It's Called Bringing Awareness To Autism, Not Taking Pity

At the Autism Walk today I spotted two people protesting against the event claiming that it was a "hate group". I did not understand how anybody could view the event as something hateful. Later I went through articles about other walks across the country and found that some of them have also had protestors saying the same thing. These protestors have claimed that Autism Speaks depicts those with autism as victims of tragedy. If they had actually taken the time to invest in researching the organization and its mission and the people who benefit from it they would see that Autism Speaks is not meant to bring attention to those with autism so that they can pity them.

Autism Speaks does not view autism as a tragedy. The organization encourages all of us to embrace, love, and accept those who have autism and see them as inspirational beings. For years I have taken part of the Autism Walk as both a walker and a volunteer. I have also done research on what they have done for autism and how they perceive it.

The organization views autism as not only a hurdle but also as something that makes a person creative and unique. Of course they bring attention to the fact that some people with autism and their families have faced difficult obstacles but they do not have the intention of making people pity them. What they want is to bring awareness to how the disorder's severity ranges and how that can determine what benefits each individual's needs. Some people with autism are higher functioning, some have more difficulty learning, others may have bipolar disorder/ADD/ADHD as well as autism. Bringing awareness to the different ways autism affects people will not only help to decide what type of service they need but will also educate people of the sign's so that if they may have a child that seems to fit one of the categories they can look to see if there is indeed a diagnosis.

The Autism Walk is an event filled with celebration of the obstacles that those with autism and their families have overcome. The money raised goes into research and services that will help provide the assistance these people need in order to achieve their full potential. Just because some people struggle in some areas more than others does not mean they are any less of a person, and that is something Autism Speaks emphasizes on. We are all different in our own special ways. Whether we are disabled, poor, rich, street smart, or book smart we are all equally important.