This April Accept my Family and my Son on the Autism Spectrum

April is autism awareness month. I hope I spread awareness daily through my stories of home life. I don't want to wear a specific color or donate to a cause. What I do want you to do is accept my family norm and learn from our stories.

Autism became most apparent to us when it entered our lives in October of 2010. Gabriel was 18 months at the time and began to regress in many ways: speech, motor activity and eating. In hindsight, signs had been there before, but he is our first child so how could we know? We called Early Intervention and soon found out about his diagnosis. I adore my son. He has autism and he is like no other being in the world. I've never seen a more loving, sweet, kind, well-behaved child. His mannerisms are gentle and he seems generally happy to me.

Do I want a "cure" for his autism? No. But I do want his life to be easier. I want him to be accepted, to be welcomed, to not be discriminated against. Watching my son's delight as he witnesses other kids having fun is pure joy. I believe he simply wants to be.

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To finish reading the full story, visit The Mighty community website: http://bit.ly/2nEZyHi.