Hugs for Madison Autism Advocacy was established to promote autism awareness through advocacy, social events, and fundraisers.  Autism Spectrum Disorder is a costly disability to treat that comes along with various challenges.  As a result, it is also my goal to inspire other families to embrace this profound, yet unique disorder, because being different is not a disease!  

I do what I do to allow others to understand my daughter rather than judge her or my parenting skills.  It’s nothing for me to strike up a conversation with someone in a grocery store that gives a disturbing stare or look when Madison may make loud repetitive noises, or when she doesn’t respond when a person says, “hello” or “how old are you?”  I immediately inform the other person (adult or child), “Madison has autism,” and I begin to educate them some of the behaviors that are associated with ASD.  Each time I do this, the person usually starts to ask questions and/or displays more understanding towards Madison’s behavior.  I realize this is not an easy task for most people to adopt, but I encourage other ASD parents to educate rather than get upset and/or remove their child from a setting because of a person’s misunderstanding.