For the World's View

Our lives are filled with the Autism spectrum in one form or another. Email updates, new statistics, blog posts, phone calls; not a day goes by without a reminder that one of our family members suffers from a disorder that will follow him the rest of his life.

Tomorrow, April 2nd, is World Autism Awareness day. Let's remember the one in 150 children and their families who are affected, and what true research might be able to provide some day to alleviate lifelong struggles. We can pray that it will be in our lifetime.

We can also hope that a day like tomorrow builds a bridge from rejection to acceptance, and cements that bridge with the Golden Rule of "treating others as you would like to be treated".

Maybe a day focusing on awareness will help other parents, educators, and peers feel compelled to stop, look, and listen to the inward desires of a child with Asperger Syndrome; to be wanted, loved, needed, included.

Give this song a listen, if you will. Just a bunch of guys on a stage, not in a showy concert, but mostly unplugged. They're kind of grubby, kind of funny looking, but the words they say might just explain more than I ever could.

Listen here.

"I feel the waves crashing on my feet

It's like I know where I need to be

I can't figure out Just how much air I will need to breathe
When your wave crashes over me

There's only one way to figure out

Will you let me drown...will you let me drown

Hey, now, this is my desire

Consumes me like a fire

'Cause I just want something beautiful

to touch me...

I'm waiting for

Something beautiful..."

(Needtobreathe-"Something Beautiful")