In what seems like a few short years, Autism has mad it’s way into most of our lives. I went from never hearing of autism,  to having a  cousin diagnosed  with autism to now having many perfectly unique children that I know and Love with autism. These children all have beautiful spirits and  an abundance of gifts. Although I Love and support these children and their families every day; today in honor of World Autism Day, I am LIGHTING IT UP BLUE.  

No matter what the situation, a child is never a curse, they are all blessings and should always be treated as such. When I found out about autism, it was as if parents were left to figure things out on their own how to educate and nurture their children. I was as if parents had to accept this diagnoses with no hope.  I have had to witness a mother’s frustration and disappointment due to teachers and doctors saying, “he will never read, write and talk.  I have seen these children frowned on or treated like outsiders all because they are different.  

The truth is Autism or not, we are all different.  We love different, we learn different and we defiantly act different.  Kinderia Greene, a dear friend, autism advocate and mother of an autistic son; has created a “GO BLUE” initiative that I love.  This initiative is Kinderia’s way of bridging the gap between people with special needs and others.  Blue is an acronym for “Better Life Understanding Everyone” and it simply means that we all benefit from learning to understand and appreciate the difference that we all have.

I think that increased knowledge about autism has a lot to do with amazing parents who despite what doctors and teachers say, refuse to give up on their children.  I see how hard many mothers work to assure that their children are included and have all of the opportunities that other children have.  They don’t allow their children to live in the box that society places them in. The saying,” Love conqueror’s all”, holds true for these families because it is changing what societies knowledge about autism and adding pieces to the puzzle one milestone at a time.