I am continuing to see the autism conversation elevated. I see people all across the spectrum and their family members sharing their perspectives. Here’s a few of my thoughts.

1. Words matter. In recent years, there’s been an increase in the use of the R word. This is damaging as is saying that autism destroys families. That is not to minimize how difficult it can be, but there are often gifts along the way. Working with individuals with severe autism taught me many lessons as did having a brother with a disability.
2. Research is important. When I graduated college in 1999, I volunteered a research lab with the professor who did research into autism. There have been countless research studies since then about autism. You could spend weeks reading all of the scientific literature that has been published. I am not against looking into the environmental factors in autism. However, it’s not a novel concept. That’s what’s so frustrating about this conversation. People have been looking into these things for years. It’s insulting to have someone come in and say they’re going to find the cause of a complex neurobiological disorder by September. here’s a link to a literature review from 2020 related to some of the research done that has already been done: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7082249/
3. False hope can be damaging. I worked for group homes with individuals with severe autism when gluten-free was becoming a fad. A few families requested that their children with severe autism go on a gluten-free diet because they heard it could help. I don’t blame them. Anything is worth a try. But in this case, all it did was make them more irritable and aggressivesive because they wanted the foods that they liked. It didn’t improve symptoms. We need to be careful about what we promise.
4. We need to do a better job as a society of making space for individuals with autism and their families. Some may be able to contribute to society through employment and others may not. Regardless, all our made in the image of God deserve dignity and respect. Living with a child with autism can be uniquely difficult. We need to better support these families.