Autism awareness

Note: Today's post is not in the least bit funny or peculiar. It's placed on the pages of blogdom to raise further awareness for the need of more education and action when it comes to raising autistic children.
As a person who has Asperger's Syndrome, a variation of high-functioning autism, I was shaken to the core of my being when I read the following story on AOL News, courtesy of the AP.
Toddler Found Playing Along Interstate (AP)
INDIANAPOLIS (Dec. 31) - Drivers swerved cars and trucks into other lanes to avoid a 3-year-old boy, wearing only a diaper and T-shirt, who was playing along a busy highway after wandering away from home while his mother slept, police said.
Some motorists stopped along Interstate 465 on the city's west side Saturday to take care of the boy until officers arrived, the Indiana State Police said. Damon Dyer, a 3-year-old autistic boy, was found playing on [the]Interstate...
"I looked up and I seen this little ... boy running down the middle of the slow lane in the interstate. I just could not believe what I was seeing," said Troy Crady, one of those who stopped to help. The boy... was unscathed as at least a half-dozen cars and a tractor-trailer rig swerved into other lanes to avoid him. Temperatures were in the mid 50s as the boy ran around barefooted.
Police said they traced the toddler to an apartment at a nearby complex, where they found his mother, Nancy Dyer asleep in a filthy apartment and his 2-year-old sister eating spaghetti off the floor. Dyer, 33, was arrested on two counts of child neglect and remained in custody Sunday, officials said.
Senior State Trooper Cedric Merritt said that when Dyer was told of her son's activities, she responded: "Oh, he got out again." (Really??? You noticed? NO KIDDING!)
Investigators said the boy got out his second-story apartment, went down stairs and got around a fence to reach the highway about 200 yards away. Child Protective Services took the boy and his sister into custody, and investigators said the agency also had been called to the apartment Thursday because the boy was outside unsupervised.

Clearly, some people just aren't fit to be parents in the first place, regardless of the child's condition. But obviously, little Damon's condition was previously diagnosed, and as such, Nancy should have taken additional steps to ensure the safety and well-being of her child. You can't NOT child-proof your home or fall asleep when you have an autistic individual in your care!
Autism is a condition which affects thousands, perhaps even millions, of people in the US. While some cases are more severe than others, autistic folks cannot operate on the same level as those who are not. Being autistic is like being enclosed in a dark closet, knowing there is a world outside, but not knowing how to open the door. As such, even when moving about in the wide-open world, autistics are not able to discern those surroundings properly. They require extra care and attention, something Ms. Dyer was evidently unwilling to give.

For more on finding out about autism, what's being done to combat it and what you can do, please go to www.cureautismnow.org.