April

1/4/14

April is autism awareness month. Which is great, let's get the word out and all that. But before I had autism in my life I didn't know much about it, and sadly that is the case with most people. It's the same for most illnesses and diseases.
The invisible illnesses seem to be the ones no one knows about - because they aren't in your face. Everybody knows about down syndrome, because it is obvious when someone has it. People are aware of it, what it means, the usual things that come with it like heart conditions. But with autism no one really knows what it is like until you have to deal with all the time.
Society tells people what is 'normal'. Most people want to be normal and have a normal life. You are 'normal' is you are a certain size, if you behave a certain way, if you live a 'normal' life with 2.5 kids and a dog. But society is wrong. People are 'normal' the way they are. Luke's autism is normal to me because he's always been this way. I've been given the option to medicate him when he is 6, but then he won't be 'normal', or at least his own kind of normal.

I'm getting off track... April is autism awareness month. But people aren't aware of what autism is, how it presents, how it affects people. People's lives, people's relationships.
People see Luke having a meltdown and they either look at you with annoyance or pity. It shouldn't be like that. People should know and understand the signs of autism and recognise that the child in front them, making a scene, isn't a spoilt brat or a badly behaved child, but a child with autism who is overwhelmed either by a social situation or by a sensory overload.
An adult who is 'odd', may be an adult with autism. They may have trouble assessing people's emotions, have trouble in crowded places.
We've all seen the 'crazy bag lady', or the guy that's weird, or the teenager who is constantly by themselves.
I implore everyone who reads this, just for one month, to think things through before you judge a person. Autism doesn't just go away when these children reach a certain age, it is with them throughout their entire life. They're families are constantly affected by autism and the way that people see it, and the person who has it. People aren't always what they seem to be.
Remember what we were all taught as children - "never judge a book by its cover", and my personal favourite "if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything".