This week's post is about autism. I have not covered this subject in a long time. Yes, this is a prolife blog and always have been. I have just not been so vocalabout my worldview until now. But I still am just as prolife about those who are already born, as I am about the unborn. THat is because, as in autism, many people need our voice and more support to get more out of life.
Autism Affects All Of Us As A Society
I've stated this before. Autism affects all of us as a society. One reason is that many among us are autistic. This includes those who have not been diagnosed and those who do not disclose their diagnosis. There is still a stigma attached to autism. They sense that they would lose good jobs and that people may treat them "differently." Some marriages have been ruined because the spouses did not know of the one's autism, merely thinking that the other was plain incompatible. A high pecentage of adults on the spectrum are unemployed or underemployed. They are forced to collect Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability (SSD). I know that you can guess what this adds up to. Collected tax dollars! This is bad for everyone. These adults would be much happier contributing to society. If only they were given the tols to deal with autism that can interfere with holding a job. In spite of the stress of employment, people are happier working. You know that you are contributing to society and that your income is earned. You get a sense of accomplishment. You can build relationships. Depending on the job, you can get promotions and other forms of recognition. Many people would gladly pay taxes if they were given the tools to deal with what can interfere with keeping a job. Many may not even be diagnosed with autism; they and their bosses may think they are merely lazy or incompetent. Many may not have the social skills to interact with supervisors or co-workers. Autism wandering also is a big problem in the world of autism. This is where autistic children vanish because they have wandered. Too many children have been found dead in bodies of water. It's true that most are found safe. It is easy to judge the families and say, "They should have watched their child better." The sheer frequency of these autism wanderings means it's not a simple matter of parents becoming better parents. Moost tragically, a few caregivers have snapped and have killed or tried to kill, autistic children. It's easy to judge these caregivers as "monsters." Is it this simple?
Autistics Need Our Support and Hindrances
Autistic people and their families need support. They need the support of the general community. I know that the factions in the autism community have not helped the cause. I'm taking about the how these factions argue about autism, what causes it and how it should be managed. I'm talking about factions about how to raise autistic children and how to teach autistic adults to deal with their issues. The "cure" people see autism as a disease to be defeated. They focus on changing autistic people to accommodate themselves to the world. The "acceptance" people see autism as just a difference in how one's brain is wired. Symptoms can be managed to increase one's odds of being accepted. UNlike the "cure" camp, the "acceptance" camp does not try to make autistic people typical. The "acceptance camp" seeks to advocate for autistic people so that society will accommodate to the autistic. The "acceptance" people see autism as a part of a person's identity; the "cure" people see autism as a separate part of a person that needs to be eliminated. Both factions war with each other and tend to bully each other. This lack of unity has not not helped us get acceptance or understanding from the general public. But it is because autism is a complex neurological disorder that factions exist. And this community needs our support. They need it because without acceptance and understanding they will keep experiencing failure. We should rather see many more of them become taxpayers rather than collect benefits. Most of them would rather be employed. Families want their children to have all the tools they need to succeed so they can live up to their potentials. Many minority and low-income families would empower their children to do well, if only they had access to diagnostic and support services.
How You Can Help
You may wonder how you can make any difference. Everyone agrees that diagnostic and support autistic services are needed. Most of us in the autism community agree that these services need to be funded. Efforts have been made to obtain federal funding and have not yet been successful. But this does not mean to give up. So how can we help? I have created a petition for this. It calls for Congress to fund diagnostic and support autism services. It calls for funds to be released to each of the 50 states in the U.S. I used to have such a petition on another account, but I have redone the campaign on my primary account. Even if you signed that petition, you need to sign this petition. If you have already signed this newest autism petition, thank you! You can do even more. You can share it over and over!
If you have not yet done so, sign this autism petition!
If you have already signed this autism petition, share it!
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