Declaring April 2009 as Autism Awareness Month and Recognizing April 2nd, 2009 as World Autism Day in the City of Philadelphia.

WHEREAS,

Autism was first identified by Dr. Leo Kanner in 1943; and

WHEREAS,

The prevalence of Autism has now risen to 1 in every 150 American children and almost 1 in every 94 boys. Autism knows no racial, ethnic, or social boundaries. Over one half million people in the United States today have Autism or some form of pervasive developmental disorder; and

WHEREAS,

The Autism Society of America estimates the lifetime cost of caring for a child with Autism can range from $3.5 to $5 million dollars; and

WHEREAS,

The United States spends nearly $90 billion dollars annually on research, insurance costs and other expenses related to Autism; and

WHEREAS,

The prevalence rate of Autism makes the disease one of the most common developmental disabilities, yet most of the public, and professionals in the medical, educational, and vocational fields are still unaware of how Autism affects people and how they can effectively work with individuals with the disability; and

WHEREAS,

With appropriate intervention, many of the associated behaviors can be positively changed, even in some cases, that the child or adult may appear to the untrained person to no longer have Autism. The majority of children and adults will, however, continue to exhibit some degree of the disability throughout their entire lives. Although there are still no medical tests for diagnosing Autism, and a cure has yet to be found, a better understanding of the disorder has led to a host of strategies to deal with the disability; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA

, That we hereby declare April 2009 as Autism Awareness Month and recognize April 2nd , 2009 as World Autism Day in the City of Philadelphia.

RESOLVED FURTHER

, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to the students at Saint Bernards School for their outstanding efforts in bringing attention to the fight against Autism, as evidence of the respect and appreciation of this legislative body.

End