Lecture #3

 On the 25th of September we had a lecture from Denis Sexton. He is associated with  the Irish Society of Autism. Sexton's son is 27 years old and has had autism for his whole life. This is why Denis is part of the Society. Sexton told us how many years ago Autism was less common than it is now. In early statistics only 17 people in 10,000 had autism. Now 1 in every 100 people have autism. The massive increase in Autism may be because of the increased chemicals in foods.
 Sexton told us all about the characteristics of Autism and how it is diagnosed. Some of the characteristics are:

•  Speech will develop slowly or not at all.
•  Autistic people like to have rigid patterns. They will often get upset if these patterns are changed.
• They become obsessive with certain things.
• They don't play imaginatively.

John was thought to have had autism since the early months of his life. John still refuses to speak and has had a wide variety of obsessions. Some autistic people have 'freaky talents' such as being very strong at maths. Sexton told us about a boy who he knew who could tell you that day on the week a certain date was, even if it was thousands of years before.
    Sexton told us how the Irish Society of Ireland had farms around the country. They said that it was found that the Autistic are happiest in a quiet, peaceful surroundings, away from the bustle of the city. Money is raised to fund these farms (and the rest of the charity) during 'Rose Week' which is a week of fundraising. Roseweek starts on the 11th of october.
  I think that this was a very interesting lecture and i learnt a lot about Autism and those who are affected by it.