April is Autism Awareness and Acceptance month. As an advocate, educator, and clinician for the autistic community, raising awareness and helping to understand the behaviors associated with autism in our community is my passion.
In my career, I have found that acceptance from the community is often one of the biggest pieces to finding and developing a strong support system to the families who have family members diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. We have shifted from the focus of just raising awareness for autism to acceptance for autism.
Here are some things to be aware of to help support friends and neighbors that have children on the autism spectrum:
Use language appropriate to the individual. While person-first language (e.g., “person with autism spectrum disorder”) is commonly used among myself and other professionals and parents, many self-advocates within the autistic community prefer identity-first language (e.g., “autistic person”) as they view autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as something that cannot and should not be separated from their identity. It is important to use language most appropriate to an individual with autism to show acceptance of their individual identity. Simply ask individuals or their family members what language they find to be the most respectful and appropriate.
Instead of dismissing, try educating yourself and others to understand the differences. Most parents have been in a challenging situation in a public setting where their child may engage in extreme behaviors and/or engage in self-stimulatory behaviors such as rocking, hand flapping, or making “different” sounds. Instead of dismissing your child’s reaction, use this as an opportunity to educate your child about differences and build understanding. You could say, “Sometimes people do different things when they’re feeling different emotions. It looks like she’s feeling excited. What do you do when you feel excited?”
Get involved with support advocacy groups. While children with ASD are often able to receive support at school either through special education services or 504 accommodations, the same supports are not necessarily guaranteed in the community, such as extracurricular activities (e.g., baseball games or birthday parties) or places of worship (e.g., churches, mosques, synagogues, etc.). It is always helpful to support those families and events that do everything they can to ensure that their child feels comfortable in that setting, such as altering things to be more sensory-friendly. It means a lot to a family to support them by learning from them, lending a listening ear, and/or helping to come up with accommodations to help support them!
Be kind and expand your social circle. Social exclusion may be increased for those on the autism spectrum disorder due to some of the challenging behaviors that occur within the diagnosis that are outside of “societal norms.” This means that many individuals may be excluded from a very young age. This can be prevented by expanding you and your child’s social circle to include those individuals with varying levels of different abilities. Being kind and expanding your social circle not only allows you to connect and learn from others with different backgrounds, but it also helps in broadening the observation of others’ thoughts and feelings without judgment.
If you feel your child may be having signs of behaviors consistent with autism I’d be honored to help identify and provide therapies to help your child thrive in all environments.
