Autism Speaks defines autism as a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships and is often accompanied by extreme behavioral challenges.

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Symptoms often related with young autistic children can be a lack of eye contact, if the child is more withdrawn, or if the child does not talk or play like other children do.
The Mayo Clinic says other symptoms, such as the child not responding to his or her own name, or the child gets angry because their daily routine was changed, is common in autistic patients.
Autism is a very serious problem today, with one in every 150 children being diagnosed with it. Boys are four times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with autism.
Autism is the fastest growing and second most common development disorder, with over 400,000 are affected by autism in the United States today.
According to Autism Speaks, more kids this year will be diagnosed with autism than AIDS, cancer, and diabetes combined.
One of the problems with fighting autism is that the developmental disorder does not even come close to getting the financial donations that these three other diseases get. AIDS, cancer, and diabetes annually raise hundreds of millions of dollars, with diab
etes being the lowest of the group, yet still bringing in $130 million last year.
According to Autism Speaks, private funding only resulted in raising $15 million for autism research this year.
In 2005, the NIH (National Institutes of Health) was given a $29 billion budget to spend on their different programs. Only $100 million, or 0.3% of that money went towards autism research.

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Dr. Laurence Siegler, a private practitioner in Beverley Hills, thinks that autism is not being given ample funding.
“If someone in Congress were to have a family member diagnosed with autism I think the funding would change drastically,” Siegler said. “It sounds horrible to say, but we are still waiting for someone from a family of great prominence in America to get diagnosed with autism if it is going to get the recognition the disorder deserves.”
Autism Speaks said that children can be diagnosed with autism at as young as 18 months, but the average autistic child is diagnosed at age three.
Belcher said that Autism Speaks’ mission is very simple.
“We want to fund research to figure out what is causing autism and what we can do to find a cure,” Belcher said. “Our science program is dedicated to facilitating global research into the causes, treatments, and eventual cure for autism.”