Autism Awareness Day 4

Autism Awareness Day 4 - You have more in common with a person who has Autism than you realize.  It seems that the initial reaction to someone with Autism is that they are different, odd, or strange but the truth is that we all have more in common than you may realize. Have you ever tried describing something to another person but you just couldn't think of the words you needed to express what you wanted to say? Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation and then suddenly used the wrong word than what you meant to use? Have you ever had difficulty pronouncing certain words? Have you ever tried to explain or show someone something and they just did not seem to understand what you were trying to tell them? Well if you've experienced any of these things than you can understand what a person with Autism deals with when they try to communicate verbally. These are the types of challenges they face regularly because communication tends to be more difficult for them.

Have you ever heard a sound that made you uncomfortable or just plain hurt your ears, maybe something like nails on chalkboard? Have you ever walked into a very loud, crowded room where there was so much noise and things going on that it just felt a bit overwhelming? Have you ever been frustrated when trying to talk on the phone while others are talking loudly around you or making noises that disrupt your concentration and make it hard for you to focus on your phone conversation? Well if you've experienced any of these than you can understand how a child with Autism feels when their senses are overloaded. For example my boys have heightened senses so these things would bother them much quicker than it would me but I can still understand what it must be like for them.

The point I'm trying to make here is that even though things are different for the person with Autism, we can all understand them at least to a certain degree. Once we start seeing the similarities in one another it is much easier to be considerate of each other because we're really not all that different after all. Finding common ground is definitely a step in the right direction.