Giving Thanks

This Thanksgiving, I would like to depart from my typical expression of gratitude to all of you who work with those with autism, and those of you who are parents of children with autism, and thank directly those of you who have an autism spectrum disorder. It has often been said that the best way to judge the level of civilization in a culture is how well they treat those with disabilities (in current parlance, how well we treat those with special needs.) In the mid nineteen-thirties, Adolf Hitler justified his wholesale slaughter of those with disabilities as freeing their tormented souls from their bodies. It was the first step in what eventually became the slaughter of trade unionists, certain Catholics, gypsies, and six million Jews.
Parents of children with autism often describe their eventual awakening to the belief that their children on the spectrum are truly a blessing. They bless their parents’ and siblings’ lives with a deeper understanding of the human condition, and deepen their ability to love. They bring new friends and new meaning to their lives.
Those of us who are blessed to work in this field know well about the souls of those with whom we work, because that is why we do what we do. We know because we feel touched by our children who have "special needs". They touch us with their love, their kindness, their honesty, their humor, and their efforts and strivings. We learn from them daily, how to love, how to appreciate our own blessings, how to take life seriously but not too seriously, how to give and how to let go.
So this Thanksgiving, let’s all pause for a moment, close our eyes and express our appreciation for those on the spectrum, each of whom have touched us in some way or another, each of whom have enrichened us with their precious souls.