I was looking at the NSVAR Twitter account (twitter.com/NSVAR) and saw a post that made me think. It basically said that Autism Awareness Month was over, and ASD stories are now relegated to page 5 as opposed to the front page.
That made me think. Where's the awareness now? Where did everybody go?
Look at it this way. For a lot of people, awareness is a bandwagon. Fun to ride while everyone else is. Worthwhile when it's the flavor of the month. And until the next fashionable cause comes along.
It's fashionable if you don't have autism. If you aren't the parent of a child with autism.
It's reality for us. May 1st got here and my child is still autistic. Where are you now?
Here's another way of looking at it... Thanksgiving rolls around and people start to volunteer at the homeless shelter between then and Christmas. Great food, donations of clothes and money. Because it makes them feel good. It absolves them of their guilt. They don't stop to think that there is another 335 days left until the holiday season rolls around again! Don't get me wrong... the awareness/attention is appreciated! But we don't disappear after the 30 days is up.
People sure act like we do, though. It kinda sucks.
My awareness year started January 1st. It will end December 31st. It's starts over again at midnight on New Years Day.
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