Autism Acceptance Month

April is Autism Acceptance Month!  This month, the Office for Persons with Disabilities invites you to work to raise awareness and acceptance of persons with autism in your parishes.  Autism is often referred to as an “invisible disorder,” so there are often not any outward indicators that a person is autistic.  Neurodiversity is something to celebrate.  Persons who are autistic have a unique perspective through which they see the world and have a great deal to contribute to our church.    Your parish can help to spread this message by promoting awareness this month in a variety of ways.  Check out our Autism RESOURCE PAGE that will be growing over the course of the month.  The NCPD has also created some excellent resources that could be incorporated into bulletins or liturgy including a BULLETIN ANNOUNCEMENT, PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL, a printable BULLETIN INSERT, and an AWARENESS PRAYER.  Finally, if you have active parish Social Media pages, follow the OFFICE FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES and share some of our upcoming posts to highlight persons with developmental disabilities in our very own Archdiocese of Cincinnati!  The first step towards creating a culture of inclusion and meaningful participation in our Church is to provide opportunities for awareness and acceptance.  Let us all work together to establish a sense of belonging in our parishes, Archdiocese, and universal Church.