Friday, April 18, 2025

Celebrating Autism Foundation

This month, Autism Acceptance Month, was established in the US to raise awareness about and acceptance of the developmental disability that impacts an individual’s experience of the world around them. (1)

I am celebrating the Autism Foundation this week. They aim to create a more inclusive and supportive world for autistic individuals and their families. (2) I love these organisations that strive to be inclusive for those who are different. They have many programs to help people understand how to engage with those on the spectrum and to help families and individuals with this disorder (3). We lose a lot when we don't allow different people to have a voice at the table.

As I stated in an earlier blog, there are a lot of people who have impacted our lives who have been diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. I have worked with people who have been diagnosed, and yes, they are different, but  I have enjoyed my experience with them.

One of my work partners, whom I won't name for privacy reasons, has a son diagnosed, and I have worked with his son on several community outreach projects and found that he is the most caring and hard-working person I have ever met. He never stopped working to support others when break time was called during our projects.  He always took on the most challenging jobs and excelled at everything he has taken on. Whenever he attended our community outreach projects, I would try to get paired up with him as I knew he would push me to work much harder at the event, trying to keep up with him.

Because someone is different, please don't shy away from them. You may find you are meeting an angel in disguise.

(1) Source Seramount.com

(2) Our Mission — Autism Foundation

(3) Services — Autism Foundation