Opinion: Why I Despise Autism Awareness Month

Thoughtful opinion piece by Kim Stagliano has authored a novel and two books on parenting daughters with autism. She is managing editor of Age of Autism. Anyone else feel this way? 

Today, you’ll be seeing a lot of blue: World monuments will be cast in blue lights, your co-workers will be wearing blue clothes, and companies will be hawking blue products. Why? April 2 is World

Autism Awareness Day, when advocacy group Autism Speaks “celebrates” its international Light It Up Blue Campaign. But while you’ll be seeing blue everywhere, I’ll be seeing RED. The feel-good frippery of Light It Up Blue cloaks an often debilitating disorder in an air of festivity, with balloons, sparkling lights and pep rallies. The campaign implies autism is a party, rather than a crisis. For families living with autism, reality is far more sober, and their needs extend far beyond “awareness.”

Open Letter to Journalists on Eve of Autism Awareness Month

From Age of Autism's Media Editor Anne Dachel.

Dear Fellow Members of the Media: (That includes all of you at CBS, NBC, CNN, Forbes, New York Times, Chicago Trib, LA Times, et al.)

April is coming up and I wanted to say a few words about the month dedicated to autism awareness.  Many of us in the autism community are tired of stories about lighting the world up in blue and celebrating autism as if parents should be happy about a diagnosis.  We've endured years of feel-good coverage about awareness, fund-raising walks, and no explanation for the mystery of autism.  

Most of all, we want you to do your jobs. 

Why Some Children with Severe Autism 'Bloom'

A small number of children with severe autism "bloom" over time and progress to a high-functioning state, and a new study may reveal part of the reason this happens.
In most cases, children with autism who show severe symptoms at diagnosis improve very little as they age, while those who are least impaired improve more rapidly in their social and communication skills, the study showed.
However, about 10 percent of autistic children are so-called bloomers, the researchers said, and the study showed that one factor that distinguished these children was higher socioeconomic status. Bloomers tended to have white mothers with more education.

Books By and For Children with Autism

April is Autism Awareness Month, and given the increase in the number of children with autism spectrum disorders (the rate is in constant dispute, but some estimate that A.S.D. affects as many as 1 in 110 children), a stack of new books for and about autistic children is to be expected.

Opinion: Autism Does Not Define Potential

Thoughtful opinion piece by Todd Drezner of Brooklyn, N.Y.


I'm against Autism Awareness Month. Don't get me wrong — as the father of an autistic son and the director of the documentary "Loving Lampposts: Living Autistic" (tinyurl.com/3dlrgnb), I'm eager for people to learn about and understand autism.
But as I made my film, I met a lot of autistic adults who don't think about autism in the same way the rest of the world perceives it. There's a huge obsession with everything about autistic children today, and amid this clamor, autistic adults are too often ignored. I was interested in what they had to say about themselves.