Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month
April is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month. This month, many of my posts will connect to autism spectrum disorder.
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| The symbol for Autism Acceptance Month from ASAN (Autistic Self Advocacy Network) |
Autism is close to my heart, because someone close to my heart is on the spectrum. My son was diagnosed in 2013, when he was eight. If I had to quantify it, he would be on the higher functioning end of the autism spectrum. What is the spectrum? This is a really great comic by Rebecca Burgess that does an excellent job of explaining how the spectrum works more like a color wheel, rather than a linear scale.
I talked to my son about blogging for April, and asked his permission to talk about him and his experiences with autism. He was fine with it, but if he changes his mind, I will change the subject of my blog for April. It's important for him to know that he has ownership of this, not me.
There is no cure for autism, and that's okay. Autism is really about how the brain is wired; it's who my son is. If he were "cured" he wouldn't be the lovely, quirky, funny kid I love spending time with. Does he face challenges? Absolutely. He needs support for things a neurotypical person wouldn't. It's the same as someone with limited mobility needing a wheelchair.
Neurodiversity is an important idea within the autism acceptance movement. It's a concept that identifies people with an ASD diagnosis (as well as some other conditions, like ADHD and dyslexia) as being neurodiverse, while "normal" (those not on the spectrum) individuals are called neurotypical.
Autism isn't something that needs "cured". That's why acceptance is so important.
How can you observe Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month? There's quite a bit of controversy within the community over whether certain organizations are there to really support the individual with autism. There are organizations and pages run by autistic folks that are really great resources, along with sometimes being really funny and creative:
I hope to post this month about more the specific challenges and joys that we personally face as a family. That's the thing about autism. Each autistic individual is just that, an individual. Their experience is unique to every other autistic person out there. I can only speak to my and my son's experiences.
What do you want to know about autism?
Very few people understand Autism. Even I have limited knowledge. However my sis in laws daughter in a child councellor and is running an institute with special children. She is doing workshop in April in different organisations for spreading awareness of autism. I learnt a lot about it from her.
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