Welcome to the Jumping Jacks team for Autism Speaks
Jumping Jacks for a cure
~supporting our bit of Sunshine!
~supporting our bit of Sunshine!
In November 2005 our Sunshine was born. He was a wonderful good natured baby,
within a couple of months sleeping through the night, great at self-comfort, and always
had a smile of his face. However by the time Jack was 9 months old he had started to
shake his head a few times a day. He always stopped when you called his name, but
he continue to do it through the next few months. He also had this obsession with
flapping his hands in front of his face while lying down. He wasn't interested in
crawling, much less walking. Then when Jack was 11 1/2 months old he got up and
started walking, which eased our worry. Jack also never babbled much, but as a
parent I thought maybe he's a late bloomer. Eventually at about 15 months old his
speech came and we were once again put at ease. He speech improved slightly until he
was 18 months old, and then slowly one by one all the words he had disappeared. By
his 2 year well baby visit, he wasn't talking anymore. Our pediatrician said, "I don't
want to say it's autism, but something is obviously going on lets find out what..." I
remember the day of our developmental evaluation, I kept telling myself he just needs
some speech therapy to get him right on track. But sitting in a clinical setting it became
painfully clear how much he was behind his brother even in playing with toys. At the
end of the evaluation we were told, "Jack does have autism." I held it together in the
doctors office, but once back in the car I did cry. I must have cried for a few hours.
One of my very good friends (who had been watching Samuel) said when we got there
to pick him up, "Jack's not any different than he was yesterday, or even a few hours
ago, and he's happy." She was right Jack was still my sunshine, my happy go lucky
little guy. So the next day I started getting services lined up for him, and many, many
phone calls later, we had ABA, OT, and Speech lined up for him. When therapy
started that summer, Jack didn't play with other children, he often sat alone or stood
facing the wall. By winter of that year he was running around with all the other kids.
Now almost 15 months later, and hundreds of hours spent in therapy most days you
can't tell he's different, unless you talk to him. The speech has been painfully slow to
come along, but like everything else it's coming.
within a couple of months sleeping through the night, great at self-comfort, and always
had a smile of his face. However by the time Jack was 9 months old he had started to
shake his head a few times a day. He always stopped when you called his name, but
he continue to do it through the next few months. He also had this obsession with
flapping his hands in front of his face while lying down. He wasn't interested in
crawling, much less walking. Then when Jack was 11 1/2 months old he got up and
started walking, which eased our worry. Jack also never babbled much, but as a
parent I thought maybe he's a late bloomer. Eventually at about 15 months old his
speech came and we were once again put at ease. He speech improved slightly until he
was 18 months old, and then slowly one by one all the words he had disappeared. By
his 2 year well baby visit, he wasn't talking anymore. Our pediatrician said, "I don't
want to say it's autism, but something is obviously going on lets find out what..." I
remember the day of our developmental evaluation, I kept telling myself he just needs
some speech therapy to get him right on track. But sitting in a clinical setting it became
painfully clear how much he was behind his brother even in playing with toys. At the
end of the evaluation we were told, "Jack does have autism." I held it together in the
doctors office, but once back in the car I did cry. I must have cried for a few hours.
One of my very good friends (who had been watching Samuel) said when we got there
to pick him up, "Jack's not any different than he was yesterday, or even a few hours
ago, and he's happy." She was right Jack was still my sunshine, my happy go lucky
little guy. So the next day I started getting services lined up for him, and many, many
phone calls later, we had ABA, OT, and Speech lined up for him. When therapy
started that summer, Jack didn't play with other children, he often sat alone or stood
facing the wall. By winter of that year he was running around with all the other kids.
Now almost 15 months later, and hundreds of hours spent in therapy most days you
can't tell he's different, unless you talk to him. The speech has been painfully slow to
come along, but like everything else it's coming.
| How common is Autism? Today, it is estimated that one in every 150 children is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined. An estimated 1.5 million individuals in the U.S. and tens of millions worldwide are affected by autism. Government statistics suggest the prevalence rate of autism is increasing 10-17 percent annually. There is not established explanation for this increase, although improved diagnosis and environmental influences are two reasons often considered. Studies suggest boys are more likely than girls to develop autism and receive the diagnosis three to four times more frequently. Current estimates are that in the United States alone, one out of 94 boys is diagnosed with autism. |
| Event Info When: 9/26/2009 @ 9:30am Where: Mission Bay Park of San Diego De Anza Cove Area 3000 East Mission Drive in North Mission Bay |
| Team Schedule Day of Event 7:30am - 8:15am - Team Breakfast 8:15am - Leave from Team Headquarters 8:30am - Arrive at Mission Bay 9:30am - Walk Begins 10:30am - Post Walk Festivities |
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