I had never even heard of the disease before I saw the movie "Mercury Rising" by Bruce Willis and some kid.
Then I saw Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman's "Rainman", and finally Mario Puzo's miniseries "The Last Don".
All of a sudden it dawned on me.
There really is a severe developmental disease out there called autism, and doctors, scientists, and all other medical professionals for all their knowledge and experience don't know a whole lot about the disease.
I mean, after some reading up on the behavioral and developmental disorder, I found that little is known beyond speculation about what causes autism, or how it can be really cured.
Needless to say, I got afraid for my life and for the life of my unborn child, and I started to do some autism research of my own.
What I found was chilling, but very helpful.
What I found were ways by which you can identify the disease so that if you have someone close to you - a loved one or neighbor suffering from the condition, you can know to get them help from a medical professional early enough.
No, I don't know the cure for autism just yet, nor do I know what the real cause of the Autistic Disorder (AD) is.
But I know what the disease is, I know how you can identify autism by its symptoms, and I know that a lot of autism research is still ongoing to determine the many vital factors that may yet make autism curable.
Of course I have full confidence that in just a matter of time, the half a million plus children that are currently living with the disorder in the United States, and others around the world, will finally get the help that they need to live a normal life.
So, you, and everyone else for that matter, whether they have loved ones suffering from the condition or not, ought to find out as much as they can about this condition.
With this condition, the more you know, the better you can handle it if your loved one suffers from it.
Those who don't know anything about this condition surely get caught unawares when their loved ones suffer from it.