Autism Seminar to be held on August 6th in Eagle Pass
By: Jose G. Landa, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.
The families of Autistic children in Eagle Pass are invited to a seminar on Autism on Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 8:00 A.M. at the Holiday Inn Conference Room located at 2007 N. Veterans Boulevard, Eagle Pass, Texas, announced Wendy Maurer, who is hosting the event.
. During the course of the seminar, Maurer will welcome Autism Community Network of San Antonio to assist in informing local parents on important autism information. The Autism training for parents will be hosted by Wendy Maurer who is a special education teacher with the Eagle Pass Independent School District.
Autism Community Network is a non-profit organization based out of San Antonio, Texas who works closely and tirelessly to maximize the potential of children with autism by providing early diagnosis for those with limited access and educating and empowering the community to support them.
Maurer is a special education teacher with Eagle Pass Independent School District at Kennedy Hall. Mauer stated: “how blessed with the job that I have working with children with special needs in the classroom. I just graduated from Texas A&M University with a master’s in special education with an emphasis in applied behavior analysis. I’m currently working on my hours to take my exam to become a certified Behavior Analyst. In this process, I have worked in the homes of my students with autism. I have found that parents are a powerful tool in a child’s development. I plan on bringing more autism services to our community.”
For more information on Autism Community Network go to www.acn-sa.org and you can contact Wendy Maurer at autismeaglepass@gmail.com
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior. Parents usually notice signs in the first two years of their child’s life. These signs often develop gradually, though some children with autism reach their developmental milestones at a normal pace and then regress. The diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent in early childhood, typically before age three.
While autism is highly heritable, researchers suspect both environmental and genetic factors as causes. In rare cases, autism is strongly associated with agents that cause birth defects. Controversies surround other proposed environmental causes; for example, the vaccine hypotheses have been disproven. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood. It is one of three recognized disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs), the other two being Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS), which is diagnosed when the full set of criteria for autism or Asperger syndrome are not met.
Early speech or behavioral interventions can help children with autism gain self-care, social, and communication skills. Although there is no known cure,[ there have been reported cases of children who recovered. Not many children with autism live independently after reaching adulthood, though some become successful. An autistic culture has developed, with some individuals seeking a cure and others believing autism should be accepted as a difference and not treated as a disorder.
Globally, autism is estimated to affect 21.7 million people as of 2013. As of 2010, the number of people affected is estimated at about 1–2 per 1,000 worldwide. It occurs four to five times more often in boys than girls. About 1.5% of children in the United States (one in 68) are diagnosed with ASD as of 2014, a 30% increase from one in 88 in 2012.
