April is Autism awareness month.  Autism rates have been increasing gradually for years in the United States.  Here are some statistics taken from the Autism Society of America website.

• 1 in 150 births
• 1 to 1.5 million Americans
• Fastest-growing developmental disability
• 10 – 17 % annual growth
• Growth comparison during the 1990s:
  • U.S. population increase: 13%
  • Disabilities increase: 16%
  • Autism increase: 172%
• $90 billion annual cost
• 90% of costs are in adult services
• Cost of lifelong care can be reduced by 2/3 with early diagnosis and intervention
• In 10 years, the annual cost will be $200-400 billion

Hello!

Welcome to my site.  I am a full time university student majoring in Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Public health, Labor Studies and currently minoring in Chemistry, Psychology and Mathematics.   I am a full time student, with 20 hours of night and weekend classes per week plus 20 hours of study and homework per week.  I am also a full time mother of two energetic and enthusiatic little boys and wife to a VERY funny husband 24 hours, 7 days a week.  I work part time,  volunteer locally at a church on Sundays and as a local EMT (thinking about getting my paramedics certification as well). It gives my children some time to grow up.  I don’t get too much sleep.  However, I am doing well so far.  I enjoy life!

This site was developed initially as a project for my ArcGIS (geographical information systems) class.  My husband however is thrilled that I will be making use of our domain!  It is in the very first preliminary stages of development.  We hope to eventually become good enough to make this our professional site as well.  Any feedback on how to improve our site is greatly appreciated.  Thanks so much for visiting.  Enjoy!

Mary