Today’s post is a simple ode to my beautiful, kind, cheerful, loud, computer sick, autistic, persevering, wonderful boy with his easy smile, who turns six today.
He still does, and always has, melted people with his bright blue eyes, shrill voice, and beautiful smile and it can sometimes be pure pleasure to witness his special and genuine view of life.
Sometimes, when I look at my little V and listen to him babble incomprehensibly, sometimes even repeating the same babbling over and over again, I feel like he is actually saying something, that his babble actually entails some meaning in his own head. It even has the timbre of Icelandic, as his voice goes up and down at just the right places. It sounds like he is speaking. Sometimes, he even looks me directly in the eye, while using his hands as if he is trying to tell me something. The only thing missing are the actual words!
Today is the 5th annual World Autism Awareness Day, celebrated worldwide with the hope of getting the attention of as many as possible. One part of that is Light It Up Blue, a united act of lighting up famous landmarks, such as the Empire State Building and the Sydney Opera House, with a blue light on this very day. On Twitter, there will be a storm of tweets using the hashtag #WorldAutismDay to support the cause. I’ve decided to dedicate this post to correcting 10 myths of autism that many people still believe to be true. Please share this with as many people as possible to help raise autism awareness.
It is only a few days until the 5th annual World Autism Awareness Day that will be celebrated April 2, 2012. Thus, I found it fitting to post a blog about what Kate Winslet (yes, the famous Oscar winning actress) is doing these days, namely raising awareness – and money – for autism. I had heard whispers about a book she was making related to autism that had something to do with a golden hat but it had not caught my attention enough for me to explore it in further detail. It was not until my friend posted a video-clip of her being interviewed on my Facebook wall that I realized what an important cause this was and how close to home it was hitting.
“V” she said for the 7th time, a little louder than before to try and get his attention. It wasn’t really working, he was very occupied with all the toys in the room and simply didn’t hear her. The physician looked at me and asked: “Is this normal form him? Is it common that he does not respond to his name?”. The sinking feeling became more profound and I nodded. Still, I felt like I had to give him something so I added: “But this is extra bad, it usually not this hard to get his attention. I guess it’s all the new toy that is distracting him”. Despite my excuses the sinking feeling no longer threatened to take over but comfortably settled into the armchair of my mind. The tiny sense of hope vanished and reality checked in again. I knew deep down inside that the outcome of this evaluation was not going to be good.
There are things I have difficulty thinking about without feeling the gloomy feelings sneaking up on me. These are storm clouds of thoughts, constantly threatening to engulf the sunlight and every day I have to fight a few little battles as not to let them take over my mind and soul. My defense is mainly built from thought prevention, meaning that I usually do not allow myself to go there. And if I do, I do everything in my power to force myself to stop and pull back. I have decided to share these darkest of thoughts with you in this post, mainly for the purpose of telling others that might relate, that they are not alone in feeling this way.
When couples make the decision to add a child to the family, the image they picture is usually of the perfect family, happily adoring this tiny little thing that has suddenly become the center of the universe. When thinking further into the future, parents tend to imagine their children growing up to be happy individuals and valued members of society. These future images rarely involve anything out of the ordinary. Thus, it is always a severe blow when people learn that their child has some kind of a condition that is likely to affect their future prospects.
