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Happy World Autism Awareness Day!

I’ve written about autism. Many. Many. Many times. It’s part of my everyday life.

With 1 in every 110 children now being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, there’s a good chance that autism is part of your life, too – or that you at least know someone (me?) who is affected.

So how does one celebrate such a day? (Or an entire month, for that matter, since April is Autism Awareness Month.)

Well, if you’ve got a kid on the spectrum, the first thing to do is hug him (or her, but it’s four times more likely to be a him) and remind yourself how lucky you are to have this little (or big) person in your life. (This same process can be followed with typical kids even though it’s not Neurotypical Awareness Day.)

Next, you might want to consider donating to Autism Speaks or another autism-related cause. Your money could go to the brilliant scientists who are going to figure out why our kids’ brains are different and then find a cure. Or, maybe it will go toward making it illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against our kids. There are lots of other worthy efforts around autism that also need funding, but those are the two biggies at the moment.

And, my final recommendation on celebrating World Autism Awareness Day and Autism Awareness Month: Educate yourself and others. Understanding is the key to progress here.

Acceptance is a good start - all of our kids (and we, as their parents) deserve to be treated fairly. But the importance of cultivating understanding goes deeper than acceptance. If everyone understood the disorder better, we could have more support for people on the spectrum, more people working on treatments, and more people funding the research that will ultimately lead to its cause and its cure. It can start with you.

Just in case you need a cheat sheet, here are a few key points you might want to share:

• Autism is a neurological disorder that affects every person differently. It’s called a spectrum disorder because of the wide variance in symptoms and severity among affected individuals.

• More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined.

• No one knows what causes autism and there is no proven link between autism and vaccines.

• Children with autism have trouble relating to other people. This can mean everything from being socially awkward to being unable to speak.

• Even though there is no cure for autism, early intervention with individualized therapies has been proven to treat the symptoms of the disorder, helping kids gain many of the skills they need to learn and become functional adults. Some parents would go so far as to say that their children have actually "recovered" from the disorder. For the majority of people with autism, however, it's something they will deal with their entire lives.

That's really just the beginning, but I hope that it gets you (or someone you know) thinking and interested in learning more. In addition to the Autism Speaks site, which has tons of good information, I recommend the book " Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew." I have other recommendations too, but I'll save some of them to last me through the month.

All's Well That Ends Well

I was so busy up on my soapbox yesterday that I neglected to celebrate my last day of work at the bakery with you!

I really don't have much to report, other than to say that despite the issues I have with the way they run that place and the fact that making minimum wage is depressing at my age, it wasn't a terrible job. In six short weeks, I actually met some people that I like and might even keep in touch with - the most likely being Reality Bites (whose name I am now changing to "Coffee Girl," after that Tragically Hip song). 

But in a happy ending of sorts, Coffee Girl is moments away from getting a new job, Still a Teenager already quit, and I was able to write my assistant manager a letter of reference for her husband, who worked at the bakery until his wife was promoted and is now still looking for work (she is giving it to the manager to sign and asked me to write it because, in her words, my English is so good). Plus, I came home with a box full of goodies. 

On Monday, I will reprise my role as a cubicle hamster. This weekend, I will enjoy having a mind free of strategy. 

P.S. It's still Autism Awareness Month, so I'd like to refer you to this article, which summarizes all 10 of the "Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew."

Action

Several weeks ago, my therapist gave me her theory on inertia, the gist being that you have to put something into action in order to make any of things you want to have happen, happen. Despite those two crazy boys running around, my life had come to a bit of a standstill.

So I got the bakery job. I needed a paycheck and I want to learn more about pastry, but more than anything, I needed to do something. Pretty much as soon as I started at the bakery, I had an awesome meeting with the cake lady, someone whom I still hope to work for someday soon. Then I got the job at Examiner.com. 

