It’s amazing how much diversity in thinking there is about what is educating the community by awareness so that our children will be more understood and accepted, what is invasion into privacy and what is griping about our children.
In Awareness..Not a One-sided Issue on my Amazon Blog, comments about awareness quoted from Cal Montgomery's review of Autism is a World gave me pause to take another look awareness.
With the recent circulation of a 13 minute video Autism Every Day on the Autism Speaks website the awareness controversy seems to have come again. Some seem to appreciate it very much and identify with the statements. Others see it as whining and hurtful to the children involved.
My initial reaction to the video was that it would bring about more understanding for families who experience Autism. Families need acceptance and support but awareness provides more than support.
Not that many years ago some of our children would have called large state institutions home. Most of these institutions have closed. The residents of those institutions have been brought into a community that wasn’t necessarily adequately prepared to accept them. At the same time the occurrences of various disabilities, especially Autism, is increasing rapidly. The “community” does not always keep up with these changes.
Awareness helps bring acceptance. Of course, there are those who will never accept people who are different and will never understand. We will have to be prepared for that. However, many people would accept our children if given the chance to know them.
Until next time,
Peggy Lou Morgan
Amazon Blog
www.parentingyourcomplexchild.com
www.lighthouseparents.com
Yahoo Group
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