It’s April.
It’s that time of the year again.

No, not taxes.

It’s the month of Autism Awareness.

You’d think a month would make a difference in some of our lives.

The fact of the matter is, that a month doesn’t cover it.

But here goes what I would like to accomplish this months.

I’m daydreaming folks, so bare with me.

I would like for people to think before they spoke.

Let me explain.
I would love to go out and have Miss C behave to the tee.
Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn’t.
She usually does the latter.
That’s OUR reality.

I would love to go out and people not stare at us like if we were something odd, like Miss C was some kind of E.T. I would love for them not to make comments on how poorly disciplined my daughter is, or how I suck as a mom for letting her get away with ‘murder’. I would love for people to not say things like:

“Damn, if she were my kid, I’d give her a good spanking so she’d straighten up”

I would love for people to not judge my emotional state, which varies in these situations from
“neutral-i-don’t-care-I’m-gonna-run-myerrands” to “I’m-so-sick-of-this-sh*t-whacha-lookin-at” to

“jesuschristpleasegivemeabreak”.

I would like to use my handicap quick checkout card and have people not say:

“What type of handicap does SHE have?”

I would love for people to wipe off the faces of horror when Miss C throws herself on the floor and see my indifference.

God forbid I let her do that and not act out and do something. I would love for people to mind their own business and stop handing out spectacular advice on how to take care and discipline my child, because in their humble opinion, “she doesn’t have anything, it’s just pure nonsense”.

This goes out to my neighbor who in recent days made me bring on the rain, to shut her ass up.

I would love people to not look at me with those eyes of: “Poor kid, that’ why they get pregnant? I bet she beats that kid”.

I would love for them not to look at my daughter with pity, like that school photographer who said, in my presence, “poor kids…they just reek with pity, don’t they?”

I would love for them to not look at my daughter with eyes of disgust, because they think she is spoiled or misbehaved.

I would love for my neighbor to shut her trap up and not call my daughter “stuck up” because she doesn’t say hi, every time that old hag wants her to.

If you want a trained pup, get a Maltese.

I would love for people to stop and think:
“Geeze, maybe something’s wrong, maybe there is something I don’t know about, maybe they are going through a tough time, or the kid has some type of problem”.

Instead of talking, I would love them to shut up.

Like Vader taught me: “Quiet you look lovely”.

Or like they say: “if ya’ aint’ got nothing nice to say, don’t say nothing nice at all”.

I would love so many things.

Like a World Series title before the Yankees have to say goodbye to their old stadium.

But that looks difficult.
The previous situation is even more difficult.

But I’ll keep on stopping them in their tracks…I’ll keep leaving them with their jaws to the floor and disoriented eyes, because sometimes I’m tired of their ignorance and think just like them:

It’s pure nonsense.

And it’s sad ya’ know, because today it’s me, but tomorrow it can be the same person who judged my daughter and thought she was a spoiled brat.

In the meantime, I’ll keep doing what I need to do. My life cannot stop because Miss C is cranky. I can’t stop going to the bank or supermarket because people give us hard looks, gotta keep on living and keep on spreading the Word.