It's Autism Awareness Day!

Today is Autism Awareness day. It's meaningful to me because one of my closest friends has a son who suffers from this condition.

Most people have a general idea of what autism is. They know a person can have trouble with communicating, understanding others' expressions and emotional cues, and other developmental milestones. But most people have never seen the full range of autistic disorders, and some may not realize how devastating a more severe case is.

I like to think of autism as an wide open umbrella.  On one side of the umbrella you may have some individuals or who appear quirky -- they may have serious fascinations with things that most people are not fascinated by, they may not look you in the eye when they speak, or they may be unaware when you're uninterested in what they have to say.

Then there's the whole middle of the umbrella, where individuals may develop language very late and then not speak well or much at all, or may repeat words (echolalia) or not have much meaningful speech. They might not be able to go to regular school or be away from family or progress naturally or easily into adulthood.

Then there are people all the way on the other side of the umbrella, like my friend's son.  He is 22 now, and doesn't speak. He lives in a group home, and during the day he attends a very good program that's teaching him independent living skills and helping to find out what kinds of work he can do, supervised, to contribute to society.  He is sweet and loving, is great at puzzles, and is always happy to watch Thomas the Train videos. He can nod yes. He has epilepsy (a not uncommon byproduct of autism) and tends to be obsessive compulsive and anxious.  He is eager to please and curious, happy to be with his parents, family members, and friends. He's athletic. He's shy.

He's so much more than his autism, but when you see him, that's what you see.  It's hard to miss. He squeezes his fists together and grunts and groans and screeches.  He relies on his caregivers to know his favorite foods, habits, and soothing techniques.  Inside, though, he's a person, like all of us, and he has feelings, like all of us, and I bet, like all of us, he just wants to express them.

In honor of World Autism Day, I hope you'll think about my young friend, and his family, and how much this condition affects everything, every minute, every hour of their day.  I hope you'll remind yourself that autism is not just a quirky little thing.  And then go hug your kids.