Autism Awareness month isn’t just about making the world more Autism Aware, at least it shouldn’t be. This should also be a time when to take inventory of ourselves as a community as well.

I’ve always said that the Autism community is truly amazing but it’s also very fickle.

There’s a great deal of division based on things that really shouldn’t matter. Rather than working together for a common goal, all too often, we allow things like semantics, stances on vaccines, whether or not we should cure Autism, educational choices, dietary beliefs and general intolerance to create cracks in the foundation of our community.

Over time, those cracks have developed in these great divides that we just can’t seem to get across.

Whether or not the world will ever be Autism friendly is irrelevant if we can stand unified with our loved ones on the Autism Spectrum. What’s the point of trying to get the world to be understanding and accepting, when we don’t understand or accept each other first?

I would really like to see people building bridges so we can cross these great divides and reach our fellow Autism community members with open arms.

It’s no secret that everyone has a different opinion on things like vaccines in particular. Should that be a reason to overlook everything else we have in common? Should we look down on someone for using the word Autism instead of Autistic or visit versa? Of course not!!!

This Autism Awareness month, I ask that you all take a moment and do a bit of soul searching. Forget the rest of the world for now because the rest of the world is outside of our control. We can however, control how we interact with and treat each other. We can control how treat and relate to the adult Autistics in our community as well. They are an invaluable resource and in most cases are more than happy to help or share their insights. Are we doing everything we can as a community, to encourage and support the adult Autistics? Probably not but we sure as Hell should be…and that needs to change..

Together, we can make a difference but we need to lead by example and show the world that we stand unified as a community.

We are parents of kids with Autism. We are Adult Autistics. We are teachers, siblings, family, friends, therapists, counselors and doctors who care for a person or persons with Autism. We all need to stand together and show the world how our loved ones with Autism and their families should be treated, what kind of support is needed and what the average person can do to help..

If we really truly want to see change, it’s time to lead by example…… ☺