Awareness, acceptance, and action. One doesn't mean a damn thing without the others.

               Autism awareness, acceptance, and action are three things that come up a lot and can spark some debate. This debate is always odd to me because some people feel very strongly about one or the other when we should all feel very strongly about all three.

                Autism awareness is strong and has become even stronger since I began writing this blog back in July of 2012. Everyone has heard the word autism in one way or another and we always run into people who know someone affected or is affected themselves. Its autism awareness month and the blue lights are all over the world. Seems awareness is all over the place and can’t be ignored right? No, not right because if my child is on the ground at the grocery store screaming, which doesn’t always happen but it happens, the people walking by are first looking at him and then they shift a dirty look to me. One woman last week said to me as she walked by, “aren’t you going to pick him up?” because I was standing next to him waiting for him to calm a bit before I touched him. I ignored her and didn’t respond by saying he is autistic because I don’t want my son to hear me explain to every person walking by this is the contributing factor. I was there for milk and it was a much bigger event than I anticipated, her comment was not welcome. I could have used the opportunity to make her autism aware but at same time my child was in crisis and getting him through was my goal. If I was that woman I would have been aware autism could have been a factor simply because I am involved in awareness. I also know because autism is so prevalent that woman may not get through life without being affected or becoming aware at some point.

                Autism acceptance is necessary because it is so prevalent. There is no way to become non autistic and you can’t parent a child out of it, you can’t medically treat a child out of it, and you can’t ignore the fact things need to be handled differently. Parenting is different with autism and medical care is different in regard to how a doctor chooses to approach a child with autism. Education has to be approached completely different and if all these differences are accepted the life of someone with autism drastically better. Before you can truly make a difference you have to accept everything is going to be different and being different is ok. A person might even have to erase everything they thought they knew about raising a child and start from scratch learning from autism as you go. It is an entirely different process and accepting that helps the process move along. If the women in the grocery store were autism aware she would have accepted the fact I was actually doing exactly what my child needed me to do because I can’t force him to not be autistic. If she would have stuck around 30 more seconds she would have seen him get up and keep moving.

                Action is a big one and every person wants to see this happen no matter what. Resources are not at best and for some almost impossible to find close to home. Again medical providers don’t always seem to understand along with being lost in regard to some physical issues. No one knows for sure what the direct cause is or how many causes there are. Lack of awareness and lack of acceptance is creating some very unpleasant situations for kids with autism and often the action towards autism is heartbreaking. Insurance companies are denying care to some families because of all of the unknowns. There is one thing now that is always mentioned in cause articles and that is the word environmental. Nearly every article I come across has that word tossed in no matter what the main topic is; even genetic inheritance seems to now hint at environment trigger. So yes, if that is the case and lately it seems to truly be, action is extremely important. Medical action, research action, action towards care and the future of people affected. We need schools, health care, and society in general to be aware, accept, and act accordingly.

                Yet every time I get online I see comments like this “we don’t need awareness, we need acceptance!”  Or “We don’t need acceptance, we need action!” What autism really needs is all three because they go hand in hand and make a world of difference. Get aware, be accepting, and demand action because one doesn’t mean a damn thing without the others to follow.