The lovers, the dreamers, and me

I keep forgetting to post about my rainbow cupcakes. But now I've remembered. I made these beauties about two weeks ago. I took a basic vanilla recipe and once the batter was made I divided it into six bowls and added a different food coloring to each. Then I took the red batter and dropped two teaspoons into a cupcake liner. Then I followed with the orange batter right next to the red. Then I dropped the yellow into the liner next to the orange. I followed this pattern with green, then blue, and finally purple. Repeat for each cupcake.
Yes, it was a tedious job, but just look at the results:

Did I mention, I love rainbows? And so yummy too!! I frosted them with a vanilla buttercream added some sprinkles and a sugar rainbow, all edible, and called it a day.

You could also layer the different colored batter one on top on another but I like the tie dyed effect.

And making rainbow cupcakes made me think of autism.
This past year a group in Australia started Autism Rainbow Day during Autism Awareness Month. And you can be a part of their next one. From their Facebook page:

The 2nd International Autism Rainbow Day will be held on Friday, April 29th 2011. It is so easy to get involved... all you need to do is wear a bright colored shirt to represent a color of the rainbow and the autism spectrum or a piece of clothing that has rainbow colors.Spread awareness throughout the community by asking your school, place of business or community group to get involved.
The awareness campaign focuses on two important areas, community acceptance and respect, and community support and understanding for families living with autism.

I have worked with many children who have autism and their families, first as a behavioral therapist within many home ABA programs, then as a case manager for a California regional center with the bulk of my ever growing case load being children with autism. I spent many hours talking to families about how autism impacts their everyday lives and families. Some suggested advocating for better detection, earlier and more intense intervention, and more research into why we are seeing autism on the rise on an international level. But something that every family mentioned to me on a weekly if not daily basis is the perception of autism from people not affected by it. There is no way to tell who does or doesn't have autism. When you look at a child throwing a tantrum there is no way to know if that child has autism and is on sensory overload or if that child is just a typical kid who is not getting his way. Many people will assume the latter. But some people also assume that children should be perfect little puppets, only speaking when spoken to and behaving always. Of course that is just not reality. Parents of neurotypical kids face this occasionally, but parents of children with autism face this in spades. I think their daily struggle is tough enough. We need to do better for these families.


 These are the facts about autism from the AutismSpeaks website:

• Autism now affects 1 in 110 children and 1 in 70 boys
• Autism prevalence figures are growing
• More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes & cancer combined
• Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.
• Autism costs the nation over $35 billion per year, a figure expected to significantly increase in the next decade
• Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases
• Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism
• There is no medical detection or cure for autism

So do your part next April to raise awareness. And next time you see a child throwing a tantrum somewhere instead of ignoring them or being rude, give that mom or dad a smile. Whether their child is autistic or not, believe me, they could use it.

And now for your listening pleasure: