April is Autism Awareness Month. One month to raise awareness and spread understanding for those who will live their entire lives seeing the world from another perspective. One month to spread patience and information for a lifetime of being misunderstood. One month to advocate for an inclusive community for a lifetime of feeling on the fringe.

What does Autism Awareness Month really stand for?

It is about parents, families, teachers, friends, neighbors, communities, therapists, scientists, doctors, and groups all working together to improve the quality of life for people with autism. It is about bringing two worlds closer together: the world of the neurotypical and the world of the autistic. It is about giving people the tools they need to produce change. It is about information. It is about learning what The Autism Life means: for those with autism, for those who raise a child with autism, for those who teach students with autism, for those who treat the patient with autism, and for those who believe we can make a better life for everyone.

We are given opportunities throughout life to drop a pebble in the water and watch the waves grow and expand. We are given opportunities to create change on a national level by making one phone call or writing one letter. We are given opportunities to remove barriers rather than create them. We are given opportunities to make a lasting difference in a person’s life with almost no effort on our part at all. And you can do all these things without spending a dime. Patience, understanding, and acceptance are free of charge.

People with autism are some of the best people you will ever meet. People with autism will change the way you think about yourself, about life, and about the world. If you just give them the chance to be in your life and in your world.

This past week our local community wanted to have an autism friendly movie showing for children with autism and their families. The local theater had initially refused to participate. So our little corner of the autism universe banded together and called corporate office to ask for change, for accommodation, and for respect. I'm proud to say that at the end of the month, our local movie theater will now be holding a sensory friendly movie for our children and their loved ones. For the first time, some of our children and caregivers will be going to the movies. This is change. This is awareness. This is what April is about. This is what every single day should be about.

Start a conversation about autism today. Speak autism with me and teach others to speak it too.

Be a part of the autism movement. One minute of your life can make a lifetime of difference for a person with autism. Advocate now, advocate loudly, and advocate every single day. Because if you don’t do it, no one else will.