Autism Awareness

Everywhere you look these days there are efforts of awareness. Facebook, Twitter, blogs, circulating emails, ribbons, car magnets, specially marked items in the grocery store, on and on it goes.

Some effective, some not. Some creative and some not. Some that really serve their purpose well and then others that make you wonder "WHAT in the world does that have to do with ______ Awareness?"
Seriously friends, knowing the color of your bra or where you like to put your purse? Sorry, it doesn't work well for the cause.

There is Mental Wellness Month, National Glaucoma Awareness Month, National American Heart Month, National Kidney Month, Hemophilia Month and that hasn't even gotten us past the first two months of the year!

Breast Cancer Awareness

AIDS Awareness

Orphan Awareness

World Water Awareness

A google search and a bit of time on your hands is likely to provide you with at least a thousand others.

All of these causes are important to someone.

All of them deserve recognition. Some are more urgent than others. Some affect the world in bigger ways. Some have a louder voice than others. Some get more media coverage than others. None of them (at least of the ones I've seen) are invalid.

I think, though, that it is easy for us to nod our head and move right on past anything that doesn't affect us on a personal level. I think this is especially true in these days where Awareness bombards our senses from every side.

This is why I've never been a huge partaker in these campaigns. How do you decide which are worthy of your time, money, energy? If I put money into every one I cared about, Kev would need a fourth job. If I blogged about them all, my blog would be one huge Awareness commercial and I suppose most people would find that annoying. (at least I would)

I have long preferred to quietly support those that are close to my heart and leave the Awareness, shouting from the rooftops aspect more to others.

That's why I've been a little timid in jumping into the ring this month for Autism Awareness Month.

Everyone's heard of Autism.

What does "Lighting it up blue for Autism" have to do with really bringing Awareness?

So what if I wear blue on April 2nd?

So what if I change my facebook profile to an Autism Awareness one?

These are thoughts that have been in my mind for the past few weeks.

Then I thought about this...

1 in 110 children are on the autism spectrum

1 in 88 children in military families are on the autism spectrum

2 of my children are at what many call the high functioning end of that spectrum (Jerald and Aaron).

We've wondered for years, but just recently heard it from a neurologist.*

Part of that delay was our own ignorance and misunderstanding about what Autism looks like in real life.

Yes, everyone has heard of Autism.

However, hearing about something does not bring understanding. There are many people still that know little about autism. Many don't understand that every child with autism is different and that there is a huge variety in both in their abilities and their disabilities....that's why it's called a Spectrum.

My boys are not just part of a statistic. They are two of the best things that have ever happened to me. They are brilliant, funny, handsome and quirky. They also have many struggles and many unanswered questions about their future.

After a bit of chewing on all of this, I had a talk with my boys and then I jumped in the ring... for them.

Awareness is the beginning spark to helping them find support in a world that is often difficult to navigate. Three times in recent months, we've heard some variation of "If you are 11, why do you act like you are 5?" These are not the words of a bully. It's not coming from a motivation of teasing or degrading (though we've dealt with bullying, teasing in the past too). They are sincere words from the mouths of children that don't understand, with parents that do not understand.

From outside, a blue light illuminates the front of the house differently than the white one we usually have out there. That doesn't mean much if you are driving by late at night. We don't live in a neighborhood. I'm not sure anyone will see our blue light and think twice about it. It's doubtful that anyone will wonder if it's connected to Autism.

That's okay.

If it sparked a conversation that would be great, but our real reason for it is much more personal and inward focused.

For those of us that live in this house the perspective is a little different tonight as we Light it up Blue for World Autism Awareness Day.

The blue light changes everything that we usually see.

To Jerald and Aaron it shows them their family loves them, supports them and accepts them.

To the rest of us, it reminds us that while the light might look a little different it is no less a light in the darkness...just like Jerald and Aaron...not more, not less...just a little different.

Awareness is the beginning of understanding, so I change my profile picture, I'm going to talk about it on my blog (along with the other things we face), I light my front porch blue and little by little I hope that it makes a difference for my boys and others on the autism spectrum.









*in the interest of full disclosure, the diagnosis is not official yet, as we need to complete some evaluations first, but it is our opinion and that of the neurologist that they are both on the spectrum...I'll be blogging soon about our journey to this point.