04/03/2024
April Is Autism Awareness & Acceptance Month.
Today is World Autism Awareness Day! This day is a reminder of the importance of promoting awareness and acceptance of autism in our society. By educating ourselves and others about autism, we can create a more inclusive and supportive environment for individuals on the spectrum.
Here's our story:
As some of you may know, Bee was diagnosed with Autism in 2021, at the age of 6. After 5 long years of behavioral challenges, difficulty regulating emotions, difficulty with some cognitive learning skills and so on, I was finally able to get her an appointment at Kennedy Krieger after being on the waitlist for 1 year back in 2021. This has been a long road of trying to figure out what's best for her, getting her the proper support systems in place, the best people to help her and some are quick to say it's nothing wrong and just needs a "old fashioned ....", many calls to people asking for help and navigating this newfound space.
2023-2024 has been one of the worst years ever but I continue to push forward through it all by the Grace of God and a handful of non-judgmental friends of mine, my Mom and Arie. Even when they don't know what to say, them being there has pushed me through many of down days dealing with this with B. I deeply appreciate all of you.
I'm a huge advocate for my children and learning of her diagnosis didn't make me feel any type of way but have a sigh of relief. I didn't look at her any different but I'm constantly teaching others how to have empathy and compassion for others not knowing their day-in and day-out life situations. This hasn't been easy as she thinks and operates differently than others and the smallest situation can cause severe meltdowns, social anxiety and frustration for her. I will tell anybody to sit to your gut when you see and feel something is off with your kids. Some situations you can't just grow out of and this is one of them.
Autism doesn't "have a look", so just be kind to people, you never truly know what a person is dealing with! 💙