Zoom Autism Magazine Issue 3 Spring 2015 | Page 10

“What I want
is for you to show
us respect and acceptance
when we act or think
differently than
you expect.”
“The best way to help
people with autism is to
make a world where it is
okay to be different.”

i

spent last fall and winter
doing a lot of autism education at my youngest son’s
school. Over the course of a
few weeks, I gave presentations
about autism to every third and
fourth grade class. Most of these
children were already aware of
autism, at least a little. For me
and for them, it was far more
valuable to talk about autism
acceptance.
In talking to the kids, I heard a
lot that was really encouraging.
For example, there was one kid
who responded to my statement
that there is no cure for autism
by giving me a thoughtful, original, perfect third-grade definition of neurodiversity. He then
told his classmates that autistic
people don’t need a cure.
Then there were the children
who told me stories about kids
they knew who bullied and
teased autistic kids. Among
them was one fourth grader
who told me about a boy he’d
gone to summer camp with.
This boy had friends and got
along well with others. When
his peers heard that he had
autism, they started teasing him
and no longer wanted to be his
friends.

This page and previous page: Jean and her son Jack are looking
forward to celebrating Autism ‘Acceptance’ Month.

10

Zoom Autism Through Many Lenses

Those bullies were aware of autism, but they were not accepting of it. This one summer camp
tale is a microcosm of what can
happen in larger society. This
is one reason why many autism
and neurodiversity advocates
have opted to stop celebrating April as autism awareness
month and have instead rechristened it Autism Acceptance
Month.