April 2 marks the observance of the first World Autism Awareness Day, which is sponsored by the United Nations.
News 13's Christine Webb has the story of one family who is hoping to raise awareness of autism.
Experts estimate that three to six children out of every 1,000 will have autism -- boys are more likely to have the condition than girls.
The Milstein Family never thought it would happen to them when they had triplets.
In their baby pictures, Sam, Joey and Lauren were all smiling. But at 18 months, Sam stopped making eye contact and stopped making sounds.
His mother, Shelly, knew something was wrong.
"He started kind of slipping away from us," Shelly Milstein said. "I kept asking, you know, 'Why is Sam like this?' and they kept saying, you know, 'He's a boy. He is a triplet. He is delayed.'"
At age 2, Sam was diagnosed with autism.
Joey was diagnosed when he was 3 years old.
"I remember, as a parent, feeling like, 'Wow, it's hard to believe that the boys are on the spectrum. Why them? What happened? Was there anything else that we could have done that had an impact or made a difference?' And you almost, at least I felt at the time, that, 'OK, this is something that I didn't feel really comfortable talking about,' even with people I was close to," said Jed Milstein.
When the shock wore off, the Milsteins, both lawyers, set out to find help for their boys.
The first challenge was school. With the help of one-on-one teaching, the kids are getting the help they need. But it is expensive -- an average of $75,000 per child, per year. The academy gets two-thirds of its money from the public school district. The rest has to be raised by the parents.
The third Milstein triplet, Lauren, is not autistic. She studies at a public elementary school.
Shelley said parents should trust their instincts and be persistent with their doctor if they suspect something is wrong.
To learn more about autism, visit the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, or the Autism Research Institute.
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