Autism? That’s Rainman, Right?

When my son was diagnosed with autism back in December, I was talking with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. I told her that we’d been having a tough time because our son has autism. She blurted out, “Now what’s that again–that’s Rainman right?” With everything in me I wanted to defend my son. I thought, “No, I mean, yes, Rainman had autism, but that’s not my beautiful, curly-headed son with the bright blue eyes. He’s not like that. And that won’t be him!” I don’t say that to diminish those that have kids that are profoundly affected with autism, but I mention it because I want people to know that autism can be hard to spot by a casual observer. It looks different and presents itself in varying degrees for every kid, so that’s why awareness is so important.

AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH

Today, April 2, was the first-ever World Autism Awareness Day. I’ve got to say that I am so impressed with CNN. They have devoted the entire day to continuing coverage to share stories of families, address the many issues associated with autism, and get the conversation going. Several stories can be viewed online if you weren’t able to view them live.

 I also applaud www.childofdestiny.org for devoting this Autism Awareness Month to a 31-day effort to get thousands of people praying to “Turn the Tide” of this epidemic of autism. You can download a prayer calendar to pray for someone you love each day. We need God’s help to get a handle on this mystery of autism and to expedite a cure. We need him to move on those in authority who have the power to put legislation in place, help families and those kids who are growing up with autism, get research going, and look at what is causing this epidemic. I really think we’re going to get there one day if we wake up as a society!

If you happen to be a parent that is in the process of trying to figure out if your child may have autism, I would really recommend going to the Autism Speaks video glossary. For me, it brought real clarity to the subtle differences for young children who have autism as compared to how a typical child would act by showing videos side by side. After watching it, I knew before we had the official diagnosis that we in fact were dealing with autism. That might sound like a scary thing, but it helped me to mobilize while we waited for three months to get the appointment for diagnosis.

JOSIAH’S PROGRESS

On a different note, I’m so proud of our little Josiah. The last couple of weeks we’ve seen some great changes in him. He’s engaging with us so nicely, and he keeps getting more and more words every day. He’s saying things more spontaneously, and we notice him filling in the blanks when we sing songs a lot more than before. That kid listens more than we think! He’s also following commands at home and school better–leading the way to the lunch room, grabbing my hand when I say “It’s bedtime,” and leading me into his room. Little by little we’re seeing the layers peel away. And, he’s a really happy guy. I know that we shouldn’t take his temperament for granted right now, because so many kids with autism have a lot happening in their minds and bodies and it’s often hard for them to regulate their feelings and frustrations. Autism presents itself in such a range of ways for each different kid, and that can be frustrating, because you kind of want to know what to expect, but at the same time, it keeps you from putting limits on his capabilities and who he will be in the future. Anything is possible!