Props to NBC and other Soap Operas

Today while eating lunch, I was searching through the channels to watch something when I stopped on NBC to see what was going on on Days of Our Lives. I use to follow this soap when I was in high school and know some about the characters. One particular scene caught my attention and I think that NBC and other Soap Operas deserve a PSA award for raising awareness about autism. A family on Days is in the beginning stages of dealing with their son who has autism. Another soap spin off that airs on SoapNet, General Hospital Night Shift, also is doing a story on a father of an son who has autism. I think it is super important to get the word out because families who are dealing with a child of autism need to understand that they are not alone and that there are other families out there dealing with the same thing. I work with two families who both have high functioning children with autism. They are completely different in every aspect but they are both high functioning and are able to communicate to anyone and everyone. With these shows showing the different characters and how to deal hopefully families will look for support groups and people who do not know what autism is will also start to understand more. I wish everyone knew what autism was, not so they can assume that when they see a child act out they think they have autism, but so there is an understanding. For example, a couple of years ago when we had just heard that my "niece" had autism we were just starting to figure things out but her outburst were still long and quite frequent. One night after her mom got home we decided to go out to eat and while standing in line my "niece" wanted a flower that was decoration, her mom was just trying to order as fast as possible so that we could avoid an outburst but that did not happen. While the outburst was going on and we were trying to calm her down an older woman ordering behind us was staring at us with hatred. Like we could not control this child and that we were horrible people. As we get through the outburst and sit down I know the woman who was behind us sat near us. She then stared, pointed at us and spoke to her husband. They then stood up and walked away from the table they were sitting at to a farther table in the back of the restaurant. I was so angry and upset that this woman had the nerve to just assume that my "niece's" mom was a horrible mother and it took absolutely everything for me not to get up and tell her off. Then while sitting there trying to calm down and enjoy dinner, I thought of my "niece's" mom. She goes through this everyday and doesn't get to get a way from it like the rest of the family does. So congrats to NBC and the Soap Operas for trying to get awareness out on autism! Also the word niece is in quotes due to the fact that she is not a blood relative of mine but her and her family are very close and are a second family to me and I refer to her and her twin sister as my nieces. :)