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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Autism spectrum disorders can affect all
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| 3 | individuals regardless of racial, ethnic, economic, or social
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| 4 | group; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Autism spectrum disorders are more common than
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| 6 | pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, The cause of autism spectrum disorders is still
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| 8 | unknown, but research strongly suggests that it is caused by
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| 9 | certain factors that affect brain development; and | ||||||
| 10 | WHEREAS, Autism spectrum disorders have increased tenfold
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| 11 | in the last decade and now occur in some form in one in 42 boys
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| 12 | in the United States; and | ||||||
| 13 | WHEREAS, Autism, which is five times more common among boys
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| 14 | than girls, usually appears during the first three years of
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| 15 | life; and | ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, Early diagnosis, research, training, education,
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| 17 | and therapies are vital to reducing the effects of autism; and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, Current research suspects that there is not a
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| 19 | single cause that will ultimately be discovered, but rather a
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| 1 | cluster of factors which include genetics, pregnancy/birth
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| 2 | complications, viral infections, metabolic disorders, | ||||||
| 3 | congenital
anomaly syndrome (birth defects), and environmental | ||||||
| 4 | toxins; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, In 2003, The Hope Institute for Children and | ||||||
| 6 | Families worked with the General Assembly to
create The Autism | ||||||
| 7 | Program of Illinois; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, The Autism Program of Illinois has grown to
become | ||||||
| 9 | the nation's largest statewide network that not only
helps | ||||||
| 10 | families affected by autism, but also trains educators, and | ||||||
| 11 | links healthcare providers and others to understand,
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| 12 | communicate with and support children diagnosed with an autism
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| 13 | spectrum disorder; therefore, be it
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| 14 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 15 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
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| 16 | declare April of 2017 as Autism Awareness Month in the State
of | ||||||
| 17 | Illinois for the purpose of urging both government entities
and | ||||||
| 18 | the citizenry to become aware and educated on the subject of
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| 19 | autism spectrum disorders; and be it further
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| 20 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 21 | presented to the Autism Program of Illinois.
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