeks! Hope you don’t mind.
Morning Mrs O
I’m not convinced that there is an upsurge in autism (with the exception of the claim that the MMR jab might be a contributing factor) more an increase in awareness, medicine reaching further afield, access to health care and as a result an increase perhaps of those afflicted being diagnosed.
I’m also of the opinion that back in the past the autistic kids not having been correctly diagnosed ended up as the village idiots, goat herders, household ‘slaves’ or perhaps just locked in the cellar and never introduced to the public.
Autism children are generally fit and healthy, so none would have been lost at birth in the past, autism is generally diagnosed at approx 24 – 36 months when behaviour / learning difficulties are experienced (normally speech and vocabulary)
A figure of one child in 188 is the current stat being bandied about, there are of course many many different forms (P.D.D. N.O.S, savants, aspergers) it is a very large spectrum and many go on to lead normal healthy lives, a lot of course don’t however
Howzit PapaG
I was both delighted and honoured when I noticed your ‘new’ avatar, you can always use any of my pictures for any application that you want 🙂
Your balloon release sounds absolutely normal, especially the child not wanting to participate, pleased that your MP turned up, as I keep saying, it’s all about awareness and the more the merrier!