Laugh with us, cry with us, and learn about AUTISM!

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Since When Is Awareness A Bad Thing?

Yesterday I did my best to spread awareness about autism.  If I'm your friend on Facebook you probably noticed this. (Or had no choice but to notice because I spammed your newsfeed with posts and pictures.  I apologize for not being in the least bit sorry! )  Autism is now very near and dear to our family, and I want everybody to be aware.


So it shocked me to discover that within the autism community there are a number of people that detest Autism Awareness Day/Month. (I guess this shows what a newcomer I am to the scene!) There is a school of thought within our community that we have more than enough awareness, and this is all a waste of time.

I beg to differ! Prior to my Josie, I THOUGHT I knew about autism.  What a joke!  I had your stereotypical view, and it never occurred to me that I would ever know an individual like that.  I had NO clue that autism rates are soaring to nearly 1 in 50.  My goodness, to prove my ignorance I will tell you something very embarrassing.

I DID NOT THINK AUTISM COULD HAPPEN TO GIRLS!

Now, I consider myself to be an intelligent, educated, informed person.  Ha!  I am incredibly mortified by my ignorance.  The only reason I shared this was to prove a point -  I do not think the world is actually aware about autism.  I believe the majority of people are completely UNAWARE until it happens to somebody close to them.  Some people have SOME awareness...  but they don't know or understand the truth.  We need to reach every person that we can and spread the word about autism, and the TRUTH about autism.

And, I ask myself....  SINCE WHEN IS AWARENESS A BAD THING?  The autism community needs to be as united as possible, and I think this is an absurd thing to be up in arms about.  What harm can come from informing people?  What harm can come from reminding people?  

Furthermore, it's hard to gain ACCEPTANCE without AWARENESS!  People cannot accept that which they do not understand.

Lastly, it may just be one day/month of the year, but think about how many people could be reached.  Think about the support and awareness that can be generated.  Think about that one family that might reach out for the help they need for their child.  

Why argue about something as harmless as awareness.  It's much better than ignorance.

AWARENESS CAN NEVER BE A BAD THING!


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