I have been involved with many people since I've begun blogging about the game of baseball.  Two of these people need to be singled out for their dedication to baseball writing, but also because they are tremendous people that I am now fortunate enough to call friends.  They are Joe Hamrahi and Maury Brown.

That said, baseball takes second place to more important subjects when it comes to our personal lives and Maury Brown has come forward with a difficult subject to talk about that I felt needed a post of its own, however small it may be.  I'll let him explain:

Over the past year, our youngest son has not been developing at the rate that most children do. At first, we chalked this up to him just not accelerating at the rate of our first son, who was ahead of the curve. Now, coming up on the age of three, we saw that he was not communicating, even on rudimentary levels such as pointing when he wanted something. Only when prompted would he respond verbally to a very small list of known words. Things that we initially thought were cute were really signs of something else. There was the jumping up and down when he was excited, spinning in circles, and the one we thought was the funniest… never calling me "Daddy", but rather, "Mamma. "

Given these signs, we met with his pediatrician and from there, other specialists. The diagnosis was that our son is autistic.

As my wife and family come to grips to this news, we now find ourselves in a life altering experience. The good news is that with early detection, one-on-one and what is called "mainstream" therapy, we can hope that our son will eventually be a productive part of society. What was alarming to me was the incredible trend of more and more being afflicted with this disability. There was a point where the word "autism" would elicit confused stares. Now, nearly everyone in America has a family member or friend touched by this disorder.

Based upon this, I am challenging all that have a platform to do so, to link to this news below, or pass it along. Call it the sports autism challenge, whatever. The hope is that by getting this news to as many as possible in the hope that others can be educated to this disability.

The following information comes by way of the Autism Society of America:

    * 1 out of 150 children in U.S.
    * 1 out of 90 boys
    * Affects four times as many boys as girls
    * Lifetime cost of caring for a child with autism: $3.5 to $5 million
    * Current annual cost to U.S.: $35 billion
    * Estimated annual cost by 2010: $90 billion
    * 1.5 million Americans affected

Researching has found information that will be valuable to my wife and I, and some indications that we now see as classic traits of autism spectrum disorder that are within our son's behavior. Passing some of these behavioral traits along may help you, or someone you know, get their child to their pediatrician for an evaluation. Early detection is critical as the earlier a child is enrolled in therapy, the better the odds are that when they grow older they will be able to function in society.

Here are some signs to look for in the children in your life:

    * Lack of or delay in spoken language
    * Repetitive use of language and/or motor mannerisms (e.g., hand-flapping, twirling objects)
    * Little or no eye contact
    * Lack of interest in peer relationships
    * Lack of spontaneous or make-believe play
    * Persistent fixation on parts of objects
    * Reaching a development milestone only to see regressively disappear
    * Odd dietary behaviors, such as eating only starches
    * No fear of danger

Maury mentions that if people have a platform, we should consider making people aware of that and spread the word. 

There you go, Maury. 

Visit his personal blog for more info on the topic and where to donate money to support the research