And then, last week, out of the blue, I got an offer from one of my favorite former bosses: a part-time job that pays a living wage. The only catch, of course, is that I must return to the corporate world, where I will write propaganda, attend meetings and probably wear heels. Can I do these things? Yes, yes, I can...especially if it means I'll be able to take my family on that Christmas trip to Hawaii we've been talking about for 6 months now. 

And so, with much glee, I put in my notice at the bakery. It was met with exactly the amount of apathy and annoyance as you would expect. And yes, knowing that I'm leaving does make pouring coffee and picking up other people's food messes somewhat easier. 

I am still hoping the cake job will work out. I would gladly work two part-time jobs if it meant I was paying the bills and getting a cakucation (that's cake + education). It's a pretty good alternative to sinking $20k into a pastry certificate that I'm still not sure I'd be able to use to earn a living. It at least buys me some more time to figure it out. 

Add in the writing gig, and I'm suddenly busy. And I'm not having a panic attack about it, which has to be a good sign. So, as usual, my therapist was right...a little action can make a lot happen. 

Speaking of action, I am proud to say that a benevolent friend pushed Team Owen over its goal yesterday! Which brings us to our Autism Awareness Month moment - once again taken from "Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew" by Ellen Notbohm:

My sensory perceptions are disordered.

This means that the ordinary sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches of everyday that you may not even notice can be downright painful for me. The very environment in which I have to live often seems hostile. I may appear withdrawn or belligerent to you, but I am really just trying to defend myself. 

To learn more about autism, visit Autism Speaks. 

Expectations

Today I'd like to start by thanking those of you who donated to Team Owen. Your generosity is much appreciated and will come back to you in many ways. (Did that sound like a fortune cookie?)

We did not reach our goal of $500 by World Autism Awareness Day, however, we have raised $375 for Autism Speaks! We are also still accepting donations, so if you've been meaning to donate, there's still time.  

I returned safely from my trip to Wisconsin to see my ailing grandmother. I am happy to report that rumors of her being near death seem to have been exaggerated. I mean, I'm not a doctor, but the woman seemed more likely to walk out the front door and drive herself home than to kick the bucket. Still, she won't be living on her own again, so her house needs to be cleaned out and sold.

I'm happy to report that the condition of her house was somewhat exaggerated as well. I mean, it's pretty bad, but I was expecting something like those hoarders you see on Oprah. This was more like a quirky old woman with 8 pets who has collected a lifetime full of stuff and never cleaned. She apparently hoarded in drawers, not out in the open. Every single drawer in that house is packed with the most random artifacts from the last four decades...it's pretty interesting, once you get past the burning sensation in your eyes from all the animal urine. 

So anyway, I'll probably be making at least one more trip down there to help my mother and aunt get the house ready to sell, but assuming my grandmother lives, she will likely be moved to a home closer to us in the coming weeks. That means that after a 20-year break, I'll suddenly be seeing a lot more of her and my boys might actually get to meet their only living great-grandparent. Strange how things work out.

Since we're speaking of my grandmother, I think it's most appropriate that we spend today's Autism Awareness Month moment with an excerpt from "Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew" by Ellen Notbohm - a book that my grandmother actually sent to me when she heard about Owen's diagnoses. (She was a teacher back in her day.)

I am first and foremost a child. I have autism. I am not primarily "autistic."

My autism is only one aspect of my total character. It does not define me as a person. Are you a person with thoughts, feelings, and many talents, or are you individualized by one trait? Are you fat (overweight), myopic (wear glasses) or klutzy (uncoordinated, not good at sports)? There may be things that I see first when I meet you, but they are not necessarily what you are all about. 

As an adult, you have some control over how you define yourself. If you want to single out a single characteristic, you can make that known. As a child, I am still unfolding. Neither you nor I yet know what I may be capable of. Defining me by one characteristic runs the danger of setting up an expectation that may be too low. And if I get a sense that you don't think I "can do it," my natural response will be: Why try?

Here's to high expectations. Not just of our children, but of the doctors, scientists and lawmakers we're depending on, too. 

To learn more about autism, visit Autism Speaks.