Today is World Autism Day, the kickoff to Autism Month. What used to be called Autism Awareness Month has officially been changed to Autism Acceptance Month. I’m glad we all realize that everyone is more than aware of autism right now, but I don’t know if I can get on board with “acceptance.”

Autism Acceptance

To be clear, I think it is important to love and accept everyone with autism. I believe that all individuals with autism should be treated with dignity and respect; should have access to education, accommodations, funds, services, employment, and medical care; and be afforded every opportunity to live a meaningful and fulfilling life. BUT…

I do not accept that autism has always been with us. I do not accept that the staggering increase of autism is not a crisis of unimaginable proportions. And I do not accept that autism is just a different way of being and that medical issues, communication challenges, and uncertain futures should be dismissed.

Autism Apathy

Acceptance in and of itself is great. But like so many other words today, it’s a word that is being weaponized. Anyone sounding an alarm about an issue gets accused of not being accepting of the people experiencing the issue, thereby creating an environment that does not allow for the issue to be addressed.  In the case of autism, everyone lights it up blue, to show “awareness” and now  “acceptance.” They post selfies in blue shirts, and then move on. To me, we might as well call it Autism Acquiescence Month or Autism Apathy Month.

In the past, I’ve published guest posts and blogged about various themes (Ask the Experts, This is My Autism, Stories of Hope) in April. But, since COVID, I’ve been feeling a little apathetic myself. Those of us who have been at this for a long time are pretty exhausted. We with the tough-nut kids (who don’t easily respond to interventions that work for a lot of other people) can start to lose hope. And those of us with little supports can easily become overwhelmed. I fall into all 3 of those categories, and I know how easy it is to get into a rut.

Autism Inspiration

But I wasn’t giving up (just hibernating a little). I wasn’t going to accept that the crazy impossible situation we were living in was how it was going to be forever. There is always something new to try. There is always HOPE. 

Luckily, a retreat with an amazing group of autism moms this year gave me just the hope, inspiration, and practical suggestions I needed to keep at this. And if I can I’d like to pay that forward. So this month’s series will focus on ideas that might be new to some people. If you’re in a rut and think you’ve done it all, maybe you’ll find something new to try (or something forgotten to revisit). Nothing works for all of us, but I believe that there is SOMETHING out there can help each of us. And we have to keep researching, learning, and trying. Our kids deserve that.

Autism Action

More than blue lights, more than awareness, and more than acceptance, our kids (and adults!) with autism need ACTION. And they need it yesterday. And I’ll continue to say it until I’m blue in the face.