Autism Awareness

I have a friend who has a son with Autism. At one point they lived next door to me and I was very involved in there lives. My friends Autistic son took a strong grip on my heart. There is so much more to learn about Autism. I saw first hand, the effects of a special needs child on a family. I know that it can become very overwhelming and that the parents need help. Families that have special needs children need a large support group with open arms and non judgemental approach. The financial strain it puts on familys is so overwhelming. There are treatments out there to help with special needs but if you do not have the money what can you do. I watched a mother fight her way to getting help for her Autistic son.

An Autistic child who cannot speak for themselves needs someone to do that for them. Who better than the person/persons who know him best and love him unconditional. This mother struggled to recieve the services that her some needed to thrive. She was not going to stand back and let him slip through the cracks.

She went to the school for meetings to help her son recieve what he needed. They fought her hard, and basically it came down to the school could not afford to provide the needs for her son. At one point during the meeting a comment was said that I feel is so very unprofessional and absolutely cruel. One of the people at the meeting said "I know that there are some people at this meeting that just do not like you," I'll stop there. I was so infuriated when I heard what was said to her.

I become so upset for her. I told her that she should of said (easy for me to say), I am not here to make friends I am here for my son who cannot speak for himself. If I do not speak up and fight for what I have been told will benefit him, then who will. Obviously not any of you who are passing judgement on me. I said a whole lot more but I just kept it short and sweet here ;0)

I could not believe the lack of awareness there was in my town when it came to Autism. My friends son, would become so upset he would bang his head extremly hard on the floor, wall window, hard toys, our knees back ect. One time he hit the window so hard with his head he broke it. That was terrifying. My point is, how can anyone expect a parent who's child with this kind of behavioral issues to sit back and not get the help that can improve their quality of life.

At age 6 her son was still not potty trained, she has a 10 year old son who is a highly functioning Autistic child and a 2 year old daughter. So you can imagine the weight of the world this woman felt on her shoulders. My heart broke for her, I felt anger like I've never felt before. I was taking a powerpoint class at my local community college and chose to do my final exam on Autism Awareness. It so happened to be the month of April Which is actually Autism Awareness Month. I just wanted to share this story, in hopes to open more eyes. I cannot sit back and turn a blind eye, or ear to a child or family who need to be seen with love and heard with love. THROW THE JUDGEMENT IN THE GARBAGE WHERE IT BELONGS PEOPLE!!! A constant thought in my mind is always this "Only God can Judge me so who am I to judge another when I am not perfect?" COMPASSION, we need a whole lot more of it.

Thank you,
Christina