April is Autism Awareness Month.  Usually months that have notable and unique names take the form of celebration or homage--think Black History Month or Women’s History Month—as in:  'let’s honor all those great people and their contributions to society during this specific month.'  What is there really to celebrate with Autism Awareness Month?

Most of us are aware that 1 out of every 150 boys are born on the autism spectrum.  We now know tons of different kinds of therapies to help our kids and we know the kinds of schools kids with various challenges need to be in to learn and academically succeed.  There are special after-school or weekend programs for kids with autism and newsletters, information on the web and specialists galore to help a family with autism on a daily basis.  People say Autism Awareness Month is great because it’s about making people aware of autism.

But once we’re aware, then what happens?
 
All this autism awareness has gotten me thinking about the future for these kids and young adults with autism. (I think about young adults a lot lately because of my involvement with the JCC Manhattan's Adaptations program in New York for young adults with disabilities where numerous classes in social skills, theatre, healthy living, fitness and technology are offered.)

I see from the success of these classes that  young people 'on the spectrum' crave things to do with their lives—jobs and opportunities.  How can this happen when unemployment rates are the highest they’ve been in 25 years? Growing numbers of autistic individuals on the spectrum will eventually need and want to enter the workforce.  How will they do it? Who will hire them?  And, what will they do?

I see hope!

I’m looking forward to the development of some much-needed top-down employment changes that my pal Jonathan Kaufman of www.disabilityworks.com is working on in a much-needed policy level with President Obama and his healthcare team on disability workforce issues.  And I am reminded of a lecture I once heard by Temple Grandin, the professor who is autistic herself, about appropriate jobs for people on the spectrum.  Her list includes: computer programming, drafting, repair or building trades, building or factory maintenance and more.  You can find more of her thoughts on jobs and people with disabilities here.

Now that you know, what can you do?

Here’s the answer, and it’s simple. Introduce and teach your special needs niece or nephew a skill. Perhaps it’s growing a garden together. Or, going shopping and then cooking with one another.  Maybe it’s taking apart and then looking at the inner side of a computer or a cell-phone together to see how things work.

By showing, sharing and teaching a specific skill to a person with a disability, you are helping them gain an interest in something that they may be able to use later on in life.  One day, perhaps there won’t be an Autism Awareness Month, because, hopefully, at that point autism won’t be considered a challenge, a deficit or a strange affliction exhibited by the boy at the supermarket check-out.  It will just be one of those things some people have like high-cheek bones, long legs or a small waist.