As some of you may know, April 2nd is Autism Awareness Day. But not only is April 2nd a day we recognize autism and help spread awareness, the whole month is! Autism is something that hits home and something my family and I research often. We hope that one day, somebody somewhere will find a sort of "cure" or why it comes about.

I am one out of two siblings in my household (Three, if you want to count the dog like my mother does). I am the oldest and my brother, Alex, is eighteen-years-old. When he [Alex] was about three-years-old, he was diagnosed with a case of mild to moderate autism. Ever since then, I pray everyday that a way to control it is found. On most occasions, you can find him wearing his ear-muff looking headphones because he's not too fond of noises. He also makes high honors every semester at school. Alex loves trains, random YouTube videos that make him laugh, electronics, playing the keyboard, Pepsi (Mention Kendall Jenner I swear to God), cheese pizza, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, french fries, ice cream and bread. What a life, right? He is the reason why I keep on pushing through everyday.

But enough of personal matters, let's talk about how you can spread Autism Awareness! Wearing blue, lighting a blue lightbulb, or even wearing a red, blue and yellow puzzle piece ribbon helps! Now, you don't have to wear those things or shine the light every single day of April, but it helps and shows those with autism that you are aware and that you care. I wear my support for autism on my right shoulder, with a tattoo of a puzzle piece made up of red, blue and yellow puzzle pieces with my brother's name in it. It was my first tattoo when I was eighteen and I was planning it forever. Well, obviously not forever, but once I turned seventeen, I started thinking of ideas. My parents were shocked that I actually went through with getting a tattoo but also so happy that my first one was in honor of my brother.

There are also ways to volunteer! My friend, who has a cousin with autism, and I usually help out every Summer with a special needs baseball team called Challenger League. It's not just autistic children, but also kids with down syndrome or anything else. We love them all equally and support them every game! I usually help out my brother though because I seem to be the only one who can make him run the bases and I help him work on his swing. Other ways you can volunteer are the special olympics or the Autism Speaks website, where they not only have information on Autism, but you can see where there are opportunities to volunteer with the community and maybe even start your own fundraiser and make a team to walk! Since I brought it up, here's a link if you'd like to donate money or even join my team for the Greater Boston Walk on Sunday, October 17, 2017! ;)

If you have a family member or know anybody with autism, let them know you love and care about them! They are such gifted people and are so smart! Although most days I wish I was the one who got autism, there are days I'm happy he's so smart and talented. My brother is so kind and even though he doesn't say much, he loves to tell you what he's thinking about when he feels like it.

Light it up blue, everybody!