Parents of kids with autism want you to know 7 things

Parents of kids with autism want you to know 7 things (from the Connecticut Families for Effective Autism Treatment) 

1. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure: It is less expensive to provide appropriate education and resources to children to help them become contributing members of society versus paying to care for them through old age as adults.
2. It is expensive to be a parent of a child with Autism – almost no interventions are covered by insurance, gluten-free diets are costly, some kids need pull-ups for years, there are additional childcare costs…
3. An understanding smile or kind word can make the day of a parent of a child w/autism. (Of all the things we have to share this is one of our top 7!)
4. It is lonely to be a parent of a child with Autism. Often we cannot go out with friends. We take our kids to a social event and have to watch them constantly. Simply going out as a family is challenging. It is difficult to discuss this because people outside our community often cannot relate.
5. The whole family is impacted by autism. Eating out, taking a trip, going to church, etc. are affected by the needs and reactions of a child with autism. Siblings often do not understand autism nor the behaviors associated with it. They have trouble with family activities being affected or by a sibling getting more attention. Parents can be exhausted, anxious and lonely.
6. The fear so many of us have of not knowing what the future holds and who will care for our children, no matter their age, when we no longer can.
7. Our children have feelings and emotions. They may not be able to indicate their emotions well or kindly appropriately, but they are aware of when people are treating them and when they are not being treated kindly.

(The list will be updatted daily until World Autism Awareness Day, April 2)