Welcome to a new guest post about raising autism awareness from  Arianna Armstrong!

 

All packed for a trip to France. A suitcase filled with outfits destined for immortalization in snapshots by the Eiffel Tower, a carry-on with French translation dictionaries and language guides, and maps to take you from Aast to Zoteux. Then an announcement from the captain of the plane, alerting everyone that your arrival time in Rome is a brief twenty minutes away.

This is how one of my long-ago professors described parenting a child with autism. She said it’s like preparing for a trip to France, only to discover that you’ve unboarded in Italy. No judgments, no crises – just a completely different trip than the one you were expecting.

If you’ve spent months (or years) prepping yourself for one path – or if you were born into the situation – winding up on a different journey is going to take a little getting used to, especially if, to continue the metaphor, everyone in your group speaks anything but Italian.

In terms of autism, let’s stop promoting the long-held belief that autism is something bad – a burden people bear with quiet grace and strength while staring longingly at the pages of other people’s “normal” lives. This April, let’s appreciate that different does not equal wrong. As Matt Young beautifully described in his piece, “Acceptance”: “[we] have recast April as ‘Autism Acceptance Month,’ a time to celebrate the unique, complex, sublime individuals that we are, to accept our strengths and our challenges, our struggles and our triumphs.”

This month, let’s acknowledge that on our individual journeys, we’re frequently surprised about where we end up and are often grateful for the destination. Awareness is important – but let’s begin to move past awareness toward an acceptance of the traits, characteristics and vantage points that make up the individual. An unexpected trip to Italy is just as spectacular as a planned trip to France – if you’re willing to free yourself of preconceived ideas and appreciate everything there is to offer about where you’re headed.

To help further the cause, CARD.com has launched the Autism Awareness Card. No matter where you’re going, the card is welcome everywhere Visa is accepted. Withdraw funds at thousands of ATMs, conveniently load money with Western Union, PayPal, bank transfers, MoneyPak, direct deposit of wages or federal benefits payments. You can spread the word while enjoying perks like:

• No late fees

• No overdraft fees

• No check cashing fees

• Spending tracking

• Online bill pay

• 24/7/365 live support by phone and web

The Autism Awareness prepaid card offers many of the perks of a credit card, it’s just different – different in a good way. Different in ways you can accept, and appreciate.

https://www.card.com/autism-awareness?option=0&afid=120&chn=bl