Ghost Voices is a concept album about living with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). You can download the songs by clicking HERE.
It’s not about trying to find a cure. It’s about accepting people with ASD as they are.
1 in 110 children are diagnosed with Autism. An estimated 1.5 million people in the U.S. and millions of individuals worldwide are affected by autism. Currently it is estimated that in the United States one out of every 70 boys is diagnosed with autism. Government statistics suggest the rate of autism is increasing 10% to 17% annually.
In Missouri (as of the 2006 CDC surveillance data from the St. Louis area), the numbers are even more staggering:
1 in 52 boys
1 in 213 girls
My son has PDS and has been diagnosed as having ASD. He is not considered classically autistic or having Aspergers, but rather falls under the classification Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). He is also the coolest kid in the world.
Muggy rocks
You didn’t lose a child to autism. You lost a child because the child you waited for never came into existence. That isn’t the fault of the autistic child who does exist, and it shouldn’t be our burden. We need and deserve families who can see us and value us for ourselves, not families whose vision of us is obscured by the ghosts of children who never lived. Grieve if you must, for your own lost dreams. But don’t mourn for us. We are alive. We are real. And we’re here waiting for you.
- Don’t Mourn For Us (Jim Sinclair)
