She hears the buzz of the lights that fall silent on most ears. The tag in your shirt that slightly bugs your back is like a knife sticking into hers. The water droplets from the pool sting on her skin until she experiences the freedom of slipping under the water and disappearing from them. She sees patterns where you and I see nothing at all. She sees a work of art in dotted porch lights in the neighborhood. Her cry comes out of frustration for a world that doesn’t “get” it. She could read before she could talk. She could recognize letters before she could walk. She doesn’t notice a different tone in your voice, but she’s watching your face to look for something she can interpret. She makes sense of the world in pictures. In cartoons. Everything is in living color, but every situation is answered in black and white. I used to want to try to help her think like me. But the biggest lesson she’s taught me is that all I need to really do is think like her. Then? I understand. No judgments and no preconceived notions. The everyday in her eyes? It’s amazing.
I will never see autism as a disablilty. I will simply see it as a different way of seeing things. Different, never less. Different, but an unexplained kind of amazing.
April is Autism Awareness Month. There’s a parent in your school who is struggling. There’s a child that needs your understanding. I know because I was that parent and that girl? She is my daughter. April may be the chance to raise awareness, but everyday is your chance to make a difference for someone else.