Once upon a time, there was a boy named Jeff. Jeff loved his life. He liked going out into the city and seeing what's new. But what he loved most was taking in the beautiful sky as it turned from day to night.

He also liked going to school where he learned about Genetics. In his Genetics class, he learned about Autism. While the class went on, he kept thinking about his mom who had Autism. So now he wondered, "Do I have Autism?"

What is Autism? Well, Autism is when an extra gene is created in the body and impacts the brains' functioning capacity. It can affect a child's social and communication skills as well as repeating certain behaviors. There's actually more than 1 type of Autism which is caused by Genetic or Environmental influences.

Most diagnosis' of Autism are discovered between 2-3 years old. They can be diagnosed as young as 18 months. In rare cases, some developmental delays associated with Autism can be identified and addressed even earlier.

Some ways to tell if you have Autism is if they repeat movements such as rocking, jumping, and spinning. They also have issues understanding verbal or non verbal cues, making eye contact with people, and unable to interact within a group of people.

Autism is on the rise. More and more kids are getting diagnosed with the disorder. (More common in boys than girls) Just in the past 5 years, there's been a 30% increase in Autism.

Now its your turn to continue the story.

1. If you want to see what life would be like for Jeff with Autism, turn to Page 9.
2. If you want to see what Jeff's Autism free life would be like, turn to Page 12.

Jeff's mom contracted a gene that was positive for Autism and one that didn't have it. Even though she got a normal gene, she still had Autism

That meant there was a 50-50 chance that he would get the gene. After going to the doctors, he was diagnosed with Autism. Luckily, he had mild Autism and not severe.