April is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month

By Tom Galperin with Galperin Autism Consulting

April is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month! When I first began working in the autism field back in 1996, very few people had heard of it—and most of those who had didn’t have an accurate understanding. The movie Rain Man was one of the only depictions of autism many people had ever seen. Fast forward 30 years, and you would be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard the word “autism” or doesn’t know someone on the spectrum.

This dramatic increase in awareness stems from several factors, including the rise in the incidence rate (from 1 in 150 in 1996 to 1 in 31 today), the increased portrayal of autistic characters in television and film, and the advocacy efforts of autistic individuals and their allies. It’s clear that awareness has grown—but it’s equally clear that acceptance has not kept pace, largely because many people still don’t truly understand autism.

If you want to deepen your understanding of autism, I highly recommend reading Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin. Temple, who is on the autism spectrum, has a remarkable ability to articulate how she thinks, learns, and experiences the world. She communicates her inner world with clarity, making it easy for neurotypical readers to understand. There’s no psychobabble or overwhelming technical jargon—just straightforward language that brings her

perspective to life. You can also watch her 20-minute TED Talk, “The World Needs All Kinds of Minds,” where she explains her visual, detail-oriented thinking and why it is so valuable.

When we take the time to understand perspectives like those shared by individuals on the autism spectrum, such as Dr. Grandin, we begin to see that autism is not something to be fixed, but something to be understood, respected, and embraced. Let’s use April as a starting point—not just for awareness, but for meaningful acceptance and understanding of those who think and experience the world differently.

To learn more about Galperin Autism Consulting, go to www.galperinautismconsulting.com.