On this World Autism Day, and you might notice a divide - Red vs Blue.

Unfortunately, our community is not as united as we want to be.

At the heart of this divide, is one main debate - “What causes Autism?”
And you will rarely hear my voice in this debate.

I don't support an organization.

I support my son.

My focus is his quality of life and advocating for early intervention.

There are issues with the Light it up Blue campaign, mostly centered around how they spend their money and their “tragic” approach to finding a cure. There are claims they help very few autistic people, and a good majority of them find the blue team’s approach and verbiage completely offensive.

There is an alternate campaign that celebrates neurodiversity and is started by the autism community, itself. This is where the red comes in. The REDinstead movement has been growing rapidly.

I want to make something very clear -

I. Don’t. Care.

To those of you outside the special needs community, this is all very confusing and you have your own life with very little time to read up on the complexities of these issues.

So, please know that I don’t care if you wear blue or red today. I don’t care if you use the word “awareness” or “acceptance”.

If you are taking an active role in bettering life for a kiddo on the spectrum, you’re going to get a high five from me!

You will see a lot of “donate” buttons today. A quick google search will tell you how these organizations spend their money, and I hope you will take the time to do so before you hand anything over.

If I had my way, everyone would donate directly to a family, a local organization, or find a way to get involved that doesn’t cost anything but time.

Connection and understanding is what we need the most.

For further reading about the two campaigns, I've provided a few links for you:
Annual Reports | Autism Speaks
‘Light It Up Blue?’ Autistic Adults Suggest Red Instead
About - Walk in Red
Ed Asner, Shannon Penrod, Shannon Des Roches Rosa Respond to Autism Speaks Criticism
And my favorite, so far:
My three daughters are autistic. I despise Autism Awareness Month.

Steemit Autism Community Roll Call!!

Here are some more awesome Autism parents to follow on Steemit. Any one of them would be happy to help guide you any way they can!

@imaginedragon

@aspiejoe

@arteagaile

@erodedthoughts

@bronxb17

@jazzyfish

@winstonwolfe

@omnitaylor

@sukhasanasister

@lugina

@beautifulbullies

You can find SUPA (Steemit's Unbreakable Parents of Autism) on Discord!

CLICK HERE to join our Discord channel!

Thanks for reading!

Remember: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.