Autism Awareness Month: Why it is Important to the Autistic Community

Michael J. Westwood
Mar 31, 2020
3 min read

April is a very special month for people on the autism spectrum, because it is the month where the challenges and stigmas that they cope with everyday are given a showcase for awareness. There are many support groups and organizations throughout the world designed to increase understanding about this very complicated developmental disability, but even with that in mind, there are many out there that do not understand it yet. Therefore, it is a blessing that society has dedicated a month to giving those on the spectrum 30 days to be recognized for the effort that they put in to adjust to the typical world.

Autism Awareness Month, which includes World Autism Awareness Day every year on April 2, was established by the United Nations (UN) on November 1, 2007 and was first observed in 2008. The idea behind this is to provide resources for young children that are diagnosed early in life, as well as promoting inclusion for people on the spectrum amongst the typical population. Since autism is known for causing communication issues in the aspects of holding back-and-forth conversations and reading non-verbal cues, getting a child or person on the spectrum speech therapy can be useful in helping them learn these skills. This is especially vital for not only building and maintaining meaningful relationships, also for holding a job and living the most fulfilling life possible.

There is a very well-known quote regarding people that are on the spectrum which states, “Different, not less.” This choice of words is very appropriate because it is very concise and an accurate description of anyone on the spectrum. Autistic people are often mocked for being different, mostly in childhood and somewhat in adulthood. This is often due to misunderstanding of the disability by typical people and the mockery takes its toll on the self-esteem of the people on the spectrum. For those that have high-functioning autism, they are aware of their differences and may have difficulty expressing their frustrations verbally, which makes their situation even more challenging.

This difficulty with advocating for themselves is why people that are high-functioning benefit from a good support system. Living in the world is hard for typical people at times, never mind a person with a social disability. The support system could be in the form of the immediate family, relatives, special education teachers and therapists. On top of this, several theme parks and tourist attractions across the United States have become autism-certified, such as Sesame Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the Space Center in Houston, Texas, among others. Being autism-certified means that these businesses have services and professionals on duty to assist the children on the spectrum with their various needs.

As far as Sesame Place is concerned, that is the theme park for the classic children’s education program Sesame Street and the show has included a character that is on the spectrum. Her name is Julia and she is portrayed as a four year old girl that has difficulty making eye contact in a conversation. The show makes sure to teach its viewers that Julia does not dislike her peers due to that behavior, it is a part of being on the spectrum and she can be taught that skill, similar to many autistic people, by being reminded to make eye contact. The point of Julia being part of Sesame Street is to show that in spite of their social skill issues, autistic people are still capable of making friendships with typical people and their differences are to be accepted, not rejected or misjudged. Another special aspect to Julia’s character is that her puppeteer is a woman who has an autistic son.

There is an episode of Sesame Street that aired on PBS on Monday, April 8th in honor of Autism Awareness Month which depicts Julia being nervous about getting a haircut, which a lot of children on the spectrum have trouble with in real life. The intention with this storyline is to help the children figure out coping techniques on how to deal with their fears when it comes to haircuts. Julia’s family is also being introduced to the program soon, including her parents, her typical older brother named Samuel and her dog named Rose.

Autism Awareness Month is a very important month for those that are affected, whether it is people on the spectrum or their families. Society is making progress in supporting those with autism and hopefully one day, the stigmas will decrease and acceptance will increase.