Opportunity to bust down some barriers…

Autism Awareness.

Operators are standing by!

Originally uploaded by CleverIndie

April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day. In light of this, many articles about autism around the world are beginning to circulate on the web.

I just read an article on reuters.com (here: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm ) about Autism in China, that talks about how it has only been recognized as a disability since 2006 and parents struggle to find answers and the methods to help their children thrive.

I was expecting shocking news in this article, but these same stories happen here in the United States every day.

From all of the visibility Autism seems to get in the media, one would think awareness here in the US is much more prevalent than anywhere else, and maybe it is, but it isn’t enough.

Until parents are heard by the medical community instead of being rudely dismissed, until medical professionals actually pause and read the diagnostic criteria, until kids are raised to respect differences, and adults who should know better start thinking before they speak & judge and start listening, then the little awareness that we have in this world is nowhere near enough.

April is Autism Awareness month, in support of this I will be writing more frequently about some of our family experiences, personal experiences, and things that have helped us along the way.

Until later, please google… If you are not directly involved in raising a child with ASD, and are curious about what some of us face every day, I definitely suggest google, reading local news articles- including the comments…The comments on most online articles, from major news services, are most telling about what families and children experience and how much more awareness is needed.

Hugs all around,

Bek

ps. there’s a tag could on the right side of this blog where you can click on a tag to bring up all of my blog entries…

(ie… blog entries relating to ASD)

Alive and Chicken.

(misheard song lyric)

Just a quick update to let everyone know that I am still here, but energy has been spewing everywhere but the blog! I’m caught mid-xfer…Trying to move everything to typepad, but don’t have the energy to reformat posts and deal with the tagging/category translation screwup… Soooo… I’m still here…Still updating here… Posting occasional photos over there… Trying to decide if I should separate my art and my adventures in healthcare and parenting, but at the same time they all co-exist, maybe not so happily all the time, but I never intended for this blog to be a pristine studio portrait, I wanted it to be a pile of polaroids, fingerprints on the lens and all…So I am still on the fence…Will announce the big move more officially soon.

The universe just keeps dropping traffic cones and those Bob’s barricades hurdle-y mini-fence things (pylons?) everywhere I turn…Just enough so I can put up my arms and say “why!” but then it dumps piles of paper in those outstretched arms, honey gets somehow dumped over my head, and then the freaking universe turns a fan on. A FAN! What the #*@&? (see I have been working on my potty mouth)

Wish I could handle all of this with zen like grace and a serene moon-like glow, wish I could post an entry about managing stress, illness, parenting a special needs kid, financial drama at homeplate, and how it’s all a great big fabulous TA-DA! learning experience, but we all know that when you are eyeball deep n the big steamy, chunky stew that insight will happen eventually, learning may be around the corner, but right now you’ve got to grab on to that carrot wheel and kick because your life, or at the very least your sanity, depend on it.

No really. I’m ok. I am. or at least I will be.

*insert primal yell here* (yeah, not really me…maybe that should read *insert slightly operatic and comedic bellow*)

Huge hugs all around…
xo
B