World Autism Awareness Day: Stories and learnings

 One sunny afternoon in 2020, when the pandemic had just started taking over our lives and lifestyles, we got an e-mail, a long one. Even before we opened the e-mail we knew this was something different and special. There was something about the vibe.

When we read the mail, we felt like immense joy and gratitude fighting for top position in our hearts. The mail was from Aarti, mom of Amrit Khurrana. Amrit is an artist and we got introduced to her in the e-mail. Aarti spoke about Amrit, who is autistic, and how she had taken a liking to the Suta page. She said that she saw Amrit just opening the Suta page and being with it. Something about Suta felt good to her. She would look at our website, our social media page and just smile in joy. Eventually, Amrit found a muse in Suta and started drawing pictures of us from her own perspective.

As Aarti sent us these works, we fell in love. How could we not? Amrit’s art is a work of utter honesty, of her truth that she has given us the privilege to look at. It beautifully paves way for all of us to see beyond differences and celebrate that feeling of oneness that art brings, more so in the case of Amrit’s art. Her art inspired us to bring To Amrit, With Love to life by replicating her work on our made-in-heaven mul sarees.

And, Amrit, her journey and her art inspired us to learn more about Autism and we spoke to Aarti to know more. We had some very insightful conversations and Aarti was kind enough to connect us with other parents of autistic children who very sweetly agreed to talk to us and help us understand more about this very misunderstood disorder.

After some back and forth across several time-zones, we spoke to three parents - Peter Quartley, Donna Budway and Stevie Lee. Their children, Jim, Emma and Joss, respectively, were non-verbal autistic children and our conversations spanned over how their journeys were filled with challenges, joys, constant learning, patience and just pure love. For us, this was a way to learn about a completely different world that struggles to live with the rest of the world that is not particularly understanding or compassionate enough. We discussed about many myths associated with Autism, many points that the world needed to be more aware of. But, most importantly, we learnt how important these children are, how beautiful they are, and how they have a lot to give to the world.

We want to share some of what we understood here. And, take you on this journey with us a little bit. Because, this is important, very important.

So here goes:

·         Autistic children deserve education and a means to communication. It is the disability to communicate that gives rise to a lot of frustration in them.

·         The support that parents and children find in communities is priceless. It is their place for joy and growth.

·         One always has to assume competence in autistic children. They may not be able to express, but that does not reflect their cognitive abilities.

·         Every autistic child is different, autism really is a spectrum.

·         An autistic child can indeed have a full, healthy life with the right support and education

·         Autistic kids have a lot to say and contribute to our world.

·         Each one of us has a role to play in creating an inclusive, kind world for all of us. We have to be celebrating differences, listening to every story we can and treading forward with empathy.

 As we observe World Autism Awareness Day on 2nd April this year, let us pledge to never stop listening, sharing what we learn and being kind.