As a mother to a wonderful child on the autism spectrum, I am always trying to raise autism awareness. I am very passionate about my kids and have always been the best advocate I could be for them. When Henry was diagnosed with autism 5 years ago, we were relieved as well as terrified. I can’t tell you how many family members thought we made up his diagnosis to cover his behavior or skeptical stares we got everywhere we went, I knew almost immediately that I would be an advocate not only for my son but for all those parents and caregivers who were touched by Autism. Now that the AMA has told us 1 child in 65 has autism, the likelihood that you are touched by it is pretty high. Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person’s ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by behavioral challenges.  Here are five easy ways you can help raise awareness and educate others so that we can stop the staring and start loving and appreciating these amazingly gifted, unique and wonderful children.
Five Ways To Raise Autism Awareness
- Talk: Any time you see an opportunity to speak with someone about autism, go ahead and start the conversation. I remember when Henry and I were in Wal-Mart and it was the tail end of our shopping and he was getting agitated, the bright lights, tons of people and noise got to him and he started to have a meltdown, right there on the floor in the housewares department. A woman stopped stared at us and I spoke up and said that Henry has autism and this is what he does when he gets overstimulated. She said she had a neighbor with autism and they had similar issues.
- Educate: Take any opportunity you are given to speak about autism. When I was in nursing school, I had to take a public speaking class and my final report was on autism. I spoke about what autism was, how it affected our family and that there was no cure. I asked if anyone in the class had a connection to something with autism and several hands went up. I have also spoken at a Girl Scout meeting, PTA meeting and in other settings.
- Stay Informed: The best way to educate others about autism is to keep up with the latest yourself. You can’t properly educate others if you yourself are not up to date on the latest findings.
- Have A Play Date: Whenever we are in a new situation with Henry, we invite our new friends over for a play date. When they arrive, I sit down with the parent and child and explain that Henry has autism and what that means. I would tell them the behaviors Henry showed most often and how we handled them. Once everyone is on the same page, things usually go great.
- Pride: Take pride in the fact that you know one of these awesome people! I am loud and proud about Henry’s autism and will tell anyone that will listen to me!! I was interested in finding a way I could show people I knew someone with autism without being in their face. The perfect tool presented itself when I found a wonderful online jewelry store names AJs Collection. Not only did AJs Collection carry the perfect piece of jewelry for me, they have an extensive line of gorgeous jewelry.
Wearing Jewelry With A Cause
Before I came across AJs Collection, I hadn’t thought about wearing jewelry with a cause. What a perfect way to show my support for the cause while at the same time opening a door for others to start a conversation. I love my Autism Awareness Silver Charm Necklace ($45.00) with the words: Teach, Love, Inspire hand stamped with the puzzle charm. The lovely silver boxed chain balances the lightweight metal of the necklace perfectly. AJs Collection also offers an extensive collection of bracelets, necklaces, and monogrammed jewelry for men, women, grandparents and more. You can choose a hand stamped keychain for your husband or possibly the Big Hearted necklace with the grandkids names stamped on the outer disc.  Regardless the special occasion, AJs Collection is sure to have just what you were looking for!
One reader will win a $75 gift card to be used at AJs Collection
Hammer Me! 14k Gold plus birthstones
! love initial necklace. That’s what my fiance says to me all the time.
I like the ONE LOVE INITIAL necklace
I love the necklace that says “I love you to the moon and back”
Double Sweets
Love this:
http://www.ajscollection.com/p/135/circle-of-love-with-multiple-birthstones
Mini Mini necklace
LUCKY THREE NECKLACE
i love “my 4 Treasures”
I like the ONE LOVE INITIAL necklace
The necklace that says teach love and inspire.
the THREE MUSKETEERS necklaces
I like the forever since necklace
The Tiffany-Inspired Hand Stamped Bracelet is my favorite product.
I like the Hammer Me.
Close to my heart rectangle necklace
La petite rectangle initial necklace.
As a mother of two children on the Autistic spectrum, I love the Autism Awareness Rectangle Charm Necklace. I would love to have this necklace and be able to put both my boys names on it to help spread Autism Awareness.
Picture of Take Two Round Charm Necklace
Take Two Round Charm Necklace
Two Domed round charm necklace with birthstones
i like the happy family necklace
jagar0047 at yahoo dot com
I like sweet leaf initial necklace.
I like the tiffany style hand stamped bracelet.
The autism round necklace is my fav!
http://www.ajscollection.com/p/134/autism-awareness-rectangle-charm-necklace
i like the rectangle I Love You to the Moon and Back
Silver Hand Stamped Charm with Heart Pendant
I love the Tiffany-inspired hand-stamped bracelet!
I love the ALL MY FAMILY LOCKET. So many awesome items it was hard to choose just one!!
Happy family necklace.
My favorite is the Lucky Three necklace.
i love the All My Family Locket
Circle of Love with Multiple Birthstones
I like the sweet leaf initial necklace!
