Puzzle Hearts by Lizy B

Hi All! I'm Elizabeth and I blog and bake over at Lizy B! Not only do I get to share some cookies with you here at the Cookie Puzzle for Autism Awareness Month, but I get the incredible honor of posting on Kim's son's actual birthday!!! Happy Birthday Collin!!!

Alright, so I took this honor of helping spread autism awareness pretty seriously. The last thing I wanted to do was share incorrect information or be insensitive. After reading every single post Kim has ever written....I moved on to some other sites: Autism Speaks Great general info as well as fund-raising activities, screening information, resources etc. Autism Society An organization dedicated to 'Improving the Lives of All Affected by Autism' Here's what I found. According to The Autism Society:

• 1 percent of the population of children in the U.S. ages 3-17 have an autism spectrum disorder.
• Prevalence is estimated at 1 in 88 births.
• 1 to 1.5 million Americans live with an autism spectrum disorder.
• Fastest-growing developmental disability; 1,148% growth rate.
• 10 - 17 % annual growth.
• $60 billion annual cost.
• 60% of costs are in adult services.
• Cost of lifelong care can be reduced by 2/3 with early diagnosis and intervention.
• In 10 years, the annual cost will be $200-400 billion.
• 1 percent of the adult population of the United Kingdom have an autism spectrum disorder.
• The cost of autism over the lifespan is 3.2 million dollars per person.
• Only 56% of students with autism finish high school.
• The average per-pupil expenditure for educating a child with autism was estimated by SEEP to be over $18,000 in the 1999-2000 school year. This estimate was nearly three times the expenditure for a typical regular education student who did not receive special education services.
• The unemployment rate for people with disabilities was at 14%, compared with 9% for people without a disability. Additionally, during the same period, only 21% of all adults with disabilities participated in the labor force as compared with 69% of the non-disabled population.

Those are the important facts and statistics,  but that doesn't tell me much about people and families living with autism everyday. What's it like? How do they cope? What would they like to tell everyone in the world? I did what every good blogger does.... hit the blogs! Top 30 Autism Spectrum Blogs of 2013 My favorites: Adventures in Extreme Parenthood Sunday has two sons who have autism (she calls them the trouble brothers),   and tells their stories with a sense of humor. Adventures in Asperger's A Dad so dedicated he makes Skylander's wall art for his kids! Flappiness is... Leigh is the mom of a boy with autism and is also an educator.   She has great practical advice for families. My favorite post-Dear Relative, What Are You Waiting For last, but not leas... Aspie From Maine Kate writes about being 20-something with Asperger's. She's amazingly honest and gives such great insight into her daily life. .....and.... there's one particular post in which she wrote about attending a social gathering  because there was a promise of....(wait for it)....Cookie Decorating!!!! A Hanukah Miracle So these extra special cookies are for the birthday boy, Collin,

who shares this crazy cookie obsession with his mom. I know how much she adores him,  and her heart is full of pride when she see's how far he's come. They are also for Kate,

and all the other bloggers who share their experiences with their  readers, as a way to better explain what it's like to live with Autism. (but totally mostly for Kate because she loves pretty cookies!) Most importantly, they're for Kim,

Collin's mom, baker, friend, teacher, cheerleader and advocate.

Thanks so much Kim, for giving me,  and all your readers an opportunity to learn more about Autism. And thanks for creating this little corner of the  internet to celebrate your cookies and Collin!