With World Autism Awareness Day fast approaching, it’s a perfect time to participate in the Giant Autism Billboard project. This crowd-sourced collaboration, thought up by popular online parenting resource, WeTheParents, is open to contributions from neurodiverse people, their families, and the professionals who serve them. The project aims to create a living piece of art that promotes awareness of the lived autistic experience by amplifying the voices of those affected by neurodiversity.
Participants in the project are asked a unique and thoughtful question — if they had one statement or piece of advice to share with the world regarding their experiences with autism, what would it be? Each respondent’s nugget of wisdom or insight becomes their own giant autism billboard, brought before the world as a contribution to autism awareness efforts.
It’s not an easy task, but the question inspired many and has drawn in a diverse collection of responses which illustrate one key aspect of autism awareness; no two people or families have an identical experience with autism, and neurodiversity can look much different to one family than it does to another. These unique voices help to create an ever-evolving portrait of what life with autism can look like.
The project has seemed to be quite inspirational to the autistic community, and has drawn a myriad of responses from those connected to the community in all capacities. Participants have included children and adults with autism, their parents and siblings, and even respected clinicians like Dr. Tony Attwood. One particularly unique response has come from blogger Alicia, a woman on the spectrum with three autistic children, who noted that “Autism means I miss what others catch, and I catch what others miss.” This response reflects on a key component of autism awareness, which is that neurodiversity is a difference rather than a disability.
The Giant Autism Billboard will continue to be updated throughout April, which is World Autism Awareness Month. It aims to celebrate and support families affected by autism throughout both their victories and their challenges.
