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Tuesday 10 April 2012

Autism Awareness Giveaway Hop


As some of you may be aware, I'm still kind of on hiatus from the blog at the moment but I signed up for the Autism Awareness Giveaway Hop way back and I didn't want to miss participating for the second year. Last year the hop was brilliant, with loads of blogs promoting autism awareness and giving away related gifts. Autism awareness has always been really important to me, as both myself and my mother have worked fairly extensively with autistic children in the past, and I have seen how totally intolerant people can be towards something they just don't understand. Also what with being pregnant this year it's become even more important to me to spread awareness, as I've been thinking about the future and the kind of world that I want my child to grow up in. 


In the interest of spreading awareness, here is a brief explanation of what autism is: 
Autism or Autistic Spectrum Disorders are brain development disorders, generally characterised by difficulties with social interaction to a greater or lesser degree. People on the autistic spectrum may be completely non-verbal, unlikely to make eye contact, prone to repetitive behaviour and noises, and keen to avoid physical contact. However, the spectrum is so wide that it can also be difficult to tell if a person has an austistic spectrum disorder. Autism is not uncommon - in the US it affects 1 in 88 children and is generally thought to be more common in boys. Research on the causes of autism is ongoing, and currently there are thought to be many causes, some of which may be linked to the mutation of genes. There is NO EVIDENCE that the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is linked in any way to autism. I stress this purely because it is one of the things I hear people say often that is a commonly accepted myth. However, autistic spectrum disorders usually become apparent at around the age of 2 or 3 years old. Here are the important symptoms to look out for in a child:
  • Lack of or delay in spoken language
  • Repetitive use of language and/or motor mannerisms (e.g., hand-flapping, twirling objects)
  • Little or no eye contact
  • Lack of interest in peer relationships
  • Lack of spontaneous or make-believe play
  • Persistent fixation on parts of objects
For more information about autism, go to http://www.autism-society.org, http://www.autismspeaks.org/index.php, or just google it! And spread the word, autistic spectrum disorders are not something to be afraid of!!

The Autism Awareness Giveaway Hop is hosted by; Lindsay @ Just Another Book Addict,
Heather @ Fire and Ice Photo, Pixie @ Page Turners, and Kathy @ I Am A Reader, Not A Writer, and I'm really excited to be a part of it.

Last year I gave away a copy of Jodi Picoult's House Rules, and I want to stick with the giving away a book that I loved theme, so this year's prize is a choice between The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon, and the amazing To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, purely because I recently re-read it, think everyone should read it, and because I read on Autism Resources that Boo Radley has autistic characteristics, which I never even thought about before but which completely makes sense.

The giveaway is open internationally, as long as The Book Depository ships to you. To win, just leave a comment with your email and which book you'd like to win and I will pick a winner via random.org on Tuesday 17th April! When you've entered my giveaway, hop on over to the next participant! You can find the list here, because for some reason I can't make it work!


45 comments:

  1. +JMJ+

    I'd choose The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Thank you so much for the giveaway!

    altaemoeniaRomae [at] Gmail [dot] com

    PS -- I never thought about Boo having autistic characteristics before, but I agree that it makes sense. Time to approach To Kill a Mockingbird with a new perspective!

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  2. I would choose The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Thanks for the chance to win!
    natasha_donohoo_8 at hotmail dot com

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  3. I'd like to choose The Curious Incident of the Dog in the night time. Thank you for sharing.

    mystica123athotmaildotcom

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  4. i would choose The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time..thanks for the giveaway :)
    rics_1203@yahoo.com

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  5. I'd love to kill a mockingbird!

    aliasgirl at libero dot it

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  6. I'd love to kill a mockingbird!

    aliasgirl at libero dot it

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  7. Thank you for this giveaway! I would like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    saralogan1990@yahoo.com

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  8. Thanks for the giveaway! I'd love to read To Kill A Mockingbird.
    k_anon[at]hotmail[dot]co[dot]uk

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  9. Thanks for the giveaway! I'd choose The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. :)

    pocketofbooks@gmail.com

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  10. I'd love to win The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon.

