REBLOG. DO NOT REPOST
April 2nd is Autism Awareness Day. People are aware of autism now, some of them even accept it, but how many actually appreciate it? So many people see autism appreciation as “this science/acting/musical genius has added so much to society! We must appreciate them!” Okay, but what about those of us whose talents aren't as easily seen, or marketable? Those who aren't in the spotlight?
We should appreciate the autistic people we know in our day to day life. Every autistic person is awesome, and it's not in spite of our autism, but because of our autism. It's because I'm autistic that I am who I am. If someone appreciates me I would want them to also appreciate my autism because it's part of what makes me me.
To reach autism appreciation it's going to be a fight. We're going to have to keep climbing. There are so many who want to drag us down. They see us as different and in need of fixing. They see having an autistic child as something to be mourned instead of celebrated. We need to celebrate. We need to drown out their cries of sadness with our cheers of joy.
We are autistic, and we will never stop climbing!
