Take Notice

Last year, did you notice the blue light illuminating the top of the Terminal Tower and the ones shining bright at the Q and on a few other buildings downtown on the evening of April 1^st? Did you wonder why? Did it spark your curiosity? If the inquisition was there, the purpose of this act was successful.

You see, on the evenings of April 1 and 2, 2011, prominent buildings across North America and the world will again turn their lights blue to raise awareness for autism and to commemorate World Autism Awareness Day.

Over the past few weeks, there has been a plea from the autism community to get the White House to take part in this plight. I have been struggling about getting on this bandwagon. My first thoughts were that we, as an autism community, should not be selfish. What makes autism awareness any more important than another cause? There are thousands of causes out there that are just as worthy. Soon, the White House would be inundated with requests from all types of special interest groups to get their cause recognized, too. If they started with one cause, how could they ever draw the line? When would enough be enough?

As I was going about our evening routine, I heard a song in the background coming from a

Sesame Street

video that gave me my “ah ha moment”… The words from that song begged me to ask “Who will be the people in YOUR neighborhood? Who will be the people that you meet when you’re walking down the street? Who will be the people that you meet each day?” 1 in 110 children are diagnosed with autism. Right now, most of these children with autism are populated in homes and schools. As these children grow up, they will be adult members of society and they will be all around us.

Who will be your gas attendant? Who will be cooking your food at McDonalds or serving you coffee at the local coffee shop? Who will be stocking your shelves at the local store or bagging your groceries? Who will be delivering your mail or your newspaper? Who will be re-shelving books at the library?  It is my prayer that children with autism will be able to get the support they need to become productive members of society.

So, on World Autism Awareness Day, yes, I plan to post a link on my face book page; Yes, I will probably wear a blue puzzle piece pin or an awareness bracelet, and yes, I will possibly even dress my children in LOGO t-shirts that show our autism support. I will be putting my blue light bulb in my lamp post at my little home on a little cul-de-sac in a little town hoping that someone …just someone will ask me why? But that is not enough. Enough will never be enough when it comes to my child with autism.

So, Mr. President, our budget may never be balanced, our health care may still be in crisis, and we still may be at war, but…there will STILL be autism.  It would be a disservice to every citizen of this country if we did not make them aware of autism. If people do not become aware of this now, how will they ever be able to understand it and accept it in the future when they will be surrounded by it?
Mr. Obama, won’t you Light It Up Blue, too?