How It Started
Bernard Rimland, born November 15, 1928, was an American research psychologist, writer, and influential person in the field of developmental disorders. Autism Awareness Month was founded in April 1970 by Bernard Rimland, PhD., a psychologist and autism researcher. He chose the month of April to coincide with his son’s birthday, as well as the start of spring to symbolize a time for a fresh start and new beginnings. Despite Dr. Rimland’s research and studies that furthered our understanding of what Autism Spectrum Disorder is today, the first man to discover the neurological disorder was Leo Kanner, an Austrian-American psychiatrist who was referred to as the “father of child psychiatry” in the U.S.
Dr. Kanner’s best known for his description of “early infantile autism” in 1943. He described a common profile where the children didn’t relate “in the ordinary way” to people or situations after doing some observations of 11 children with similar behaviors. Dr. Kanner also coined the phrase “refrigerator mother” to describe the supposed coldness of parents who he thought caused, or at least contributed to, their children’s autistic behavior.
In April of 1988, former President Ronald Reagan issued the first presidential proclamation that would declare April as National Autism Awareness Month. This was a first step towards significant progress and began a new era of awareness, which opened opportunities for people with autism to live fuller and more productive lives.
What Is Autism?
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. Scientists believe there are multiple causes of ASD that act together to change the most common ways people develop, but there is still much to learn about the neurological difference that appears in some people’s brains at birth. People with autism may behave, communicate, interact, and learn differently than other people. Autism Spectrum Disorder begins before the age of three years old and can last throughout a person’s life, although symptoms may change over time. People with autism may have unique ways of learning, moving, or paying attention. That may make things in life much more challenging for them compared to the average neurotypical person.
How Can You Show Support?
There are many ways to show support for Autism Awareness Month, one of those ways being educating yourself. First, it’s important to destigmatize the stereotypes or assumptions you may hold internally from what you think you know about autism. Believing things like autism having a specific “look” or behavioral set is harmful to the people on the spectrum and can invalidate their experience and diagnosis. If you do find yourself in the face of someone you know, or someone you may know with ASD, let that person know that they are seen and listen to them when they express their personal needs. Whatever things that may help them operate easier are things you should hear and take note of.
There are other ways of helping and supporting people on the spectrum though, not just validating them. You can do things like support online funds, donate, and wear the autism awareness ribbon. People and hairstylists can also support by donating a haircut to help children with sensory issues feel more comfortable in their own skin. There are many fundraisers that host these types of events for autism friendly services like hair cuts. Educating yourself on autism can make it easier to understand the day to day battles people that have autism may deal with or carry. It is also great to know how you can support more and help to better spread the message so that you and others can learn to help people too.