Open Letter to Journalists on Eve of Autism Awareness Month

From Age of Autism's Media Editor Anne Dachel.

Dear Fellow Members of the Media: (That includes all of you at CBS, NBC, CNN, Forbes, New York Times, Chicago Trib, LA Times, et al.)

April is coming up and I wanted to say a few words about the month dedicated to autism awareness.  Many of us in the autism community are tired of stories about lighting the world up in blue and celebrating autism as if parents should be happy about a diagnosis.  We've endured years of feel-good coverage about awareness, fund-raising walks, and no explanation for the mystery of autism.  

Most of all, we want you to do your jobs. 

Opinion: Autism Epidemic Paralyzes Doctors

From Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.

Doctors still don’t know how to diagnose autism.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have a very difficult role to play when it comes to what they do about the autism epidemic.  Both organizations have to appear concerned (since something affecting more than one percent of U.S. children is a little hard to ignore), yet not alarmed over autism.  In addition, they have to be making some efforts to find answers at the same time they’re clearly paralyzed by the ramifications of this growing health care nightmare.