How to be a HERO for Autism Acceptance Month: Free live panel with top speakers

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Your AIM This Week:

Be Curious

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Children and adults with autism experience their environment and social interactions differently.

We have been afforded insights into these differences, often sensory-related but also cognitive, emotional, and physiologically-based, from first-hand reports.

There are now dozens of books written by autistic individuals, including children. They are insightful and essential for parents and professionals alike.

“My autism makes things shine. Sometimes I think it is amazing, but sometimes it is sad when I want to be the same and talk the same, and I fail. Playing the piano makes me very happy. Playing Beethoven is like your feelings – all of them – exploding.”

– Mikey Allcock, a 16-year-old who was non-speaking until age 10

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Having read a good number of these books, blogs, and lectures, several takeaways for me are:

Not all people with autism experience things the same way. They/we are all unique and have our own individual experiences of the world.
One person’s account of their autistic experience should not be assumed and imposed on another person with autism.
There is an infinitely wide range, a spectrum, of how each sense (smell, touch, taste, vision, and hearing) can be experienced.

Related Article: Hope for Autism

Given the individuality and range of autism, I believe that the only way to better understand any one individual, like your child, is to stay curious, to observe, join, and not judge.

This week, I encourage you to put aside your assumptions to spark your curiosity.

Become a detective… observe your child’s patterns, observe their behavior, listen closely to their sounds, join in more to imitate their movements.

Do all of this from a place of pure child-like curiosity… no pre-judgment… no pre-conclusions… no assumptions. Join them in their play and movement to learn about them.

Enjoy this week, filled with curiosity and wonder!

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