Autism Awareness Quotes 2016: 12 Sayings By Temple Grandin, Jenny McCarthy And More

Saturday, April 2 — and the entire month of April — is Autism Awareness for the ninth year. With more than 70 million people worldwide having autism, most people are already aware of the spectrum disorder. But a popular thing to do during this time is wear blue, or “light it up blue” by hanging lights outside your home. Not only does it show support, but it also helps connect people in the ASD community by letting them know they’re not alone. To mark Autism Awareness Day 2016, relevant quotations of authors and celebrities appearing at BrainyQuote and Good Reads have been posted below.

1. “I am different, not less.” — Temple Grandin, animal behavior expert and author of The Autistic Brain

2. “Hope is the greatest thing for moms of autism. Hope is what gets us out of bed in the morning. I’m on a mission to tell parents that there is a way.” — Jenny McCarthy, who has a son with autism.

3. “Autism does exist on a spectrum, and there are so many manifestations of it, so many kind of expressions of it. And every case is particular.” — Claire Danes, who played Temple Grandin in an HBO movie.

4. “If they can’t learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn.” — Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas of the Lovaas Institute.

5. “The important thing is to bring people with Parkinson’s into our world and for the public to have a real understanding of it, as they’ve beginning to have with autism.” -- Helen Mirren.

6. “I look at autism like a bus accident, you don’t become cured from a bus accident, but you can recover.” --Jenny McCarthy.

7. “There’s a saying within the Asperger community: if you’ve met one person with Asperger’s syndrome, you’ve met one person with Asperger’s syndrome … Within this condition, beneath this label, the variety of personality, of humor, of behavior, is infinite.” — Hugh Dancy, star of the 2009 film about a man with Asperger’s syndrome, “Adam.”

8. “If I could snap my fingers and be nonautistic, I would not. Autism is part of what I am.” -- Temple Grandin.

9. “Autism doesn’t have to define a person. Artists with autism are like anyone else: They define themselves through hard work and individuality.” -- Adrienne Bailon.

10. “To measure the success of our societies, we should examine how well those with different abilities, including persons with autism, are integrated as full and valued members.” -- Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

11. “If you have autism in the family history, you still vaccinate. Delay it a bit, space them out.” -- Temple Grandin.

12. “Mild autism can give you a genius like [Albert] Einstein. If you have severe autism, you could remain nonverbal. You don’t want people to be on the severe end of the spectrum. But if you got rid of all the autism genetics, you wouldn’t have science or art. All you would have is a bunch of social ‘yak yaks.’” -- Temple Grandin.

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