We all Fit Together

“C’mon, Mom.  Let’s go.”

I looked at my watch.

“I guess we can go.  Cate isn’t done her soccer lesson for another 10 minutes though.”

Bobby kept looking across the basketball courts.  I collected all the coats and devices and called for Declan.

“That was fun!”  I said to Bobby as we started walking through the basketball courts.  We had just spent the better part of an hour playing basketball with each other.  Different games, different play, but all fun.  Declan enjoyed trying to get the ball from Bobby.  And big brother, Bobby enjoyed trying to keep the ball away from his younger brother.

And then as soon as YouTube Declan realized the video camera was out, he went into YouTube mode. 😊

All really helped make minutes deplete as we waited for Catelyn’s lesson to finish.

“Yeah,” Bobby replied and looked across the court again, bouncing his ball as we walked.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Do you see that boy over there?”

I looked across the court.  An entire basketball team was practicing their layups.

“I see a lot of boys over there.  Why?”

“That one, with the longer blond hair, was pointing and laughing at Declan.”

“He was?” I wondered what the boy was laughing at.  I looked back at Declan and checked – his clothes were fine, pants not hanging to reveal any resemblance of a plumber at work.

“Yes.  The boy is in my engineering class.”

“Oh!  Then you can just tell him about Declan then.”

“I’ve never talked to him.  I don’t even know his name.  I just know he is in that one class with me.”

“Oh,” I said and shuffled the coats around to get a better grip on them.  I looked again at Bobby.

“I can see that you are upset at the boy.  It’s never okay to point and laugh at someone.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“It’d be great if you could tie the “autism facts” from your morning announcement into your family’s story.  It would bring more awareness.  I mean, you don’t look at Declan or Catelyn and see autism.”

Bobby nodded his head and we walked a little farther up the court waiting for Declan to catch up.

“I don’t know, bud.  I know it hurts you to see Declan get laughed at.  That’s why you’re here to protect him.  It will all work out.”

“Yeah,” Bobby nodded and looked at Declan, “Hey Declan?”

“What?”

“Do you want to try to get my ball over here?”

“Okay!”

And off we went while Catelyn wrapped up.

 

At the beginning of April, Bobby’s school started to provide one fact about autism a day on the morning announcements to help promote autism awareness and acceptance.

I would imagine those facts are very important to those in the school affected by autism – as a person on the spectrum or as a family member to a person on the spectrum.

I know for Bobby, the facts are important – if the information gets out and is understood, it will help his siblings be accepted – and not laughed at.

The school’s goal is to have the kids recognize they all fit together despite each students differences and challenges.  Here is what the school has sent out the students so far this month – nice start!

Autism is a spectrum. While a lot of people with a diagnosis will share some common traits, autism will affect them in different ways. Everybody is different. This may make it more difficult to understand, but it’s important you do. Treat everyone with autism as you would anyone else, as individuals.

Nobody knows the cause of autism.  There are hundreds of theories out there, but nobody has a definitive answer. What causes autism is not the most important thing — how we accept and enhance the lives of people with autism is.

You cannot tell a person has autism just by looking at them. Autism is what is sometimes called “invisible.” There is not a certain look.

Autism can affect how a person is able to make sense of the world around them. This confusion can cause anxiety and behaviors you might feel are strange. Be patient. Try to understand.

People with autism are individuals, just like you.  Try to see the person for who they are. People with autism are individuals who should be treated accordingly.

Communication Tips:  When interacting with someone with Autism remember…Just because they are not looking at you doesn’t mean they are not listening.  Talk as equals, do not talk down to them. If you think a communication error has happened, clarify it, ask questions. Be patient.

If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism. What might apply to that person you already know might be the complete opposite for somebody else.