Rectangle I love you to the Moon and Back Necklace 🙂
I love the Tiffany Inspired Hand Stamped Bracelet!
the THREE MUSKETEERS necklaces
CIRCLE OF LOVE WITH MULTIPLE BIRTHSTONES
I like the Hip hop bracelet
LUCKY TWO NECKLACE
I Love You to the Moon & Back Necklace
Followed on Pinterest……..….… emscout9…………….http://pinterest.com/emscout9/
Followed on RSS…Google reader subscriber …as Paol Trenny …pls use emscout9 at hotmail dot com instead of gmail to contact me
MY FOUR TREASURES Necklace
My favorite is the My Four Treasures Necklace. Thank you so much for the opportunity to win.
I Love You To The Moon and Back Necklace.
my little heart necklace
CIRCLE OF LOVE WITH MULTIPLE BIRTHSTONES
here
DOUBLE JOY – PERSONALIZED GUITAR PICK would be a great gift for my hubby, and i also love the BE HIP HIP bracelet!
I like the Circle of Love with Multiple Birthstones necklace.
I like the PERSONALIZED GUITAR PICK KEY CHAIN
I love the Sweet Leaf Initial necklace.
I love the Take Two Round Charm Necklace
I like the ‘My Four Treasures’ necklace (this may be duplicate-sorry)
I like the ‘My Four Treasures’ necklace
I like the Rectangle I Love You to the Moon and Back .
i love the TIFFANY-INSPIRED HAND STAMPED BRACELET
I Love You To The Moon and Back Necklace.
Hip hop bracelet
TIFFANY-INSPIRED HAND STAMPED BRACELET
I love the AMORE STERLING SILVER HEART PENDANT NECKLACE
One Love Initial
Mini Mini Necklace
I love the Double Sweets necklace. So pretty. I love silver and I really love pearls. I have an old pearl & silver ring from West Germany (which doesn’t exist anymore) and it is one of my favorite jewelry pieces.
I like the forever since, what a great way to mark a date
I like the circle of love with birthstones.
My favorite is “A Date To Remember” charm necklace.
My favorite item is LA PETITE RECTANGLE INITIAL CHARM necklace.
All My Family Locket
My favorite is the Take Two Square Necklace.
the circle of love
I like the Tiny Heart with Great Love.
I really like the 14k Gold Filled Hand Stamped Hammered Washer Necklace.
I like Circle of Love with Multiple Birthstones
I like the Circle of Love with Multiple Birthstones necklace.
I like the STERLING SILVER PERSONALIZED HAND STAMPED GUITAR PICK
I like the s’more heart pendant.
My favorite is the My Little Heart Necklace.
jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com
I like the Dipio necklace for 2 kids : )
MONOGRAM STERLING SILVER PENDANT NECKLACE
i like the http://www.ajscollection.com/p/15/monogram-sterling-silver-pendant-necklace
The one love initial necklace
Big Hearted
I like the Circle of Love with Multiple Birthstones necklace.
Like the big hearted necklace!
I love you to the moon and back! I have wanted jewelry like this for a few years now. I keep dropping hints to my hubby but still no necklace.
circle of love with multiple birthstones
I want the BE HIP HIP bracelet.
The circle of love with multiple birthstones and the deux amore! I love the little domes with the names on them! I had a necklace like this but I lost a birthstone and had another baby since then, plus I got married!
Circle of Love with Multiple Birthstones necklace
http://www.ajscollection.com/p/88/be-hip-hip bracelet is my fave 🙂
i love the Special Date Personalized Hand Stamped Necklace
Circle of love with birthstones
i love my three treasures necklace
Circle of Love with Multiple Birthstones
my treasures mixed metals necklace
The 925 Personalized Guitar Pick Key chain is my favorite.
my little heart
I love the circle of love with multiple birthstones
I like the Be Hip Hip Bracelets.
personalized dogtags would be cool !
AMORE STERLING SILVER HEART PENDANT NECKLACE
Circle of Love with Multiple Birthstones
I’d really love to have the necklace with the charms with my children’s names. I love anything personalized and unique
I love the MINI MINI necklace. This is so adorable.
I love the bracelets!!!
LOve you to the moon necklace is my fave
circle of love w/ birthstones
I really like the Lucky 4 necklace… I don’t have any ” Mom” jewelry, and this would be perfect…
I love the Forever Since necklace!
I like the lucky two necklace
ilove jewelry i would get something for cousin who lost her mom and is getting married
Rectangle I Love You to the Moon and Back
I love the rectangle I love you to the moon and back necklace!
I like the Sweet Leaf Initial necklace, it is so cute. I also like that the jewelry is all personalized.
Hammer Me
i like the Three Musketeers Necklace
I like the Sweet Leaf Initial
POW WOW STERLING SILVER DOGTAG
A Date to Remember Charm Necklace
Love the Sweet Leaf Gold Initial Necklace.
I like this necklace http://www.ajscollection.com/p/15/monogram-sterling-silver-pendant-necklace
I like the Lucky Three Necklaced. Thank you!
My favorite product is the Circle of Love with Multiple Birthstones.
Thanks for the giveaway!
The circle of love necklace
I love the Forever Since necklace!
h4schaffer at gmail dot com
Date to remember charm necklace
I love the My Four Treasures necklace
I like the Duex Amore necklace
A date to remember necklace
I like the CIRCLE OF LOVE WITH MULTIPLE BIRTHSTONES necklace.
