This month is autism awareness month… Autism to me is really just seeing the world in a different way. Of course autism is a whole spectrum, meaning that there are people who function at all parts of the spectrum.
Parents of kids on the autism spectrum know what it’s like to go out and face people looking at them oddly as their child makes statements that are blunt, reacts differently to events, and may not respond when people try to talk to them. I know personally my parent tells me that I let too many people know about my child’s diagnosis – but by making people aware, it not only raises awareness for autism, it also answers their stare and their looks before they have the chance to make a comment. The comments aren’t generally directed at the ASD parent… They are directed at everyone else. I’ve seen cousins post memes about – when I was a child that that sort of child was called a brat… awareness may not curtail the thoughts, but it does help answer the questions.
I would rather make people aware that my child views the world differently and reacts in his own unique way than have the discussion happen in their own way without the facts. Several years ago I was included (not on purpose of course) in a text conversation, of a ‘friend’ telling another person all about my son and why the other person shouldn’t push my son to do things. There was a lot more to the conversation and what the ‘friend’ thought was wrong with my son. I was sitting in a mom’s club meeting at the time that I started getting the group text. The person texting didn’t realize it was a group text! And on and on it went. Needless to say that was the beginning of the end of our friendship.
To help with awareness, I sometimes like to wear or carry autism awareness items… So recently I made a really cool bag. My son loves Mario and Pokemon, so those are included in the faces! I love my new bag and had to share.
