I wasn't too surprised that autism came out to be the number one searched children's health topics on AOL Search. Back in September, Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete were on 'Oprah' to talk about it. Of course, anything on 'Oprah' gets a major boost in interest. Also, remember Jason McElwain, the autistic kid from Rochester who scored six three-pointers in the last four minutes of a high school basketball game last year?It's great that autism is getting a lot of attention. Autism is more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined according to Autism Speaks. A CDC study on autism and developmental disabilities in 2007 found that one in 150 8-year-old children in multiple areas of the U.S. had an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Also, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, three to six children out of every 1,000 will have autism.
So whether or not your child has autism, learn about it so you can learn the signs and show your support to parents of autistic children. Search for autism on AOL Search or go to AOL Body for more information.
This month's top searched children's health topic on AOL Search:
1) Autism
2. Lyme disease
3) ADHD
4) Head lice
5) Strep throat
6) Chicken pox
7) Meningitis
8) Asthma
9) Constipation
10) Impetigo
See sponsored links for: autism, treatments for autism.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1. why is it no one ever talks about marfans syndrome when it a killer disease, my son and grandaugter have it and so many people die from it. it should be spread more so people know the symptons.
Posted at 7:08AM on Nov 25th 2007 by genevieve pollaro
2. Hey Mia. Funny how you get 100 responses for Vegas and only one for autism, :(
But anyway, you are so intelligent and interesting and very nice looking too, I'd love to get to talk with you sometime if you actually read these things, send me an email at friendlychap777@aol.com
Regarding autism, I think parents are lucky if their kids don't have it but each child is unique, each person is unique and autistic kids are just as special sometimes moreso than other kids. I was teaching Sunday School two days ago and the autistc kid curled up in a ball in the hall and wouldn't come in the room and once one of the Mom's actually got him to come in he was so nice and so much fun- little 6 year old boy and just sooooooooo precious, unbelievable how nice he was to me and how much he wanted to learn and participate once he got over his stage fright :)
See my comment # 101 under your Vegas blog.
Posted at 7:23AM on Nov 27th 2007 by friendlychap777
3. I prefer to shop only quality toys on some of my favorite stores ToysRUs and DisneyShopping at CouponAlbum.com, as i get there good discount on every purchase..
Posted at 5:00AM on Nov 28th 2007 by Jamila
4. As a parent of 3 "normal" children and 1 autistic son....let me tell you that one of the best things you as a friend to a parent of an autistic child is offer your time babysitting...not all the time...but a night every now and then is a nice gesture.
BUT before you do this....you may want to simply spend more time with this friend and her children. We mothers who have autistic children are thankful for a night out....but it's still not relaxing if we are worried all night on how our child may behave during the time we are gone. Especially if we don't know how you would handle a melt down...or how alert you are to some of these childrens complete lack of safety awareness....Just a thought!!
Posted at 8:12AM on Nov 30th 2007 by Amanda
5. The reason is that people are not giving comments is because you should have a button to click on called "REPLY" You make it too difficult to reply back for the average person.
Posted at 8:19AM on Nov 30th 2007 by Chris
6. Lyme disease is an growing epidemic that the insurance companies and the medical field do not want the public to know about. It can be so debilitating. My daughter has suffered with it for 8 years because she was not diagnosed in time. This should be in the papers everyday because the children are the ones suffering more then ever. The doctors brush it off after 3 weeks of antibiotics which is one of the biggest mistakes they do. This disease is a very complex disease that could lead in to other medical complications and the blood test is NOT accurate. We need much more scientific research on lyme disease and doctors need be educated beyond the medical books.
Posted at 8:20AM on Nov 30th 2007 by Chris
7. What about MRSA. Not many people are aware of this growing condition in the community. If more people were aware of this it could be treated sooner than later and later can be to late. As far as testing there needs to be another much quicker way of detecting this infection. I have had this twice now since 2005 and both times I had to wait a week to get the proper treatment, in the meantime the infection was spreading and getting worse and more painful each day, and it is easily spread. My at the time 11-month old had it a month after i did the first time and she was hospitalized for 8 DAYS. Make sure your nose is swabbed as well as any other testing of skin lesions. ANYONE can get this not just children. Search "MRSA"
Posted at 9:00AM on Nov 30th 2007 by Stacey
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Posted at 9:00AM on Nov 30th 2007 by Paul
9. i think that it's really good that people are looking more into autsim!! i have two children, my youngest a little boy has autism. what i find harder to deal with is when we are out in puplic and people tend to stare or even make rude comments about my son. or even my parenting. what they don't understand is that my son is doing the best he can, and sometimes he can't help that he's makeing werid noise's or doing something that people would consider strange. i hope that with more people looking into it. that before they start making comments they stop and think. hey maybe he's autisic and cut the kid a little slack
Posted at 9:03AM on Nov 30th 2007 by Rae
10. My biggest interest was and is Juvenile Diabetes. My daughter was diagnosed at age 3. She was a very brittle diabetic. No matter what we could not control her blood sugars. We tried it all! Sarah died 4/1/05 she was just 22.
