FROM THE EDITOR
T
he other day, while I was helping my son Jay with his
English homework, the most incredible thing happened. In preparation for those darn standardized tests
coming up, teachers have been sending home writing
prompts and making the kids do graphic organizers to help
them figure out what they would write on the test. While Jay is
very creative, these types of assignments tend to be very difficult for him as they are vague and, well, to be
perfectly honest, he hates the
physical task of writing.
In an effort to ease his frustration, I suggested to Jay that
he not think about it as having
to write an essay that answers
every conceivable solution
to the question but rather to
explore one possible solution.
“Good writers see what others
don’t see. They don’t necessarily
try to solve a problem or explain
the mysteries of life … instead
they celebrate the mystery itself!”
I said, rather proud of myself.
But Jay remained quiet. I realized
that what I had considered to be
a profound statement may have
come across to him just as vague as
the writing prompt. I was about to try to clarify what I really
meant when it happened. Once again, my boy surprised me.
After taking a moment or two to process, he smiled and said,
“Like autism!”
Jay hit it on the nail! We don’t need to explore every possible
reason for why autism exists; we just need to celebrate that it
does. This spring issue of ZOOM is our effort to do just that,
and we packed it full of incredible articles to help us make our
point. From insightful autistic self-advocate Amy Sequenzia’s
essay “Attitudes, Information and Education” to Mama Fry’s “Fix,
Manage, Accept,” you will learn why we all need to just scratch
out the awareness part and dub April as Autism Acceptance
Month instead!
4
Zoom Autism Through Many Lenses
Picture of Jay CELEBRATING his
Chess Team’s 2nd place win in their
very first TEAM Competition.