I love the http://www.ajscollection.com/p/120/sweet-leaf-initial
DOUBLE SWEETS NECKLACE.
i like hammer me and think birdie
I like A Date to Remember Charm Necklace
Silver Hand Stamped Charm with Heart Pendant
I like the big heart. Thank you
I like the lucky three necklace
I like the Fantastic Four Sterling Silver necklace. But I like a lot of other things too
ALL MY FAMILY LOCKET. This is a phrase I use with my autism spectrum daughter. We play fight over who loves who the most.
I love the A Date To Remember necklace! 🙂
misusedinnocence@aol.com
I love you to the moon and back necklace. I love it
I like the DOUBLE SWEETS necklace/charm
I like the Sweet Heart Necklace.
Domed and hammered one name charm pendant
like the TIFFANY-INSPIRED HAND STAMPED BRACELET
ardy22 at earthlink dot net
I like the ALL MY FAMILY LOCKET!
I like the FOREVER SINCE… necklace.
I love the one love initial pendant
I love the Rectangle I love you to the Moon and back.
Happy Family
Round charm necklace.
POW WOW STERLING SILVER DOGTAG
Love the ALL MY FAMILY LOCKET!
I just LOVE all the hand stamped jewelry
Autism awareness puzzle, “To Acceptance”
“love is patient & kind” – such fun jewelry. so cool!! ( :
Big Hearted
All my family locket
I luv the BIG HEARTED necklace:)
jmatek AT wi DOT rr DOT com
the RECTANGLE I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK is lovely
RECTANGLE I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK
love love love their all my family locket
La Petite Round Initial Charm Necklace
CIRCLE OF LOVE WITH MULTIPLE BIRTHSTONES
THREE MUSKETEERS
I like the Take Two Round Charm Necklace
I really like the A DATE TO REMEMBER CHARM NECKLACE with the heart hanging on it.
I love the Lucky three necklace
Tiffany-inspired Hand Stamped Bracelet
Like the All My Family locket
Necklace-Rectangle I Love You To The Moon and Back
Personalized Tiffany Inspired Hand Stamped Bracelet
sweet leaf initial pendant is nice
Lucky Two Necklace
Lucky Two Necklace
autism one here is nice
I like the HAMMER ME! pendant
I love you to the moon and back
i like the big hearted pendant
I love the CIRCLE OF LOVE WITH MULTIPLE BIRTHSTONES
I like the One Love Initial Pendant Necklace.
the three musketeers necklace
Circle of Love with birthstones!
I like the HAMMER ME! necklace
The my little heart necklace.
Thanks for the chance.
mogrill12@gmail.com
CIRCLE OF LOVE WITH MULTIPLE BIRTHSTONES and the big circle of love one with Nana in it would be perfect for my mom.
I like the Close to My Heart rectangle pendant necklace: http://www.ajscollection.com/p/51/close-to-my-heart-rectangle-sterling-silver-necklace
Really lovely stuff, and great that they have jewelery with a cause!
The Circle of Love necklace with multiple birthstones is my very favorite!
the heart ring
With You Always Necklace
I like the Three Domed round charm necklace with birthstones.
I love the My little Heart necklace
insopiration necklace
The Amore Necklace..among several others
I love the hand stamped tiffany style bracelet.
Close to my heart Rectangle Sterling Silver Necklace
I love the Big Hearted Necklace
I love the little heart ring
Multi Strap Suede, Silver Initial Charm Bracelet with magnetic closure
I like the heart necklace
I like the My little Heart necklace.
Autism awareness charm necklace. I have a family member who is autistic.
I like the AMORE STERLING SILVER HEART PENDANT NECKLACE
I like the All My Family Locket
I like the Lucky Two Necklace!
Autism awareness rectangle charm necklace.
I love the Dopio necklace with his/her names on it.
the All my Family Locket
All My Family Locket
My favorite is the Happy Family.
I like the Lucky Four Necklace.
I like LA PETITE RECTANGLE INITIAL CHARM.
I like LA PETITE RECTANGLE INITIAL CHARM.
I like LA PETITE RECTANGLE INITIAL CHARM.
I like LA PETITE RECTANGLE INITIAL CHARM.
Circle of Love is awesome! I love all of it, so hard to pick just one favorite. THANKS
I like the Circle of Life necklace.
http://www.ajscollection.com/p/40/a-date-to-remember-charm-necklace
This necklace is lovely 🙂
I really love this necklace: http://www.ajscollection.com/p/51/close-to-my-heart-rectangle-sterling-silver-necklace
I love the necklace: CIRCLE OF LOVE WITH MULTIPLE BIRTHSTONES
well as the parent of a 22 year old son with autism I love the teach love inspire one but the other with the name and the puzzle piece is very nice as well.
20 years ago the rate was 1 in 10,000 and information was so hard to find. Many of the therapies weren’t even available.
I love the All my Family Locket!
I like the Be Hip Hip bracelet.
I like the Circle of Love with Multiple Birthstones