I have had Asperger's Syndrome all my life but it was only diagnosed when I was 5 years old. There is no cure for AS because it is not a disease. A very comprehensive study was conducted and the findings were revealed in February 2007 proving that autism is genetic. That means that I was born with AS just like I was born with brown eyes. It isn't something my mom did when she was pregnant that made me this way. It isn't anything that happened when I was born that made me this way. It isn't a vaccine that made me this way. This is the way I was made.

What I have is autism. It is known as Asperger Syndrome specifically. It is not “autism light” and it is not “mild” autism. It is autism.

My mom explains it best. She says that people with autism are like Mac computers. People who do not have autism are like Windows based PC computers. When you keep trying to run Windows based programs on Mac computers, they crash. When you run Mac programs on Mac computers what you get is stuff that the PC computer people can understand and work with as well.

I am happy being the way I am—a Mac computer type kid. Other people keep trying to change me, wanting me to imitate a Windows based PC computer type kid. If they would just work with me the way I am, they would see that there is nothing wrong with me. I am not broken. I am not wrong. I have Asperger Syndrome.

Autism is a developmental disability that affects, oftentimes severely, a person's ability to communicate and socially interact with others. It is four times more prevalent in males than females.

Research done by the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA indicates that as many as 60 individuals per 10,000 have some form of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Based on current population statistics, that means that over 74,000 individuals in Ontario are living with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. That's a lot of people with autism.

In the United States the CDC claims that Leukemia affects 1 in 25,000 children. Muscular Dystrophy affects 1 in 20,000 children. Cystic Fibrosis affects 1 in 5,000 children. Juvenile Diabetes affects 1 in 500 children.

Autism affects 1 in 166 children. Lots of adults will try to tell you this is an epidemic. I want to share something about that here. With that kind of a statistic, that means that 165 in 166 children are not affected by Autism.

If you want an epidemic, I would think that the number of people who do not have Autism is a far worse epidemic than the one for people who have Autism.

Asperger Syndrome affects 1 in 285 children.

That means that 284 in 285 children are not affected by Asperger Syndrome. That's a pretty bad epidemic, too, if you want my opinion.

 

Lewis Schofield, and his marvelous brain, can be found at http://www.thisislewis.net.

To buy Lewis’ beautiful art cards (with 20% of the proceeds going to autism organizations) CLICK HERE.

 

Also on Irked:
Banished To This Place, by Lewis Schofield
Featured Interview: Donna Williams interviews Lewis Schofield
Living With Asperger’s Syndrome, by Lewis Schofield