| World Autism Awareness Day |
ome
boy
t means
treat them as any less a person just
se you don’t speak their language.
the short time since we’ve known his
ion, there have been many ignorant
ents and much misinformation.
ring to mute the negative words and
l the myth to replace it with facts; and
part as a mother, i want to protect
rom people’s ignorance for as long
n. But i know this is an unforgiving
, and he would have to eventually face
eality. But the year is 2020, and i’m
ing on people to be more informed,
dgmental, much kinder and very
ting of differences. More positive vibes
elcome.
w, how can you do your part in this
full of different people with different
ies, including autistic individuals
y son? teach your kids to be kind and
rstanding, to not make fun of others
re different from them, and to be
ted without judgement. the world is
y harsh, to begin with, why spread
hate? let’s practice more patience and
walk in another person’s shoes. don’t
ick to judge when you see parents not
able to “control their child”. don’t take
out your phone to record some “retarded”
and share it online. Some people don’t have a
choice in how they are, but you do.
Of course, we parents of autistic children
try our best to be like everyone else, at least
for the sake of everyone else. We work very
hard not to offend anyone accidentally. But
the truth is our children are very different.
not to say that it gives us a free pass to let
our son do as he pleases but, please know
that we try. Sometimes it works, sometimes
it doesn’t, and sometimes we break down.
yet we’ll always get back up again despite
the whispered words around us. But it’ll
be much better to have the community’s
support.
do i wish my child was “normal”? (the
preferred term is neurotypical.) i would
be lying if i didn’t say yes, but honestly, i
wouldn’t change him for the world. to me,
my son is perfect.
if this is the life He intended for me, i
accept it with an open heart. yes, it will be an
uphill battle with the lack of sleep, constant
expensive therapy sessions, and the
frustration at communication breakdowns.
Still, that smile he gives me every morning
and all that unconditional love … you’ll have
to fight me to the death to take that away
from me.
thank you for making it to the end. your
reading this means a lot to us and goes
towards a better understanding of autism
and those who are autistic, this month of
April especially, which is Autism Awareness
Month.
Please help the world around us
understand autism better. Spread awareness
and acceptance and maybe Aslam can grow
up never being treated any differently from
others.
Sincerely,
Hazlin (Aminudin),
a mother of a beautiful autistic boy