April is Autism Awareness Month.

You’re seeing puzzle pieces and the color blue on newscasts, social media feeds, and at awareness events and games. Some schools are coordinating support days, a local town issued an awareness proclamation, and a neighborhood is asking residents to use blue porch lights to show support.

As a parent of a child with autism, I can tell you that these are heartwarming gestures. They are noticed and they are appreciated, but when the calendar page turns to welcome May, the sentiments fade and my life remains unchanged.

I don’t mean to undermine your well-intentioned efforts. Believe me when I say I do appreciate any attempt by those who do not live with autism to show recognition and support to those of us who love someone with autism. However, I think that we can do greater good by recognizing that awareness only goes so far and if you want to make a difference in the life of someone who lives with, or loves someone who lives with autism, then it is worth talking about more than awareness.

What does more than awareness look like? It looks like teaching your children to sit next to the student who sits alone at lunch. It looks like raising children who will stand next to the student who is being bullied. It looks like helping your child understand why a classmate may make nonverbal noises, appear unkempt, or have meltdowns AND encouraging your child to be friends anyway.

More than awareness looks like sitting next to that mom at the school Special Olympics event so that she and her athlete can experience the packed stands the varsity football team experiences during Friday night lights. More than awareness looks like asking your child what they did to improve somebody’s day rather than assuming your child is able to turn your lessons into actions.

More than awareness looks like smiling and making eye contact with the autism mom in class, so she feels like she belongs as much as the next mom. More than awareness looks like inviting the student who lives with autism to your child’s birthday party and following up on the invitation to find out what you can do to make that child’s participation successful.

Life with autism is more than the month of April. I am fond of saying I live 365 days of autism. I see the struggles, the meltdowns, and the frustrations. I am also blessed to see the innocence, the courage, and the honesty that go hand in hand with the negatives.

I get tired. I am often lonely. Yet I am always a warrior. I spend my life pushing awareness so that I can grow acceptance and adaptions that increase inclusiveness, and advocate for more.

Please join me this April for a more than Autism Awareness Month. Do awareness one better and make a difference that will be felt all year long.