It’s mid-September and October is fast upon us. October is a crazy month, it is Car Care Council month, Halloween (my brother’s most favorite holiday), the arrival of the Great Pumpkin and the month that I choose to raise money for the eradication of Autism.
Here are some straight facts about Autism, in 2018 the CDC stated that 1 child born out of 59 will have a form of Autism, which I will now use the abbreviation as ASD. The odds of a male child being affected with ASD is 1 in 37 while a female child is 1 in 151. Diagnosis of an Autistic child usually happens by age 4, but with proper education expertise it can be diagnosed before the age of two. 31% of children affected with ASD will have intellectual disabilities, an IQ of less than 70. 25% will have a borderline IQ between 71 and 85. Finally 44% will have an IQ of 86 or higher, yes that is Rainman. Early intervention affords the best opportunity to support healthy development.
ASD affects all races, and there is no part of the world’s population that is safe from it.
Researchers have stated that the cause of ASD can be genetics as many genes seem to be associated with the syndrome. Environmental factors, viral infections, medications, pollutants, complications during pregnancies and pregnancies occurring late in life have all been identified as causes of ASD. Autism Speaks insists that vaccinations are not a cause of ASD. Identical twins will have a 36-95% chance of both being autistic, fraternal twins have only a 31% of being autistic.
Associated issues that are common with children that have ASD are ADHD 30-61%, 50% will have chronic sleep disorders. 11-40% will have anxiety issues, 7% of children and 26% of adults will suffer from depression and 33% will have some sort of seizure disorder.
The cost of care for a child with ASD from the age of 3 to 7 when they enter school is $60,000.00 a year. From age 7 to 17 the cost drops to 52,000.00 a year. The lifetime cost with ASD without intellectual disorders is about 1.4 million dollars. A child that has intellectual disorders will breach 2.4 million dollars.
These numbers are why every October for the last 10 years we at Gregg’s Automotive have run our free brakes program.
FREE BRAKES; go ahead, look for the loophole, there’s none, Nobody gives anything away, that’s what they say.
Well frankly we are not anyone and we do.
Here is how it works; because of our relationship with Suncoast Auto Parts, our NAPA distributor, they supply us with one set of free premium pads or shoes per vehicle which gets passed down to you. All of regularly competitively priced brake services and parts remain the same. That’s a savings of $75.00 and higher on every brake job, plus you get a great tee shirt to wear. At the end of the month we tally up all the brake work that we performed during the month and write a check to Harbour Heights Charities, our local Autistic charity, for 10% of that number.
Our goal this year is to write that check in excess of $2000.00
Help us support this Charity, help us educate and rehabilitate so that the many children that live in Charlotte County can benefit. Every penny that we raise stays right here in this county.
Tell your family, friends and relatives about this program, tell them that by taking advantage of this program not only are they saving money, but are directly responsible for helping a child and their family get through life.
LACK OF COMMON SENSE WILL COST YOU DOLLARS AND CENTS
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236 South Tamiami Trail, Punta Gorda, FL 33950