Autism Awareness is April 02 for the world, but it's every day for me, so I decided to write my remaining April Blogs about my journey living with Autism. I helped raised my step-son since he was almost 4-years old. I actually met him before I met my wife. He was sitting at a school cafeteria table alone screaming at the top of his lungs. I knew he was Special Needs because that's when Special Needs kids ate, but what I never understood was why the rest of the class was two tables over, including staff. The first time I saw this wasn't the last time, then one day I saw the mom come and pick him up. The staff hurriedly rushed her to his table, pointing in his direction while in the middle of a tantrum. I recognized the mom from the restaurant where I got my burritos from after work and had given me the cold shoulder every time I tried to talk to her. I had got tired of her ignoring me so I gave her my number and told her call me if she ever got bored, then found myself looking for another restaurant to buy my burritos. The little boy at the huge round table was hers and my heart went out to them both and I felt like imposing my opinions about what I had been seeing all the time, too many times for that matter, but I just started working there so I kept my mouth shut and she never saw me. Two weeks (more or less) passed when out of the blue she called me. I'll never forget that day, it was a Sunday afternoon and I was in my office planning, watching tv etc., and after a long conversation she asked me out on a date. Autism still meant nothing to me, I didn't know anything about her son other than he was 3-years old and was a student in the area's Head Start Program. The words non-verbal, developmental delay, stimming, behavior disorder, cognitive impairment all meant nothing to me still. That phone call changed my life forever.
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