Autism awareness spans more than a month

By Taylor Crowe

April is Autism Awareness Month -- except to me and many people I know. For us, every month is Autism Awareness Month because for a person with autism, their family or their teachers, autism awareness is important every single day of the year.

I think it's important to know that autism is not a disease, it's just the way some people are built. It's also important to know that autism is not just one disorder, it's many different conditions that are so similar that they all get called the same thing. Some types of autism are severe while others are milder -- some people with autism can speak, others can't. Also, some children have autism from birth while others appear perfectly normal until they begin acting differently at 18 months old, or age 2 or 3.

I was one of those "perfectly normal" children who suddenly changed; I call this kind of autism "regressive" autism. When my autism first showed up, my parents thought I was just having trouble adjusting to having a new little brother around, but since it never seemed to stop, they soon started feeling that it was something different. I finally got a diagnosis at age 4 from a doctor in St. Louis. You name it, he said I'd never be able to do it. Like being successful in school, having friends, being married some day or even ever having a job. My parents didn't believe this. Why? Because I had language once, and they knew I could have it again. Sure enough, with language therapy I got better with my language, slowly but steadily! As this happened I began to be able to communicate, and other parts of my life improved.

Last year I had an editorial in this paper about autism and what life with autism has been like for me. In the year since that editorial was published, I've been able to drive to more places on my own in our family car like church, the gym and the studio where I work. Also, my tenth high school reunion was last August; I spoke with some of my old classmates there about the important effect their friendships have had on my life. I've also learned to do plein air paintings, paintings done outdoors in only a handful of hours. This is in preparation for a series of paintings I've been asked to do in Montana in the summer of 2012. To learn how to do this I've taken lessons from a very talented Cape Girardeau artist, Craig Thomas. Also in the world of painting, I've begun to receive commissions to paint portraits of people.

Various schools and organizations around the country have invited me to talk about my perspective on life with autism. In the last year I've been to New York, Texas (several times), Alaska, California, and even out of the country to Toronto, Ontario. I give teachers, parents and caregivers my advice about how to work with people who have autism. While giving several speeches in Alaska last month, I experienced two things for the first time: I rode a dog sled and also saw the aurora -- the Northern Lights -- in the sky at night. I've had the great opportunity to share my story and thoughts about autism with lots of people in lots of places.

In the last year my friend Leah Ulrich and I also finished writing and illustrating our children's book about autism. We're seeking a publisher for it. The book is titled "My Friend Has Autism," and it's a story about a boy with autism through the eyes of one of his classmates.

It's important for people of all ages to have an awareness of autism. Autism is not new, but it seems that it is because there are far more people with autism now than when I was born. Since there are more people with autism now than ever before, those with autism really need help and understanding from everyone, even people they don't know!

Even if you don't know anyone with autism and it's not a major focus for you, if you stop to think for a moment about somebody a little less fortunate than you and try to help them, you'll be doing a good deed. One way you could do this is to donate to an autism organization like Autism Speaks or the autism center in Cape Girardeau. You could also volunteer for an autism organization during your off work hours. There are many ways to help. If you take a moment to stop and help people with autism, you'll be making the world a much better place!

I really believe that with the right kind of help, for many people autism can become more of an inconvenience than a disability.

Taylor Crowe is a Cape Girardeau resident.