Posted at 9:26AM on Nov 30th 2007 by sunysydpntx
11. Do not pretend that the research has not been done. There are huge amounts of research that have been done in this area and it shows no relationship between the vaccines and autism. There are many places that have had increased number of vaccinations without change in autism numbers. The major reason for the increase in cases is simply due to recognition. The ASD includes all patients whose symptoms are similar to autism. Just like the increased incidence of ADHD, it is due to doctor's looking for it and parent's asking about it. Previously kids may have been labeled with "learning disabilities" or simply made it through school, but now are diagnosed with some degree of autism. vaccinations save lives and prevent series medical problems. It is completely ignorant to think that pediatricians would do anything that was not in the best interest of their patients. It is what they are trained to do, and it is their pleasure to do it.
Posted at 9:59AM on Nov 30th 2007 by Greg
12. autism is a very good topic as far as children are concerned but what about mrsa no one seems to be talking much about that, that seems to be a good topic also. many children have contracted that also. what will happen to them when that does not go away or cannot be controlled anymore or at all .
Posted at 10:18AM on Nov 30th 2007 by sherri
13. i think many people are worried about autism in their children, but there are also other diseases to be worried about also. i think mrsa is one of those. what will happen when these children contract it and the medications stop working or dont work at all what will there families do then, autism has many studies that have ways to help these children learn to deal with day to day life. mrsa can kill.
Posted at 10:19AM on Nov 30th 2007 by sherri
14. My question to a few of the commenters would be- Is MRSA being diagnosed in young children EVERY 11 minutes? The prevalence of autism is more than the prevalence of juvenile diabetes, cerebral palsy and a number of other significant children's disorders COMBINED. The big issue most parents have with this dx is that there is FINALLY starting to be enough of an awareness where they as a family have somewhere to turn to for insights and guidance.
This can be the difference between autism receiving the proper interventions and decreasing the diagnosed child's need for lifetime assistance vs. a lifetime of reliance upon public programs and possible institutionalization due to the lack of every day life skill acquisition providing them the ability to function at least partially independently.
And to the commenter complaining of the stares and dirty looks, please remember the ignorance you are dealing with and print yourself out some awareness cards to slip into the purse or shopping bag of the disapproving onlookers. My focus when we are out is on my child and my child alone. We are NOT there to ruin your shopping experience. We are there for the reasons set forth earlier; developing a life skill and learning to handle different environments.
If your life is not yet touched by autism, I am sorry to say it can pretty much be guaranteed to eventually happen. The numbers pretty much speak for themselves. Thanks for listening.
Posted at 10:32AM on Nov 30th 2007 by carla
15. Noise-induced hearing loss, much of it due to loud entertainment noise, is a common affliction in the United States and many children have this condition. It gets worse with age as their exposure to loud stereos, ipods, and rock bands increases and the damage accumulates. There is hardly any education about it. Audiologists have known about this for decades.
Posted at 10:52AM on Nov 30th 2007 by Michael Wright
16. peggy its not the vaccines my son has autism and it has nothing to do with vaccines there has been alot of research done and you cant sit there and say that the amish dont have any autistic kids cause thats a lie i live close to a small community of amish people and one of the couples has a daughter with autism so you might want to do more research before you open your mouth
Posted at 11:05AM on Nov 30th 2007 by samantha
17. Thermisol might not cause autism in the average child, but it might cause an allergic reaction in some children. My sister lost her nine month old son because of this type of reaction, another of her children began to exhibit signs of autism after a round of immunizations. I think it was another allergic reaction. People can be tested for allergies! Babies are tested to see if they have PKU when they are born, why not also test them to see if they might have an averse reaction to immunization?
Posted at 11:43AM on Nov 30th 2007 by Sarah
18. mrsa has to do with the overuse of anitbiotics. It is a mutated drug resistant strain of virus... Stop giving your children so many drugs and more vitamins and you won't have to worry about things like these. Hygene is also very important... There are Way to many people who don't teach there children to wash there hands....
Posted at 11:48AM on Nov 30th 2007 by basenji1031
19. Samantha - autism is a catch all phrase for a type of mental retardation. It has a variety of causes. The Amish have autistic kids, they also have a lot of kids with extra fingers, that is because they don't get a lot of new genetic material in Amish communities.
"Research" on the subject of the safety of immunizations is biased. Once group of "scientists" are paid to say "immunizations are definitely NOT the cause" and the other side is paid to say "they definitely are." That is not science, it is commercialism.
Learn to think for yourself. Be responsible for your kids. Don't let a doctor perscribe medicines and treatments to your children unless you have reasearched it on your own, at least a little bit. Doctors are people, and sometimes they are wrong.
Posted at 11:56AM on Nov 30th 2007 by Sarah
20. i'm glad to see that some people are actually concerned about the mersa staph infection. i have an air purification machine that i sell that eliminates 99.8% of mersa. this is hugh. some people just don't know how bad mersa is. i hope i can be of some help!
Posted at 12:09PM on Nov 30th 2007 by ron