So I wrote on an advocate’s page that I may not always agree with, but respect. He posted a video on his point of view on a topic near and dear to his heart as he is on the spectrum. He asked those that didn’t agree with him to leave his page which made me sad as I hate to see our community divide.
I notice in our community that we are so divided by our beliefs… autistic vs child (or individual) with autism, world autism day, acceptance day, awareness day, appreciation day, Diet or No Diet, disease, disorder or disability… light it up blue or red or go dark, help the child or believe God made them perfect just the way they are… oh my goodness this is just some of the stuff we fight about..we don’t have to always agree on everything however, we should always respect one another..

It personally drives me bonkers to have our groups fight and not listen to one another. We have bigger fish to fry..

I think we need to stand together throughout all the subgroups. As I believe there are many…we can learn so much from each other.

Here is what I wrote on the thread that I thought was important to maybe have us all in the community think about…

We divide ourselves and then expect the general world not to do the same… that strategy is not working for us…

Here is my comment on the thread to the advocate on the spectrum that I respect as I said (I hope I don’t get unfriended: our kiddos in all subgroups need all the friends they can get):

I believe there are different subgroups of Autism. I think we need to be understanding of them all and respect them all. The Autism you speak of that you advocate for is one that is far different than other subgroups. It makes me sad we have to divide. Why can’t we respect all of the spectrum. No one should speak negative about anyone on the spectrum (remembering it’s called a spectrum for a reason). We shouldn’t be unfriending just because we are in different subgroups.. we should be open minded of one another and we should be rallying together to teach the world. Some of the spectrum are quite sick. Their immune systems aren’t the same as other subgroups. I wish we would stop acting like there is only one type of Autism. I respect your work however, I would love a world where the Autism community could stand together and understand all aspects. I wish they had different categories on the Autism spectrum as all are not created equal with the one label. There are subgroups that don’t have a voice, get violent, aren’t potty trained, can’t hold a job, have no resources and so on. Their future with out their parents being their advocate to help them have the best life and hopefully be able to live on their own when the parents are no longer here is a bleak one if we don’t stand up for them too. Many have food allergies, gastro problems, seizures and so on… it’s not just a few in the community it’s thousands and thousands experiencing this with Autism which tells me this group is sick and maybe once they can help their immune issues then maybe they can join the healthy subgroup of Autism. My son’s mind is brilliant in so many ways however, he gets held back by being so sick with many other labels that as I said thousands have in a subgroup of Autism. Let’s stop fighting each other. Let’s be respectful on all sides and show compassion. It hurts the subgroup that have very sick children when the advocates that are doing so well in the healthy group dismiss how they are feeling and what they deal with. I think there should be nothing but love and support from all sides. The general world is hard enough to fight.. let’s not fight w each other. Let’s stand together and educate that there is not a one size fits all label…

Wishing you the best and know even though my son is not in the subgroup you advocate for I am still advocating for your group too!!

Peace and love…