A is for Acceptance

A is for Acceptance    

   Year after year we are raising Awareness for Autism, giving money to Autism $peaks, talking, walking and chalking. Yet we are not listening. We are not listening to those who are of the Autism community. We are not hearing their voices. Have we asked them how they feel about Autism? How it effects them daily? If they want to even be cured? Lets face it as parents we just want to see our children happy and healthy. But there is this small part of parents who want their child to be normal. But let me ask you something what is normal? And let me ask you something else. If we get rid of Autism what would the current world look like? We would not have Einstein, DaVinci, Temple Grandin and yes even Steven
Speilberg. There are actually to many people to even name that are on the spectrum. People who would say most likely to you and I that their Autism makes them who they are and why we are not Accepting them for who they are?

   Have we ever thought just maybe we are the weird ones, maybe we are the ones that are not normal? I know as a parent of a child with Autism the struggles. And the struggle is real. Some kids and adults with Autism depending on where they are on the spectrum are severely effected by Autism while others are more high functioning. Each families experience is unique and never the same. And that Spectrum is sooooo large and is why when you meet one Autistic person you have not met them all. And lets forget Rain Man because he was not even Autistic. Bet nobody knew that fact. Go ahead look it up. He had FG syndrome and was a Savant. The story was based off Kim Peek. So lets not base our knowledge of what we thought Autism looked like (Autism does not have a look anyways) based off a movie.

  So as parents of children with Autism or adults with Autism we do know the struggle is real. But what good are we doing by not accepting the situation at hand and embracing everything that was handed to us as parents raising a child on the spectrum and as those on the spectrum. Trust me when I say treating the Autistic community like they have a deadly disease is hurting them more and pushing them further away from family and friends. Isolating them and making them feeling even worse about them selves.

   All I know is when you treat someone like there is something wrong with them, they are only going to feel that way. They are only going to feel unwanted, ashamed and not normal. And that is just not right. Lets stop talking in front of them like they are not there right in front of us and acting like they are the problem and they need to be fixed. They are not going to feel accepted at all. It is time to change the way we look at the Autism Community. And spend the time and money into therapies, early intervention, acceptance, learning who they are. Helping them to learn coping skills to rise above their barriers and be leaders within our communities. Lets learn their triggers, their struggles and accepting the pain they may be enduring to fit in. Lets just accept who they are and rise above the word "Cure" and "Awareness" we are already aware. Its time to accept.

   I think its just been such a normal thing to go Blue for Autism, "Light It Up Blue". Support organizations that we are not fully researching to see how they are spending the money and actually helping out the Autism community as a whole. I know I have been in this circle of awareness for many years. Just going with the flow. Painting my nails blue because I don't know of any other color to help draw attention to Autism. Its either blue or its the puzzle piece.

   That was till I found this blog talking about #AutismAcceptanceDay click the hashtag to go strait to the blog. Like the blog stated it is time to take back April. Red is the new color #WalkinRed Lets make this about Autism Acceptance. I will be taking part of the Blogging A to Z challenge for April for Autism Acceptance. I am hoping to learn a lot as I go about acceptance my self. As it truly is a learning process as a parent as well in this journey. Here is the blog as well if you want to take part in the Blogging A to Z challenge for April for Autism Acceptance. Go to this Blog HERE to learn more.

   If you are going to take part in this blogging adventure let me know so I can go check out your blogs as well. It is actually to late to sign up for the group blog. But I am still going to take part for my own journey to acceptance and I hope you follow along as I do this.