Autism mom disclaimer...I would like to start off by saying I am NOT anti-autism awareness or against any sort of fundraising or awareness seeking efforts. We have a dedicated month and/or day for just about everything these days and autism is no different. I like the idea of raising awareness for autism and any other disability or cause out there. I also respect other opinions on how they feel about this day and what they chose to support.
Good: As we all know, April is Autism Awareness Month and that April 2nd is considered World Autism Awareness Day. I love this time of year! For one, it is finally spring in Minnesota so bring on the Vitamin D and happiness! Also, I love that autism is not a low incidence disability and we "have the floor" to spread awareness and bring attention to a well deserving cause. It brings about all kinds of conversations regarding autism, including- research, education, therapy, funding, legislative action, family support, and insurance. These are all not only good conversations to have, they are FABULOUS! In many ways it can bring communities together. Last year, I made a ridiculous amount of pulled pork with homeade barbeque sauce for my husband's office and people paid a per plate fee as well as other donations and we gave that to a local organization that funds the schooling and therapy my children receive. It felt AMAZING to do that and it was fun for my husband to have his work crew come and celebrate the awareness he was trying to spread. We have done a walk or two this time of year and that has been fun too. I prefer the autism 5K in May though as it is much warmer :) Spread the autism love and awareness in April! We live the life 24/7, but I will take a month of recognition and awareness. That works.
Bad: The unfortunate part of all this celebration and reaching out to spread awareness is that is shows what a segregated community we actually are. There is always a little dissension in any group and there is room for all opinions and value systems. My issue with all of this is due to the fact that within the autism community there is almost too much discord and it is not helping our cause at all. I spent much of my adult life working with children and families with special needs and have been immersed in disabilities most of my life. I can honestly say the autism community ranks high on the list of "most infighting among a disability community." There are a few others that are right up, for example, the deaf hard of hearing community has some separation between those who want to hear via cochlear implant and those who want to remain as they are and stay strong.
It isn't a right or wrong thing, it is more a passion about what you believe in thing. This is the part that goes bad. When your passion about what you believe leads you to a place where you no longer respect or appreciate what others are doing it has, in my opinion, went wrong. I think one of the reasons for all of this friction is because of the numbers- 1 in 68, that really makes our community large, which in turn opens the door to more opinions and emotions. I get that, but what I don't get is the animosity. This brings me to the ugly.
Ugly: This is my least favorite part of the awareness campaign. Hot button topics include- vaccinations, Autism Speaks, Jenny McCarthy, ABA, medications, and the hits just keep coming. I don't care if you vaccinated your child or not. I did and would do it again. I did my research and my husband and I made the choice we felt was right. I don't hate Autism Speaks, but I wish people would educate themselves more before they prolifically cry out for everyone to Light it up Blue! The campaign for World Autism Awareness Day and Light it up Blue is created by Autism Speaks, which is not a bad thing, but the autism symbol isn't just blue. The puzzle piece associate with Autism Speaks is blue, but that is the only blue thing going on with autism awareness. There is nothing wrong with this at all- just my daily soapbox on educating yourself on the causes you support. Autism Speaks has their flaws as does any large scale non profit organization. They do great things as well. I will put out my blue light. I love to raise awareness. If nothing else, it brings up the topic with my neighbors, which is great. As for World Autism Awareness day, well our family LOVES to celebrate so we find any excuse to do so. This is just another day to get some yummy food and hang out as a family. We figure, why not? It shows our 10 year old, who is NOT on the spectrum, that sometimes autism gives us a reason to have fun. These are the Pants family reasons to celebrate- very individualized. :) We typically chose to support our local autism resources that we have sought out to help us with what we need. I want to give back to those organizations that have helped us so much! That is just our choice though- again, very individualized!
So in summary, light it up blue, color the world, whatever you chose to do to bring awareness for autism in the month of April. If I may be so bold, could we all use this as an opportunity to quit the hate mongering of those that chose a different path. This is a spectrum disorder so
expect and tolerate a spectrum of ideas and opinions. Be grateful we have a community with so many wonderful families with stories of success, tragedy, drama and comedy to share. We are all on the same team, can't we all just get along? The road of a family dealing with autism is stressful enough, so I will close with some of my favorite words of the Beatles-
Oh
Come together
Yeah come together
Yeah come together
Yeah come together
Yeah come together
Yeah come together
Yeah come together
Yeah oh
Come together
Yeah come together
Okay, I am done now. I hope I didn't offend. I just want this to be a reminder that we can all be on the same team. Let's take the month of April to forget about our opinions on vaccinations, therapies, theories, etc. Let's just raise our glass and cheers to the wonderful world of parenting children with autism and do the best we can for the community where we belong!
GO AUTISM AWARENESS!
Thank you and good night!
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