Parenting: The Importance of Acceptance

As many of you probably already know, April is Autism Awareness Month. As the mother of two children on the Autism Spectrum, I am happy that efforts have been, and continue to be, made to draw attention to this group of disorders which, as a new study suggests, affects 1 in 50 school-aged children in the United States. However… awareness is simply not enough. I’m fairly certain that most everyone in the world has heard of autism. So, while April is Autism AWARENESS Month, I will spend this month promoting ACCEPTANCE.

The Importance of Acceptance:

It is not enough to just know that my kids have autism. They need you to accept them, for who they are right now. Not for their potential. Not for what we, as a society, think they should be. They are people, just like you, with individual characteristics, hopes, dreams, and the capacity to love. I personally do not use the word normal to describe anyone. There is no normal!

So, when you see my kids acting a bit different than yours or witness a sensory meltdown, don’t judge. Don’t judge them as a person. Don’t judge me as a parent.  Accept that everyone is an individual. Everyone has the right to expect acceptance. We need to learn, as Temple Grandin, PhD., and an individual with autism so wisely stated, that individuals with autism are “Different, not less.” We need to embrace those differences and encourage strengths.

Educating about Differences and Similarities:

We should be including our autistic population in our communities, schools and workforce. We should provide our children with support in the form of proper diagnosis, early intervention and evidence-based therapies which can give our children the tools to cope in a world that is often difficult to engage. My own children have had years of Speech as well as Sensory Integration Therapy, which have helped them to communicate more clearly and cope with the what often seems to be an environment which is bombarding them with difficult sensory input. And they have come a very long way. However, the bottom line is, Autism does not go away. You cannot “grow out” of it.

As a society, no…as a world, our priority should be to make sure that each and every individual with autism is embraced, supported and ultimately accepted as a part of our lives.  If you are interested in finding out more information about autism, resources for evaluation and diagnosis and treatment options, you can start with a visit to https://www.autism-society.org

About the Author:

Tiffany Mullings is at SAHM who homeschools her two children with varying degrees of Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder. In her “spare” time she volunteers as a parent facilitator for her local Parent to Parent chapter, helps to run her local homeschool group and has most recently started a Special Olympics team for her community. It is her belief, living in a small, rural town with limited resources, that it is her responsibility to make the opportunities for her children that would otherwise not exist.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/richarddigitalphotos/4420074642/sizes/z/in/photostream/