April is Autism Awareness Month. As many within our Circle Connections community know, I have two grandson’s diagnosed to be on the autistic spectrum, one with ADHD and the other who is high-functioning autistic with sensory processing challenges.
I have spent almost the last two years devoted to the recovery journey of one grandson as a hands-on daily care provider, and from a distance acted as an advocate for my other grandson. I have walked with my 4-year-old grandson Brody from little 
eye-contact and only vocalizations at age two to almost normal eye-contact and up to 5 conversation loops, now in pre-school with a ‘shadow’. We are not doing this alone. We are blessed to have the help and support of several volunteers and with the help of organizations like Son-Rise, Relate to Autism and TACA, and with the guidance of Dr. Jerry Kartzinel. Brody still has some sensory challenges, but we have successfully healed his gut-related issues through a bio-medical approach and diet changes, and have also removed his heavy metal load through a process of chelation.
Our family has experienced first hand that autism is treatable and recovery is possible. What an amazing journey of recovery this continues to be. Brody has contributed as much to my conscious development than I have been able to contribute to his. We are under the illusion that we are to prepare these children to integrate into our reality when they in fact are here to make us aware that we are to adapt and accept there’s, seeing the incredible insights and awareness they offer. These amazing kids are here to wake us up to a new and expanded way of seeing and connecting.
When I was a kid I never heard of autism. Now, no matter what conversation I have no matter where I am, someone always has someone close to them touched by autism. There are varying reasons offered on what makes this so, but regardless of the cause, we are affected by the reality. We must awaken to the impact autism is making in all of our lives.
Did you know that 1 in 50 boys and one of every 150 kids are diagnosed to be on the autistic spectrum? That’s one kid every 20 minutes! Now, imagine that there are over 30 kids in most classrooms today, so almost one child child on the autistic spectrum in every classroom. Now imagine all the kids that are on the spectrum but not diagnosed! No wonder our teachers are burned-out and finding it difficult to teach. And, this number is growing at epidemic proportions. We cannot stay in denial any longer. Our autistic children are acting as the canaries in the gold mine to alert us to the reality that our environment is broken and something is terribly wrong.
In order to highlight the growing need for concern and awareness about autism, the Autism Society has been celebrating National Autism Awareness Month since the 1970′s. The United States recognizes April as a special opportunity for everyone to educate the public about autism and issues within the autism community.
There are several important bills moving through Congress that will have important effects on the autism community – safer educational settings (Keeping All Students Safe Act), better autism services (Autism Treatment Acceleration Act), greater financial independence (Achieving a Better Life Experience Act), better protection against toxic chemicals (Toxic Substances Control Act Reform, introduction anticipated soon), and more. For more information about this legislation and to take action to support it, visit www.vote4autism.org.
The Autism Society and inflatable playground franchise Pump It Up are bouncing again with “Bounce for Autism” – over 100 community-based fundraising events that combine family fun with raising awareness and support for autism in locations nationwide that welcome children on the autism spectrum. Many Autism Society local chapters also put on events in the community through the month of April. But if you can’t find an event that suits you just right, create your own! 1Power4Autism is an online tool that makes it easy to mobilize friends and family and help make a difference.
- Bounce for Autism: www.bounceforautism.org
- Autism Society chapters: www.autism-society.org/chapters
- 1Power4Autism: www.1power4autism.org
In light of our journey and what Brody is teachng all of us, I felt compelled to share this very powerful article written by our mentor at Relate to Autism, Aaron Deland who has worked and played with many, many autistic children, offering their families hope. For me, it hits the nail on the head.
Aaron asks, Is Autism Making Us More Loving? …
It is my belief that children with Autism have tremendous potential to teach us how to have deeper more loving relationships. Not just with them but with everyone in our lives. If you think about what it takes to effectively bond with a child on the spectrum or any child for that matter, it’s being truly loving, carefree, easy, sweet, giving, creative, funny and interesting to name few.
Think about that for a minute.
If having these qualities is useful, even essential in the treatment of autism, and the cases of autism are in the millions and for every child, let’s say there are seven other people working with that child, and as a result spend more time expressing positive emotions, laughing, being creative, being truly accepting and really connecting with another individual. What kind of impact will that have on a world that is increasingly addicted to electronics (myself included).
What if this is the world’s way of saying “enough”, war is a common language spoken among nations and has been for a long time. Pursuing money has become more important than families having reliable housing and employment. The quest for convenience has created child hood disease and impacted our planet in huge ways. We have been separated from conversation, and masses of people blindly follow the thoughts and claims of self-interested people on both sides of every issue. We like to wage war on things, the war on drugs, the war on hunger, the war on AIDS. We use similar terminology with Autism, we want to “defeat it”. We take this stance out of the best of intentions, but in any war there is collateral damage.
It’s easy to get tunnel vision on everything that’s “wrong”, which means it’s double important to insulate yourself from it and focus on what you want your life to be like. In other words if you want there to be more peace in the world than be more peaceful. Don’t watch news footage of the war and say “I wish that would stop”. Instead seek peace in your relationships. With your spouse, your friends, your boss or your child.
You can be at peace with your child while they scream about a boundary you just set, this doesn’t mean rolling over. Ghandi defeated the entire British military without ever firing a shot. He wanted peace, so he was peaceful. You want your child to connect with you, so accept where they are and connect with them first by understanding them the best you can. Join their stim behavior, notice the details, be fascinated with the way they operate. The more you accept where your child is the more you will allow yourself to learn about them.
When we take a war like approach to autism, we inadvertently take a war like approach to our child. Autism in and of itself is not bad, it just is what it is, it just does what it does. What we tend to feel bad about is wanting to connect with our child and not knowing how, understandable. When you approach autism with a wide open beginners mind that seeks connection you take an open, child like approach with your children and become much more inviting to them. In other words don’t focus on fighting your child’s autism, focus on fostering a relationship.
How often do you find yourself wondering how to stop a behavior? I am going to encourage you to first seek to understand it. An example, I was recently talking to a Mom who’s little boy, suddenly start smearing his poop. She was shocked by this and started thinking of strategies to stop him. After talking to her and finding out that he actually was eating some of it and also eating dirt and sand. I suggested she have him checked for mineral or some other nutritional deficiency. Sure enough he was dangerously low in Iron. He was seemingly trying to get more iron through alternative means. Seek to understand and often you will find the solution.
Hubert H. Humphries said “The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love”. You would be hard pressed to find a doctor who would prescribe either of these things for any ailment. How many, social anxiety disorders could be treated with loving friendships instead of a steady diet of pills? I’m just sayin’.
If the mainstream autism community were to adopt a true attitude change from defeating, fighting, beating or in any other way attacking autism and met it with an attitude of understanding, acceptance, love, compassion and the perspective of “connect and relate” instead of “stop and fix”, we as a community would make tremendous gains. I don’t have friends in my life that want to “fix” me, I have friends who like to spend time with me the way I am right now.
One child is too many. If you feel called to act, take action now in reversing the epidemic of autism.
