Thousands Walk To Cure Autism
Published: May 22, 2006
Autism is a developmental disorder that affects millions of children and adults in the United States, and more cases are diagnosed every year.
But as CBS 2’s Holly Gregory reports, on Sunday morning, thousands of people joined a walk at Soldier Field in hopes of finding a cure.
Sitting high up on his grandfather’s soldiers, 5-year-old Kyle Dec had a bird’s eye view of the walk. His team, called Kyle’s Crusaders, is one of the largest in the walk to raise money for autism research.
Kyle was diagnosed with autism when he was 22 months old. His mother, Ronna Dec, described the characteristics they noticed in their son.
“He pretty much became an introvert,” she said. “He shut down from the rest of the world. Of course as parents it scared us half to death, especially because he was completely normal until then.”
Autism is a genetic disorder characterized by certain behaviors, notably impairment in social abilities, repetitive patterns of behavior or movement, and difficulty in communication.
The disorder ranges in intensity. Some believe Albert Einstein and other notable historical figures suffered from a high-functioning form of autism known as Asperger’s Syndrome, which causes impairment in social skills and often involves intense focus on certain subjects.
There have also been numerous success stories for autistic people, including Jason McElwain, an upstate New York high school basketball team manager who gained nationwide fame for taking to the court and scoring 20 points for his team in four minutes.
But autism can be debilitating in its most severe form.
For Kyle, it is hard to communicate and interact socially. The activity around him at the walk Sunday was very overwhelming. For most children with autism, the diagnosis is made by the age of 3. And the number of diagnoses is rising.
“Ten years ago, the prevalence of autism was one out of every 2,500 children. Today, according to the (Centers for Disease Control), it’s one in every 166 children,” said Peter Bell, president and chief executive officer of Cure Autism Now.
In the last decade, the Cure Autism Now organization has raised $35 million for better treatment and research toward a cure for Kyle and his family, which offers hope that one day there will be a breakthrough.
“Kyle helps us realize what really important in life, so it has been a blessing in that respect,” said Kyle’s father, Mark Dec.
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