By Haylie Robinson
It’s National Autism Awareness Month, also known as Autism Acceptance Month; according to https://www.cdc.gov/, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. ASD is known to be caused by genetics, but other reasons ASD occurs are being researched as though scientists believe that there can be multiple different causes for ASD to occur.
According to https://www.autism.org.uk/, Autism is on a spectrum; this means that Autism can affect people in different ways, such as social communication/interactions, repetitive or restrictive behavior, sensory issues*, hyper-fixations*, extreme anxiety, meltdowns or shutdowns. Https://www.cdc.gov/ states that ASD shows up before the age of 3, but many people receive a concluding diagnosis until they age.
According to https://www.usatoday.com/, one in 36 children is autistic, meaning this disorder is the most common. But this statistic might change because more people of different diversities are being tested as though they were majorly overlooked throughout history.
Usatoday.com states some ways to support people that are Autistic. Four things to know for better understanding and supporting people with Autism are as follows:
• Avoid harmful labels and language
• Support Autistic-run organizations and businesses
• Don’t perpetuate myths about Autism
• Don’t speak over Autistic voices
* Sensory Issues: Problems related to processing information from the senses, such as hearing, taste, touch, sight, or smell
* Hyper-Fixations: This is being extremely fixated on certain things such as video games, hobbies, movies, etc.
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