April is celebrated/observed as World Autism Awareness month. Not sure if its a celebration for families who are on the spectrum or a rude reminder that they belong to a different world all together.
Have been reading a lot of blogs and articles this month. Blogs on information, awareness, remedies, stories of life affected by autism. I am literally eating and sleeping autism this month! A few have left a deep impression on me -
First one was a mother's address to people outside autism to "take a step towards understanding those in the spectrum and the ones around them."
https://raisinganonconformist.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/on-world-autism-day-i-write-about-you-not-him/
Her each and every word resonates in the heart of every parent who has a child in the spectrum.
Then another mother's plea who's three daughters are autistic and she 'despises' autism awareness month. "For all three, I have to cut their food, tend to their monthly feminine needs, and bathe them. They will need that daily living assistance forever; when I die, a stranger will have to do those things for them. That is why I bristle at the festive tone of April, the suggestion that the circumstances of my daughters’ existences are to be celebrated. For me, this should be a month of solemn acknowledgement and education about a global crisis." - these lines sent shivers down my spine.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/02/my-three-daughters-are-autistic-i-despise-autism-awareness-month/?tid=trending_strip_1
And finally, a piece by an autistic adult Judy Endow, who talks about why Autistic Adults don't look like Autistic Children. http://www.judyendow.com/autistic-behavior/autistic-adults-do-not-look-like-autistic-children/
Then the other day on metro, did I see an Autistic adult?
I might be wrong, but Judy Endow's lines from the blog were repeated right in front of me! Others around us might have just thought of her as a little weird but I knew that there's something more to it. The unguarded burping, the loud crackling of water bottle and then squeezing it to drink the last drop of water, the constant mumbling and looking lost in her own world can't go unnoticed for a women aged around 40. She might have learnt to control her body better but her sensory needs were clearly driving her behaviour.
It was an overwhelming month of Autism Awareness even for a family dealing with life in the spectrum 24/7. But here's the difference, some people read about Autism, some try and understand, some promise to help but those of us who live autism, can hardly afford to waste time. You are always racing against time to achieve some target or the other with your child.
April also happens to be the month when new academic session starts. Doting parents putting pictures of their kids wearing school uniform and sharing experiences of first day at school was splashed all over fb. Siiiigggghhhhh....happy for my friends but more heart break for me. I also have a child aged just right to go to school, but we will have to time it a little differently.
An update on that front coming soon.
Have been reading a lot of blogs and articles this month. Blogs on information, awareness, remedies, stories of life affected by autism. I am literally eating and sleeping autism this month! A few have left a deep impression on me -
First one was a mother's address to people outside autism to "take a step towards understanding those in the spectrum and the ones around them."
https://raisinganonconformist.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/on-world-autism-day-i-write-about-you-not-him/
Her each and every word resonates in the heart of every parent who has a child in the spectrum.
Then another mother's plea who's three daughters are autistic and she 'despises' autism awareness month. "For all three, I have to cut their food, tend to their monthly feminine needs, and bathe them. They will need that daily living assistance forever; when I die, a stranger will have to do those things for them. That is why I bristle at the festive tone of April, the suggestion that the circumstances of my daughters’ existences are to be celebrated. For me, this should be a month of solemn acknowledgement and education about a global crisis." - these lines sent shivers down my spine.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/02/my-three-daughters-are-autistic-i-despise-autism-awareness-month/?tid=trending_strip_1
And finally, a piece by an autistic adult Judy Endow, who talks about why Autistic Adults don't look like Autistic Children. http://www.judyendow.com/autistic-behavior/autistic-adults-do-not-look-like-autistic-children/
Then the other day on metro, did I see an Autistic adult?
I might be wrong, but Judy Endow's lines from the blog were repeated right in front of me! Others around us might have just thought of her as a little weird but I knew that there's something more to it. The unguarded burping, the loud crackling of water bottle and then squeezing it to drink the last drop of water, the constant mumbling and looking lost in her own world can't go unnoticed for a women aged around 40. She might have learnt to control her body better but her sensory needs were clearly driving her behaviour.
It was an overwhelming month of Autism Awareness even for a family dealing with life in the spectrum 24/7. But here's the difference, some people read about Autism, some try and understand, some promise to help but those of us who live autism, can hardly afford to waste time. You are always racing against time to achieve some target or the other with your child.
April also happens to be the month when new academic session starts. Doting parents putting pictures of their kids wearing school uniform and sharing experiences of first day at school was splashed all over fb. Siiiigggghhhhh....happy for my friends but more heart break for me. I also have a child aged just right to go to school, but we will have to time it a little differently.
An update on that front coming soon.
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