Autism 101

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet the brother of one of my best friends. My friend and I have known each other for nearly 20 years, and I was meeting her brother, whom I had heard about for years, for the first time.

Upon meeting over lunch, he immediately noticed the puzzle pin on my shirt, and inquired to its meaning. I explained that it was representative of autism, and worn to raise awareness. I explained that my youngest son Mason was diagnosed 3 years ago.

Over lunch, the conversation turned to autism. He, having no children, knew very little about it..

He asked the inevitable… “What is Autism?”

Ah… The Dangling Carrot……

I went into my usual, now well rehearsed, diatribe of explaining autism, as I’ve done to coworkers, friends, acquaintances, and anyone who feels like listening. Throwing out words and phrases like; neurological disorder, inability to communicate, lack of eye contact, and all the other red flags.

I did my best to keep the conversation simple, yet at the same time hitting home the point of how dire our situation is as parents, and as a community. No one knows what we struggle with on a daily basis, and achieving even the simplest of tasks with our children is akin to reaching the summit of Mount Everest in a pair of flip-flops and Bermuda shorts.

After my short speech in between mouthfuls of spaghetti marinara, I was peppered with more questions… causation, costs, medication, long term care, and the like.

“Wow” I thought to myself “This guy doesn’t know what he’s in for and my lunch break is only an hour long”

We touched on all those subjects, and I explained some of the controversy around them, even within our own ranks and in the end, we had a great discussion. I know he walked away knowing more than he did before we met. And I hope it was something he could take with him and that it affected him positively in some manner.

I thought how great it would be if everyone took such an interest besides those of us under this umbrella.