April - Autism month

To be accepted you have to be understood,

To be understood, you have to gain knowledge,

To gain knowledge you have to promote awareness.

So here we are, at - "awareness" - it's not a negative thing, it's about educating others.

The opinions and controversy over the promotion of Autism day/month may vary from person to person whoever you discuss it with.

Comments from positive encouragement, sharing awareness and understanding of this ever growing diagnosis, to complete disgust from others wanting nothing to do with the "day" or "month" with what they believe are negative promotions and what that represents.

As hard as it may be for those living with it every day, not wanting the negative stigma they feel may surround some events etc, and I'm not ignoring the fact, like anything, there are those that take advantage of a cause or situation to profit personally from it in some way,

although we still need to help others understand what Autism really means, and how we can all comprehend the full picture.

As a parent/carer of an Autistic grandchild I needed to know what was happening, I needed the diagnosis to help me understand.

I had no knowledge at all to what Autism or Aspergers was, I had never heard those terms before.

To me it was about putting things into perspective, and starting the pathway to seek the right assistance.

To me I saw those puzzle pieces as my stepping stones, something contributing to us gaining the right supports and transitions to help A.J. gain acceptance, inclusion, independence, and therefore closing the gap on segregation.

Autism isn't a negative thing, it's just about being different,

unfortunately many are hesitant and wary of what they don't know or understand.

I don't believe in the nonsense of changing, that is not what this is about, they are not broken, needing to be cured.

Sometimes I believe they are more 'normal' than many 'neurotypicals'.

History has shown, how Autistics have become very famous, with their specific quirks they have gone on to become, musicians, artists, mathematicians, scientists, and so much more.

I envy their focus and concentration on the little things, the specifics, miniscule details, the exact thing that has allowed them to become the best they can be.

Understanding, encouragement, acceptance, and inclusion, allows this to occur.

It isn't the autistic diagnosis that they struggle with, it's the sensory issues and other diagnosis such as anxiety, battling with the effects of living in today's society, with the sudden noises, toxic smells, and other sensory issues brought on by our chemically enhanced environment.

Autistic kids become Autistic adults, that can and will go on to live reasonably normal lives, more normal that some we may encounter or experience in our society.

So when you think of awareness, think of understanding another person that just happens to be different than you. Plain and simple, nothing else.