Perhaps I’m hiding my head in the sand.
I don’t want to debate why the new CDC autism numbers are where they are. I don’t want our community to fracture even more in the discussion of environmental vs genetics vs better diagnosis vs new classification.
I just want my sons’ teachers to understand how their brains work so they can learn better.
I just want my sons and their peers to grow up knowing that autism is not something to fear and that they can be friends.
I want the numbers to stand for more than debate.
I want them to promote change in our school systems and our insurance laws and our mental health services.
The 1 in 88 children. The 1 in 54 boys. My two.
My Facebook newsfeed is full of arguments about the “why”.
I want to see the “now what.”
“What about now?
What about today?
What if you’re making me all that I was meant to be?
What if our love never went away?
What if it’s lost behind words we could never find?
Baby, before it’s too late
What about now?” – What About Now? by Daughtry
March 29, 2012 at 1:16 pm
exactly, my friend, exactly
March 29, 2012 at 1:27 pm
i just told some moms that this morning. is it our diet or shots. lets just do what we can to get our kids to adult hood.
March 29, 2012 at 2:02 pm
I feel the same exact way. Sure, find a cure, whatever. Help the future kids out there, but what I care most about is helping my son navigate this world. Like Eustacia Cutler, I want Danny to be fulfilled the way that fulfills him. But I also want the world to change, become more accepting, understand these people who happen to think differently.
Like you said, now what?
March 30, 2012 at 9:11 am
I wish I knew the now what, but I have the same hopes for my kids. And the more we all talk together about what our kids need, and the more we teach our kids how to ask and know what they need…I hope that leads to their fulfillment.
March 29, 2012 at 2:02 pm
I can’t say any more than that. No more whys…just what can we do now?
March 29, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Right? How about how to we get more families access to therapies? How to we convince more people to be in the peds fields so families aren’t waiting years to see doctors and therapists? How do we educate teachers and doctors so parents aren’t continually banging their head against the wall? How about we just go outside and play because the sun is shining, and at the end of the day, the kids are still kids?
March 30, 2012 at 9:12 am
exactly. exactly. well said..
March 29, 2012 at 2:48 pm
I don’t care about anything besides how we are going to help our kids. It’s time.
March 29, 2012 at 3:47 pm
Exactly. Every time I get tired of explaining Autism, I am reminded that I must persist. I must educate the educators, the doctors, the therapists, the relatives, the employers, the general population….
Every time I want to rest, let someone else pick up the mantle, I am reminded that not every parent has the energy to educate every day and persist.
Well written post (as always!). :-)
March 29, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Exactly. “Now what?!” Indeed….
The new numbers kind of take my breath away….
March 29, 2012 at 4:17 pm
Amen, sister! Well put. Divisiveness will help exactly none of our kids. So, yes…what next?
March 29, 2012 at 5:56 pm
Amen. That’s all I can say. Amen.
March 29, 2012 at 5:58 pm
Word, my friend. WORD.
March 29, 2012 at 8:34 pm
Amen mama. Amen.
March 29, 2012 at 10:12 pm
I am with everyone else….Amen and Amen….You go girl!!!!
March 30, 2012 at 8:33 am
There is one “why” question that plays an important role in “now what” — that question is “with numbers like 1 in 88, WHY don’t more people understand?”
March 30, 2012 at 9:14 am
that is the question isn’t it. But with these numbers, I believe everyone will know someone – adult or child – who has autism. And it will someday not be the hushed words around the playground and doctor’s office but the “your child has autism. Here’s what he/she and YOU can do to help them navigate their world.”
March 30, 2012 at 11:08 am
Exactly.
I wrote a post yesterday and did ask Why? but from the standpoint of what’s it going to take for us to wake up and deal with this. What are we going to do to turn this thing around? How many kids are going to be diagnosed before we figure something out??? At some point, I think we need to know WHY it’s happening and just keeps getting worse.
If you’d like, you can read it here:
http://alongcamethebird.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-just-have-to-ask-why.html
March 30, 2012 at 8:31 pm
What she said!
March 30, 2012 at 9:43 pm
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