Ellen Notbohm’s newsletter for April 2021 

Awareness, Acceptance, Action—Every Month

It’s been twenty-five years since I first became aware of Autism Awareness Month. It seemed like such a good idea at first, and I did enthusiastically participate for a few years. But I grew disillusioned when I saw how quickly the bursts of “awareness” faded into the background again after the splashy events ended, and how “awareness” didn’t translate into meaningful and enduring change that advanced education for autistics, community integration, job opportunities, treatments and therapies through the lifespan.

A New Focus

So that became my focus—how to keep awareness at a constant but friendly level that would encourage ongoing action. I’d glad I did because today, April is “awareness month” for no less than fifty national causes, all of them good. And then there’s the other eleven months. With this kind of bombardment, many good-hearted people succumb to compassion fatigue and numbness to the constant pleas for contributions to causes which too often are too vague (“research” or “family programs”).

Social media helps us keep our thoughts in front of a daily audience because it favors short, visual, easy to digest messages that can—and should—be gently repeated over time; a one-time meme will fly by unseen by most of the people we’re aiming for. And even if someone has seen it before, don’t most of us require more than one impression to truly learn something?

From infancy to adulthood

In the name of year-round awareness that leads to thought and conversations that make a difference in how we listen to, value and guide our children, here are some of my more popular memes, taking us from infancy through to adulthood.

[Feel free to share, but please include credit. The text is copyrighted material.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Children’s Book of the Month

 She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World
 by Chelsea Clinton

This is the first book I bought for and read to my grandchild. Her father thanked me “for empowering our daughter right from the start.” She Persisted gets everything right. The short bios are relatable for young children, the relevant quotes from each persistent woman are memorable, the artwork is beautiful, the diversity of woman and work represented spans time, culture, race, social issues.

A book that stays at the top of my gift list for babies and children of all genders.

 

  

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New to the Global Photo Gallery – from PARIS and BORDEAUX!

10 choses que votre enfant autiste aimerait que vous sachiez (2021 Dunod), the Euro French edition of Ten Things, was recently released and immediately spotted in bookstores around France.

 

From Arizona to Angola to Azerbaijan, new photos are being added to the Where in the World gallery as they arrive. No matter where you are, we’d love to see yours. Send by replying to this email or message me through my Facebook author page.

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Let’s connect

Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn.

Visit and contact me at ellennotbohm.com

Invite me to visit your book club, blog or page.

Work with me. I offer affordable coaching and editorial services for emerging as well as established writers, whether you aspire to publication or your writing is for your eyes only.

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Final thoughts on awareness:

Author Walker Percy said, “To become aware of possibility is to be onto something.” Being onto something is a good start, but it’s not an achievement until it becomes something. When we convert possibility to deed, we move beyond awareness into the kind of action that makes way for our children to grow into adults able to take their rightful, useful places in their communities, and for those communities to see themselves as the beneficiary.

My 2013 column “Autism awareness is not enough” outlined my dream for programs that would turn awareness into action. It’s as pertinent today as it was then. Read it, dream it … and work with me to make things happen.

Yours,
Ellen