"What's wrong with those kids?"

As I was walking the boys into school this morning, Gage covered in the soda he'd just spilled on himself and Gamble happily chewing on his right shoe, I heard a little voice above their vocal stims, "What's wrong with those kids?"

I couldn't just ignore it, the little girl had asked a question, and while it was certainly aimed at her daddy, I knew he had no clue. So, while still walking forward, I turned around and told her "They have autism, they don't talk yet - but they really like making noises, just like other kids like to talk and ask questions."

She accepted it without further question, and her dad accepted Gamble's offered hand, returning his smile, as he asked some more questions: Do they have any means of communicating yet? Sign language? (I'm very in tune with them, but no, they don't really have many communication skills just yet). Are they twins? How old? What are their names?

It was a nice conversation, I didn't feel like I needed to defend my boys, but I felt like I wanted to answer the little girl's question, just like I wanted to answer the boy at the dentist office's funny looks at Gage yesterday. He didn't ask, though, so I didn't offer.

This isn't something I only do in April - if anyone has questions about my boys, I'm always happy to answer them. The more people know, they more they accept what is, right?

I've noticed, though, that other children are noticing more and more that the boys aren't like them - they don't talk, they vocal stim like crazy, they jump and spin and walk on their tippy toes, they don't eat what typical kids eat and they live in 'their own little world' most of the time - but they're still kids, they still like to play with toys and watch movies and run around. So while it doesn't exactly feel nice to hear "What's wrong with those kids?", it moves me to make sure that becomes acceptance, rather than judgment.

If I can't advocate for my boys, whether the questions are directed at me or not, then who will?