Autism Acceptance Month

You may have heard that April is Autism Acceptance Month. I find myself on the 12th day of Autism Acceptance Month thinking about my son who is 12 and on the autism spectrum. I reflect back on many difficult times in his youth before his diagnosis and I am happy to hear that many more are getting a diagnosis earlier in his or her young life. However, it is not always the case. So, when I think about acceptance, I think about the need for accepting things we don’t always understand. For there is no tell tale sign that a child is autistic.

It may be as simple as giving a parent/caregiver the space to figure out how best to navigate getting out of the store once the child has become overwhelmed. Or just as simple, give them a smile as if to say ‘kids can be a handful sometimes can’t they’ instead a look of ‘my child never acted like that’. Here’s something to consider…will you know if that child is on the autism spectrum? No, but they may not know that yet either.