This past Sunday, we ran four articles about autism and education (click on the following links to read them).

Schools try to keep up with autism
No easy answers in autism
Family cherishes small victories
Officials move to aid special education funding

I spent about a month  and a half interviewing people and doing research on the topic before writing the articles. I spent a lot of time talking to experts and parents. I basically lived a day in the life with a 4-year-old with an ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and a 19-year-old girl with an ASD (that story is coming this Sunday).

I think it was probably one of the most interesting stories I've ever worked on (as in I personally find the topic fascinating). I hope that came through in the stories.

It kind of blows my mind that the government is now estimating about one in every 150 children is being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. For decades, the estimate was more like one in every 2,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It further blows my mind that there's still no known cure and experts don't know exactly what causes it.

Generally, people with autism spectrum disorders have problems communicating, socializing and balancing their senses. Cases fall at all levels of severity. Some people with ASD can't talk or function independently. Others hold jobs and get married. Cases also fall at every point in between those two extremes.

In many ways, autism is a controversial topic. Experts disagree on what causes it. They disagree about whether there are actually more people coming down with autism now or if we simply diagnosed these people differently in the past. They disagree on some of the "treatments."

Because of this controversy, I knew I was going to get some letters from people invested in the topic.

I was right. I've probably gotten more letters about this than anything else I've ever written (with the exception of an article about tax cuts I wrote at The Arizona Republic in 2003 ... go figure).

I thought it might be interesting to show you excerpts of some of the letters I've received:

— The subject line of one e-mail was simply "Answers to your autism questions." That e-mail directed me to an opinion piece written by a Wisconsin chemist and published by The Capital Times. 

— One letter writer wrote the following:
"the press never seems to demand that officials prove that autism hasn't increased. All we seem to hear about are autistic kids. Where are all the autistic adults who were missed in the past? Show us the autistic kids from the 1980s who are now the autistic adults in their 20s and 30s at the same rate as children today. Where are the 40-, 50- and 60-year-olds with autism at a rate of one in 150? What are they doing? Lots and lots of parents desperate about the future for their autistic children would like to know. News sources never give us the proof and neither does the CDC."

— From a parent of autistic children:
"My two children receive or have received Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)
therapy, the only treatment protocol proven effective with autistic
children. ABA is expensive. ... The districts need more money for these programs, but they should be fighting the federal government in court to get the legislated funding
level. They don‚t do that because in relationship to the federal government,
school districts are the little guy. Because of a lack of courage, they have
chosen to find someone they can beat and have found that one in their own
students and parents."

— Another letter writer:
"Your autism articles in Sunday's (Mar. 11th) Californian correctly mentioned the lack of medical "cures" for the condition of autism, but the articles failed to mention the most scientifically based non-medical treatment approach for autism behaviors: Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). There is no other treatment method that has as much scientific support as ABA for the treatment of autistic behaviors. It is highly successful, more so than any other approch. ... Local universities would do the community a great service by preparing its school psychologists and special education teachers in the skillful use of ABA principles and procedures. These strategies could be used effectively with all children who display challenging behavior, not just children on the autism spectrum."

— Another (my personal favorite type of letter, and no, it's not from my mother):
"That was a GREAT story(s) in yesterday's newspaper. I could tell it was a
lot of work and a labor of love."
 
—  "There is surely a need for more education in this area.  It has to be very overwhelming for these families to deal with the diagnosis and then weed through all the information when deciding on treatment."

— "Paternal age has risen steeply 35-49 and 50 and above since 1980. With the rise of paternal age the research shows  that neural developmental disorders would increase ... Please consider keeping this information and someday doing an article on it.  Men and women should be warned . Men in their 20s could cryopreserve semen for any fathering past ones mid 30s."

All this is just a sampling of what I've received. (Thank you to everyone who's taken the time to write and/or call me. I enjoy hearing everyone's different perspectives and opinions). It's a complex, expansive topic.

One could write a book on autism, and still not say everything there is to say.

If you still want to learn more about this topic, here are some Web sites that might help:

http://www.autism-society.o...
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/pub...
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/di...
http://www.autismspeaks.org...
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/a...

Also, I encourage you to join the discussion here.