World Autism Awareness Day, and why I celebrate

I am troubled at times by the rhetoric that Autism Speaks at times uses, but as I've said plenty of times, they've made autism a household name. At the same time, Autism Speaks has cultivated a culture of fear among the community, often to the point where they pitty those with autism, but more importantly, their families. But just like with certain Republicans in New York, I give credit where credit is due.

For me, World Autism Awareness Day is also a day of celebration for all that those on the autism community have made towards making our world a little bit of a better place. Trust me, I want to find a way to make my big contribution, and if it's through participation in the political process through elected office, I'll accept that. I celebrate today because it's a day where we recognize that you can't ignore autism, but we can redefine how we look at it and those afflicted by it.

For me, autism isn't so much a way of life as much a part of it. I just deal with its effects, like I would if I were diabetic. I've been taught over the years to make the best out of a bad situation, and that's exactly what I've done for nearly the last two decades.

It's been Autism Speaks' and others job to promote autism awareness, it's my job to turn that into autism acceptance and to go out and change the world and make it a better place.