January 2020 marks the 11th anniversary of Matthew John’s autism diagnosis. I know the 11th year is what many would consider an odd year, but it is still something to celebrate. Why celebrate? Because the diagnosis gave me answers, it helped me when I didn’t know how to help Matthew. I know many don’t like the puzzle piece to represent autism, but for many parents, at that moment, receiving an autism diagnosis gives them an answer to what has been puzzling them for years.
Answers to tell them why their child is the way that they are and that they are okay just the way they are. They are just kids with different abilities than what society has been telling us for centuries should be the abilities of our children. They think differently, they learn differently, they feel differently and that is okay and something to celebrate just as we do any other child.
In our case, I thought Matthew was depressed and seeing a psychologist and getting a prescription for anti-depressants was what he would need to be “fixed” little did I know that he didn’t need to be fixed, I did. I needed to be fixed in how I accepted him and lived life with him. In this case, he doesn’t show emotion in the way that I want him to show emotion, and that’s okay. Even for this momma who lives her emotions, good and bad, out loud… some would say with a loudspeaker (but love me anyway)!
What Matthew and others where autism is a part of their identity need, is for us to celebrate them and accept them for who they are and where they are. That doesn’t mean that we don’t provide and find all the supports we can to help them live the best life they can live. It means to just accept they don’t fit that centuries old wives tale of who they should be and love them unconditionally for where there are at in the moment!
#AutismAcceptanceIn2020