It's April! Time to "Celebrate" Autism?

Written By Jill Escher, President

Letter from the President

It's April! Time to "Celebrate" Autism?

Dear friends,

It's April, so that must mean it's Autism Month, no, World Autism Awareness Day, er, maybe Autism Awareness Month, or perhaps Autism Acceptance Month. Or as we at NCSA prefer to call it, Autism Action Month.

Whatever your preference, while we certainly celebrate and cherish our children (like my nonverbal autistic daughter Sophie, pictured with me here), we do not see autism — an increasingly prevalent, serious neurodevelopmental disorder — as something to celebrate.

When ever more American children cannot talk, and cannot function at grade level, is that something to celebrate?

When a growing percentage of young adults cannot care for themselves and require expensive and intensive 24/7 supervision, is that something to celebrate?

When 1 in 12 boys in a populous New Jersey county have a diagnosis of autism, is that something to celebrate?

When devoted parents are routinely berated online by ideological activists, is that something to celebrate?

After spending billions on research and still not finding causes of autism, except in a fraction of cases, is that something to celebrate?

When our "disability rights" leaders are laser-focused on dismantling options that serve the most severely disabled, is that something to celebrate?

Amidst all the festivities, events and news coverage, never forget the bleak reality simmering underneath the pretty pictures. Our system is failing and families are terrified about the future of their loved ones with autism.

For this we have no magic wand, but we do know one thing: working together we can raise #AuthenticAwareness, and fight for a better future. This is the essence of #AutismAction at NCSA. Honest appraisal of facts. Meaningful research. Realistic policy. Read below about the NCSA Initiatives — and think about how you might take part this April. Sometimes it's as easy as a single click.

Wishing us all a month of #AuthenticAwareness and #AutismAction,

Jill Escher
President

Jill Escher, President

Jill Escher is president of the National Council on Severe Autism and the mother of two children with nonverbal forms of autism. Through the Escher Fund for Autism she promotes and funds research on the genetic toxicology of autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions, and she has served on the governing council of the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society, where she co-chairs its Germ Cell and Heritable Effects special interest group. She was president of Autism Society San Francisco Bay Area from 2013 to 2019 and, through her family business, Claradon Properties, provides housing to adults with developmental disabilities in the Bay Area. See more of her work at jillescher.com.

https://www.jillescher.com/
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