Today I share with you a conversation that a friend of mine shared that I think serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of tolerance and understanding.  The conversation was between her and her son who has Asperger syndrome (which is a condition within the autism spectrum).  My grandson Noah was officially diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder this past year.  I say officially because I knew long before his official diagnosis from the challenges he was experiencing and my own extensive research that he likely had an autism spectrum disorder.  I have read a litany of different books and articles about autism and I watch every emerging study closely.   I often think about what more I can do to help my grandson have a less challenging life.

If you aren’t familiar with autism you should become more familiar.  It has become an epidemic and now affects 1 in every 110 children and 1 in every 70 boys (Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, December 18, 2009).  According to data from the CDC, the number of children diagnosed with autism has increased by 57%  from 2002 to 2006 and over the past 20 years there has been a 600% increase (see Autism Speaks).  Autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability with an annual growth rate of 10-17% (see Autism Society).

We are now seeing a dramatic change in the number of researchers dedicating time to learning more about autism.  Unfortunately, so far there remain more questions than answers.  I have written about this before (see The Other Side of Nowhere) and undoubtedly will again – but today I want to share that short conversation between my friend and her son.

My friend asked her son with Asperger syndrome, “If you had three wishes what would you wish for?” Instantly he replied, “1. A balanced, smooth, easy life; 2. That the kids at school would treat me better.” My friend then asked her son, “What about a third?” Her son said, “I’ll have to think about that some more.”

I find this boy’s comments a bit heartbreaking and incredibly telling about the realities of suffering with autism.  While the rest of us might wish for material things or grand wishes, this boy just wants a life with more balance and less struggles and where folks treat him a bit better.

The first wish – the balance – is something that he will have to work toward over the years; but, the second wish – the wish that kids would treat him better – that is a wish we all should be able to work toward for him.  Tolerance and understanding are necessities for these kids who are already having to try so hard to cope.

Shouldn’t tolerance and understanding be something we strive for with all people?  I mean really – isn’t tolerance of differences of ability, thoughts, ideals, etc. and understanding others’ challenges just part of being worthy of the time and energy God put into us?  I would be thrilled if I could grant this wish for this boy all by myself…indeed, if I was able to do such things I would grant all wishes for tolerance and understanding from folks young and old who have been treated like they are less because they are different.  Alas, I am just one regular woman with no special powers…but I am that drop in the ocean that Mother Teresa spoke of…the drop that mattered no matter how small.   I know that while singly I cannot grant this boy’s wish for tolerance and understanding,  I can be part of a collective that prioritizes tolerance and understanding of others…together we can grant this one wish.

So I ask you dear readers, can you help grant this one wish?  Can you give this little boy who has to struggle with so much this one thing?  Can you commit to tolerance and understanding of others and ask all the folks you know to do the same?  If we could all just start there…think about what other wishes we could grant…we could change the world one simple act of tolerance and understanding at a time.   You can count me in.

Day five hundred and fifty-eight of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C