Over 50 years ago April was first designated as Autism Awareness Month. A lot has changed over these 50 years, including redefining our efforts past awareness and towards acceptance and empowerment. For most of our families touched by autism, every day of April will be just like every day of every other month. Autism doesn’t go away when the blue lights of April are turned off. The children, teenagers, and adults all around us will continue to live with autism. Both the joys and insights that come with seeing the world differently, but also the struggles and isolation that sometimes come with seeing the world differently.

COVID brought many changes to the world. It ushered in new social and political expectations about how we treat each other. It forced us to rethink how we work, how we socialize, and what we do with our time. More than anything maybe, it taught us that what we thought wasn’t possible- just might actually be worth trying.

It will be those that are able to see the world differently that will be the leaders of tomorrow. A better tomorrow requires new ideas, and new ideas most often come from those with unique experiences, unique backgrounds, and maybe even unique neurology.

As we embark on another month of focusing our blue lights towards autism acceptance, let us be hopeful for an emerging world that might soon be moving past acceptance and towards actively seeking those who think differently to solve some of our biggest problems.