Just like all parents I want my daughter to be happy with who she is. In general she is a confident, loving teenager but when she is struggling, when her days are at their worst, I know she needs to see the light at the end of the tunnel as much as I do.
Ever since the tragedy in Connecticut and the barrage of news media linking the shooter to autism, I’ve struggled to battle the negativity. I’ve taken extra care to make sure she doesn’t see the coverage but she is a teenager, and just like any parent of a teenager, I cannot keep her in a bubble and I know she has heard things I would rather her never hear.
Last week, several parents began highlighting the positive in their children with autism in an attempt to fight the negative weighting on us all.
It began with a single picture.
(image courtesy of http://newbabynews.blogspot.com)
And then another
(image courtesy of http://www.mostlytruestuff.com/)
and then another
(image courtesy of http://fourplusanangel.com)
and so many more followed that a social media campaign began.
Since it’s inception, just a few days before Christmas, Autism Shines has started a facebook page and a website and it has shined.
The faces of so many children, teens and adults with autism have been shared with the many amazing qualities they hold. Looking at these faces and seeing the hope in their stories has helped me, but it has helped someone else I know so much more. I have peeked over my teenager’s shoulder to see her scrolling through the pages and pages of people like her. She has called me over to show me the face of someone else who likes Food Network or someone who went to college or someone wearing yellow, her favorite color. I want her to be proud of herself, to be happy with who she is and the part of her that is Autism. And she is. She is just as proud to be a part of this community as I am.
As I look at these families and see the support bursting through the screen I can’t help but feel like we are all in this together and feel the hope glowing in every photo. We have amazing children and we will continue to look past their label and see each of them as the beautiful, shining lights they are.
For more information on Autism Shines or to submit your own photo visit on facebook or their brand new shiny website.
This is really nice. I still have yet to add my own to the mix, maybe this will get that ball rollin’.
You definitely need to!
Seeing this positive website emerge quickly and grow so exponentially has really helped me heal from such a tragic month. It’s helped a lot of us. I’m so glad to see such beauty in the world. Thanks!
As am I Bill, this whole project has been incredibly healing at a time when we all needed it.
I love that your daughter is finding the commonalities, the connections in her own time and her own ways. That’s fantastic.
It has been great to watch her “see” herself in so many of the kids and a part of the project that I had no idea would happen.
I look forward to the day that my five-year old son Angel can look at the pictures on the Autism Shines page and understand that he is not alone. Thanks for spreading awareness about this wonderful project.
I think this is such a good, positive, really lovely thing that is happening. It’s really wonderful to see all these beautiful faces and their stories.
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