
Happy Halloween! October 31st … the scariest day of the year. October 31st is also the last day of Autism Awareness Month. While the witches and goblins don’t scare me much there are other thoughts today that leave me shaking in my shoes. I am scared that this month of awareness is over and that perhaps the wrong messages have been learned.

Messages like:
People with autism must be getting lots of services and support because everyone is talking about autism. (Information is great but it is only the first step.)
Individuals with autism must like puzzles, a lot, it is on all their stuff. (Ok yes, my child with autism does but not all do and it is hardly newsworthy enough to put a ribbon on my car about it. There is a bigger message here)
If I “light it up blue” I have done my part to support a family with autism. (Yes it is a nice gesture and we appreciate it but true support comes from being there, lending an ear and a hand and maybe even a child for a play date.)
People with autism must be getting lots of services and support because everyone is talking about autism. (Information is great but it is only the first step.)
Individuals with autism must like puzzles, a lot, it is on all their stuff. (Ok yes, my child with autism does but not all do and it is hardly newsworthy enough to put a ribbon on my car about it. There is a bigger message here)
If I “light it up blue” I have done my part to support a family with autism. (Yes it is a nice gesture and we appreciate it but true support comes from being there, lending an ear and a hand and maybe even a child for a play date.)
What I wish is that Autism Awareness Month could become something more. Perhaps Autism “Yes I Really Get It Now” Month.
What I wish could be learned this month is:
Individuals with autism are people. Not super heroes, or gifts from God given only to special parents who can handle them, or drains on society, or second class citizens, or Einsteins. They are people. I think often they are brave people, but then adversity will do that to a person.
Individuals with autism are people. Not super heroes, or gifts from God given only to special parents who can handle them, or drains on society, or second class citizens, or Einsteins. They are people. I think often they are brave people, but then adversity will do that to a person.

People with ASD do not need to be tolerated. Perhaps some of their behavior does, so does mine, so does yours. They do need to be understood and accepted. Understanding breeds compassion. When a person is struggling understanding and compassion go a long way. Individuals with ASD are no stranger to struggles, neither are parents of individuals with ASD. Nothing feels better than an encounter with someone who just “gets it”.
My hope is that today, October 31st, end of Autism Awareness month individuals with ASD and families of individuals with ASD will encounter more people who “get it” than they might have at the beginning of this month. That is a successful awareness month.
What does autism awareness month mean to you? Tell me about it.