What Autism Acceptance Month means to me as a parent of an autistic child
Also, bookmark the Autism Society’s policy page and check it regularly
April 2, 2024
Hi, there!
April has had a special place in my heart since my son was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (now part of Autism Spectrum Disorder) at age 4. Back then, the month was focused on autism awareness, and now it has evolved to be more focused on autism acceptance. I think that is a good evolution, and it has even more meaning to me as a parent of an autistic child.
In this week’s blog post on Autism & ADHD Connection, I share what Autism Acceptance Month means to me as a parent of an autistic child.
As a parent, I’ve found over the past 15 years since J was diagnosed that many more people are aware of autism. They may not fully understand it, and they instead may lean more heavily in the stereotypes of autistic people that are readily available in popular media. But I rarely meet a person who isn’t aware of autism these days.
What I do see people struggle with is better understanding of how autistic individuals operate and approach the world that was made for neurotypicals. They don’t know how to fully accept how autistics fit into their community as neighbors, co-workers, parents and citizens.
I also share what I am doing to advocate more for my son and the autism community overall to encourage more acceptance of autism. Think about what you can do too – even if they are baby steps because you are so overwhelmed with caring for your child right now.
Inspirational Quote
"I’ve learned that every human being, with or without disabilities, needs to strive to do their best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive at happiness. For us, you see, having autism is normal—so we can’t know for sure what your 'normal' is even like. But so long as we can learn to love ourselves, I’m not sure how much it matters whether we’re normal or autistic."
- Naoki Higashida, autistic who wrote The Reason I Jump when he was 13 years old
Resources Available
The Autism Society has a webpage to keep parents and others up to date on various policies that are introduced for legislation: https://autismsociety.org/resources/public-policy/. I have bookmarked this page to check on it regularly to become more aware of policies that could affect my son and to know if I need to reach out to my legislators to support or oppose a policies introduced. I invite you to join me to help advocate more for the autism community.
If you ever need to contact me, send me an email at info@autismadhdconnection.com. I’d love to hear from you.
Take care and best wishes for the coming week!
Tamara McGuire Hull
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This is beautiful: “I’ve learned that every human being, with or without disabilities, needs to strive to do their best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive at happiness. For us, you see, having autism is normal—so we can’t know for sure what your 'normal' is even like.” Thank you for sharing with this autism mom
Your posts are beautifully informative and supportive, full of the wisdom I wish I'd had 26 years ago when I was beginning to uderstand that my 3 year old son was not "standard issue".