April 2 is Autism Awareness Day and all of April is Autism Awareness Month. Why do I care about this? For me autism is not an issue, it is my family.
Our two oldest children, Logan and Abby, have autism. Their experience with autism has shaped our entire family.
I have found that over the last couple of decades that autism awareness has increased… to a point. People are aware that autism is out there and that a significant portion of the population has it.
But autism awareness is much more than sharing an autism awareness ribbon on social media. If you really want to be autism aware, go and get to know people with autism.
When I think of autism, I feel of such a wide range of emotions that it is hard for me to describe. It is everything from having to call the police because our child went missing to hearing for the first time, “I love you.”
It has been both difficult and extremely rewarding to be parents of two children with autism. They have made us proud and have given us quite a few grey hairs.
I hope that you get to meet our children one day. Or other people with autism. Be patient with them. Listen and observe. Give them a chance to show you who they are.
Then you will have experienced autism awareness.
