Autism

The governor declares CNMI’s April Autism Awareness Month tomorrow. Among the Chinese that calls the computer “electric brain” and airplane a “flying machine,” they call autism the “loneliness disease” and the “closed-self disease.” The description for autism mirrors existential behavior but the relationship one takes of it as a disease to be cured is a Western curse.

When my daughter was diagnosed in the ’90s, the count was at 1 for every 2,000; then when my son had the colorful PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified) diagnosis, it was 1 out of a 1,000. By the time I attended the World Autism Conference in Australia in 2003, it was down to 1 for every 400. When I left Saipan 2010, it was 1 for every 100. ASD at the moment is reported by Atlanta’s Center for Disease Control to be prevalent in 1 out of 68 children, 5 times more common in boys than in girls.

Autism spawned boutique care providers, particularly remedial learning shops. We are in the dark on cause and cure but stuck on calling it a disease. My ex’s determination to find a cure raised her anxiety level. It cost me a marriage (not a statement of fault but a declarative of just the way it was from my view). Many parents who joined PACA and STaRPO, precursors to NMPASI-related Autism Society of the CNMI (ASCNMI), also paid dearly for the resultant imbalance and instability of marital exigencies.

SpEd at PSS tries to mainstream ASD students in the regular classrooms but without familiarity and patience with developmental disabilities (I prefer to call it “differently abled”), it is difficult for teachers to handle “aberrant” conduct of most PDD-NOS diagnosed kids who are otherwise smart and pleasant when not having a fit.

Many parents would not separate cause and cure, and dairy is a culprit many distance their kids from for gluten. More convincingly, the mercury content of vaccines, 40 times above the usual concentration for the normal human capacity to metabolize when administered together in the ’90s, became a source of alarm. Though rectified, the rate of diagnosis keeps rising. Chemical input into body metabolism is a trigger point that commands widespread suspicion.

The cry from medical practitioners is the non-vaccination of children as the cause for the return of threatening plagues. I was a member of the Rotary Club once under the illusion that we can banish cerebral palsy the same way others went after malaria and TB. However, the wily germs and viruses insist that they were here first! Vaccinations are better handled when parents are informed and they make choices on the basis of guts rather than induced fears.

At the current rate of 1 diagnosis of autism for every 68 children, SpEd has to be mainstreamed, i.e., teachers cease educating people en masse as it is not just passé but dangerous, encouraging the culture of passing tests as the goal of education. The “one and only unrepeatable quality” is true of all. Also, treating the “differently-abled” as if it was a disease to be cured is a grievous mistake.

A drop in the bucket compared to DD’s arsenals for mass destruction (shiploads floats not too far from our lagoon to supply a battalion of Marines for a month of everything they need), the DE budget means less $$$ for PSS. 

ASCNMI raises awareness. A Disability Resource Directory is for release at the governor’s declaration event tomorrow. Saturday, April 11, supporters and families will drive to the Marpi Hotdog and Family Fun Day, a 1.5-mile walk from the Command Post to the turn around sign on the first hill before the fork to the Grotto. EMS will be on standby for any eventuality that requires their service. Abundant water supply will be made accessible.

The Fun turns to Games on Saturday night, May 2, at Fiesta’s Hibiscus Hall where the Society’s signature event takes place on Quiz Nite. At $25 per person for the night, 50 questions in five segments of 10 are posed and answered at 6pm to 7pm, the first hour of the evening’s four-hour event. ASCNMI $15 T-shirts will be available at and for all the events. Call the NMPASI office to order your size.

I saw my daughter and son with their mother last year, the younger boy turns 20 April 6; my ex is a retired State Department officer so she is familiar with Federal and Ohio State assistance that she applies to meet her requirements.

My son is taller than I and mild-mannered, caught in his own world. His sister seems better at stepping outside of herself but not much. They objectively just call me “father,” and on the unlikely prospect that they will come to China, the chance of my seeing them again in my remaining years is nil.

There are no “Happy Autism Awareness Month” greeting cards, but ASCNMI intends to make awareness of it fun!