April is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month

April is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month, although having an autistic child in our home means that everyday is autism awareness and acceptance day to us. As a person with an autistic child and as one who didn't realize a quarter of what I wish I knew before his diagnosis, I am thrilled with the idea of more knowledge being out about Autism. Although info is being spread about Autism, the most important thing to be spread is acceptance of autistic people. I have personally witnessed my son being bullied, yelled at or talked to in ways that breaks my heart and people struggle to explain why or how he is different from other people. Knowledge is power and so the spread of knowledge about Autism is a good thing in my opinion as long as it is truthful and accurate information. So in the spirit of spreading awareness and acceptance below is some information about Autism.

Trying to define Autism is difficult because there is such a wide variety of symptoms and every person with Autism is unique. However I will do my best. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental disorder that is brain based which is often characterized by social-communication challenges and restricted repetitive behaviors, activities or interests (http://autismsciencefoundation.org/what-is-autism/). It is important to know that Autism can affect any gender, race or socio-economic group.

The cause of Autism is still unknown although most studies have pointed to a genetic cause. Vaccines do NOT cause Autism. The idea that vaccines cause Autism has been disproven several times throughout multiple studies (http://autismsciencefoundation.org/what-is-autism/autism-and-vaccines/ you can read several of these studies here).

There is NO cure for Autism. An Autistic person will be Autistic for the rest of their lives. They can still have fulfilling lives with jobs, independence and relationships. Things maybe more difficult for them but it does not stop them from having wonderful lives.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to learn something new. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Thank you for having an open mind.

There is a lot of information out there, please take the time to read, learn and embrace any questions/information you may want to learn about. If there is something you want to know from me please feel free to ask.

Until next time, I am going to continue on this journey of an everyday mom...