For a long time, we wanted more awareness of autism. For way too many years, people just didn’t know it even existed. Now, most people know about autism. Now, we need people to remember they don’t need to be experts about autism. We just need you to be kind and try to include our families in your lives.
It isn’t that hard. It doesn’t have to be a big project. A few minutes of your time could make someone’s day. It could be something so simple that you don’t even know what you did that was so amazing.
Here’s a great example.
On Fridays, Rob loves to go to a local park and watch people play Frisbee. He laughs when they fall as they try to catch it and he loves watching the Frisbee sail through the air. The other day, his buddy, Bob, bought a Frisbee to see if Rob would play.
They watched the players for a while, then went to the soccer fields to try it themselves. And the most amazing thing happened! A young man was jogging around the soccer fields, saw Rob and stopped to play with him. It’s hard to see Rob’s face in the picture, but he has the biggest grin on his face.
They didn’t play long, but Rob interacted with someone he didn’t know and tried a new thing! Bob said the young man tossed it so easily to Rob and that even if Rob didn’t catch it, he picked it up and threw it back to the other guy!
For those that know Rob, this is huge. He doesn’t interact with people he doesn’t know. He doesn’t usually like to try new things (especially ones he feels he might “fail” at). He likes his routines and his safe places.
When Bob sent me the picture of Rob playing, I got tears in my eyes. He looks so happy and he was playing! I doubt the young man who stopped for a few minutes has any idea of the affect he had on me, Bob and our family. It didn’t take long for him to make an entire family so happy.
That’s what I want you to remember. It doesn’t take long to be kind to someone. You never know what a person is dealing with. It might not be autism, but maybe a health concern. Or money. Or a million other things. Just be kind. Include our families in your lives. We may not be able to join in as much as we would like all the time, but the invitation means so much to us.
To feel like a “normal” family, just for a few minutes. To know people see us and accept that autism, with all of its unpredictability and noise, is welcome with you. It’s an amazing feeling. And when it happens, this is what we share with all of the other families around us. It gives all of us hope when one of us is included.
Everyone needs hope. I’ve shared from the very beginning of this blog and in my book, Autism, Apples and Kool Aid, that hope kept me going in some very dark times. Hope, even just a tiny spark, can help families keep reaching for the dreams they have for their child. Everyone can help keep hope alive.
A smile. A quick “hi” to our non-verbal person. An invitation to a picnic. An offer to hold the door for others. Toss a Frisbee with a young man. Nothing is too small to bring hope.
Autism families have a hard enough time trying to do what most people consider simple things. We need to be seen. Everyone has awareness of autism, now. Lets move on to support and inclusion (let the person with autism choose how included they want to be).
Please be like the young man jogging at the park. Throw a Frisbee and make someone’s day!