Autism Acceptance Month, Really?

“What types of autism are they accepting?”

By Jason McCarver

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As I scroll through my Twitter feed, trying to digest the 
Bullshit propaganda of autism acceptance month. 
I asked myself, would people really accept my son screaming bloody murder 
At 3am? Or being on the porch naked, laughing loudly at midnight?

I wonder what types of autism are they accepting? 
Would they accept my son when he’s in full blown meltdown mode? 
Harming himself?
What about when he’s full blown into an obsession and forgets about everything else?
And gets mad when you try to break him out of it, resulting in violent meltdowns, self harm etc.

The types of autism they’re accepting of, are the types that doesn’t require much care or assistance.
The type that’s quirky and cool online, but also somehow maintains a life offline.

It’s not a fair representation of autism, when the severe and most vulnerable are barely talked about,
Never being celebrated or even aware of their existence.

For a month, once a year, people wear puzzle pieces, buy bumper stickers, watch movies, read articles, talk about their “weird neighbor who’s a little autistic” and that’s the extent of their spreading awareness.

Meanwhile, kids like my son are still struggling,
Parents still fighting for services, crying at night, 
And begging anyone to just listen and understand.

It’s all bullshit,
No one wants to celebrate cleaning up shit for decades,
Constantly repairing walls,
From meltdowns,
Replacing electronics,
Constant time off from work,
Constant doctors appointments and hospitals, etc.

Lately, it seems like the acceptance and awareness, is geared towards a crowd that doesn’t require 
Anything, I mean yeah, it’s easy as hell to accept something that doesn’t require you to do anything.

When it comes to kids like my son who require constant supervision, support, structure,
Constantly needs help with everything.
The accepting part becomes hard, when it starts to 
Truly affect people, it’s not so wonderful, it’s not so cool.
When it starts hurting other people’s 
Pockets with the constant expenses.
They become aware of how much autism really sucks.

Don’t get me wrong, things aren’t entirely one sided.
It’s a lot of awareness and advocating going on by parents like myself
Who spend hours and hours trying to get the world to see 
Our kids and understand their needs. It’s never ending and only gets more 
Complicated as our kids get older.

The need for awareness and acceptance 
Means something entirely different for kids like my son.
It means the world has to admit he exist and his needs are important everyday,
Not just a month full of bullshit logos and propaganda stories.

Jason McCarver battles nonsense in the Twitterverse with nuggets of personal wisdom. Follow him on Twitter @jayhood73.


Disclaimer: Blogposts on the NCSA blog represent the opinions of the individual authors and not necessarily the views or positions of the NCSA or its board of directors.