    Thanks for the giveaway.

    ellen_r_hudson(at)yahoo(dot)ca

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  11. Thanks for the giveaway. I'd love to win The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time .

    schmerfette@cox.net

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  12. I'd love to win To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, thanks very much.
    Email: just.andreeam@yahoo.com
    xoxo

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  13. Thank you for letting me know more about autsm :)

    I'd love to read To Kill a Mockingbird.

    fetachan@gmail.com
    Disincentive @ (read, watch, listen) - reviews

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  14. I want to thank you for participating in this blog hop! I worked for several years as a speech therapist with nonverbal, autistic preschoolers. They were very challenging but were also very rewarding! I would love to win "The Curious Incident . . ." It's a book that's been on my "to read" list for a long time. It would be great to win it!

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  15. I'd love to read To Kill A Mockingbird!
    Danasquare3@aol.com

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  16. I would love to read to kill a mockingbird.
    twoofakind12@yahoo.com

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  17. I would like to win The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

    familyreads at ymail dot com

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  18. Thanks for the giveaway !!!
    I'd love to win The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.

    dl(dot)love(dot)freedom(at)gmail(dot)com

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  19. I'd like to win To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

    spamscape [at] gmail [dot] com

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  20. I'd love to win To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

    aikychien at yahoo dot com

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  21. Thanks so much for the chance. Id love To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
    natcleary at gmail dot com

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  22. Thank you so much for the giveaway! I would love to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.
    Thanks!
    Lmackesy at gmail.com

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  23. Thank you for this lovely giveaway:) I would love to win a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird.


    Sarah

    sarah.setar@gmail.com

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  24. I'd love the hunger games!
    Hollybwright atcomcast. Net

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  25. I'd choose To Kill A Mockingbird. Thanks for hosting this fantastic giveaway.

    justanotherteenagebookworm@gmail.com

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  26. I'd choose The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.
    This is actually the book that inspired me to become a special education teacher! So, I'd love to own the book that made me realize what I wanted to do.

    Thanks!

    dontkillkitten8(at)netscape(dot)net

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  27. Great choices! I'd love to win a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird. Thanks!
    beth.diiorio@yahoo.com

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  28. I'd like to win To Kill a Mockingbird! I have never read it before :)

    lostandfound1220@gmail.com
    Rachael Henzman

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  29. I'd like to read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :) Thanks !
    treechanie(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  30. Thanks so much for the giveaway! I'love to win To Kill a Mockingbird, I read it a couple of years ago and I really liked it

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  31. Thank you so much for this. I'd like the chance to win The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

    ireneejensenAThotmailDOTcom

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  32. I'd love To Kill a Mockingbird, thanks!

    kpuleski at gmail dot com

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  33. Great hop!
    I would pick To Kill a Mockingbird. Thanks a lot for the giveaway :)
    by.evie at yahoo dot com dot br

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  34. I'd like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon.

    Thanks for helping to spread the word!

    Katieamanda1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  35. I'd love The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.
    nicolesender(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  36. Thank you for participating in the blog hop! I would love to win The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, since I already have a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird.

    Lilian @ A Novel Toybox
    lilianxchengATgmailDOTcom

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  37. Would love to win To Kill a Mockingbird. I read this years ago at school and I'd love to reread for enjoyment not homework!! Thanks for running the giveaway.

    tribb99(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk

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  38. Thanks for the giveaway! The book I would choose is: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

    megnate at telus dot net

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  39. Thanks for the amazing giveaway! I'd love to win The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon please :)

    iliveforreading AT hotmail DOT com

    Rabiah
    Confessions of a Readaholic

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  40. I'd love to win "To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee".

    Thanks for the international giveaway!!

    sweety225(at)rocketmail(dot)com

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  41. coreybrennan26@hotmail.com
    to kill a mockinhbird - never read it

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  42. I would choose The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

    the imagine tree at aol dot com

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  43. Thanks for the giveaway!

    I'd love to win: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

    darlenesbooknook at gmail dot com

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  44. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
    Thanks!
    Diane H

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  45. I'd choose The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon. abrennan09@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete