October 25, 2025

The moment I learned of my oldest son’s autism diagnosis, I had an immediate idea to host a neurotype reveal party. As usual, I’m a visionary lacking execution skills, but with help from family and friends, the event turned into something truly genuine and motivating in what has been a disheartening month for autistics.

In a world…no, in a country where autism is currently being socialized by the President as a “horror” that requires fixing, it was important to me to teach my children to embrace and celebrate what makes them unique.

I invited those that are most accepting of us, those friends and family that appreciate us just as we are. Planning and executing this party was probably the least autistic thing I could do, but the anxiety leading up to the event reminded me that hosting does not come naturally for me.

Our party game involved the guests guessing our neurotypes by picking Mardi Gras beads and wearing them. There were sensible options, such as blue for autism and orange for ADHD. There were also silly options, such as green for alien and red for superhero. Most guests just chose to adorn their necks with a rainbow, which I think tells you how special these people are to us.

We had three small cakes, one each for myself and my two sons. We cut into our cakes to learn our neurotypes–blue for Miles, and both blue and orange for Noel and I. In a hilarious turn of events, the bakery mislabeled the cakes so they were a little extra revealing!

It was an evening of connection, understanding, and celebration. I didn’t have to apologize for my son having a meltdown. I didn’t need to worry about him wearing headphones around the others. He could freely be upset around others about there not being any more cheese pizza, and that removing the pepperoni off of cheese pizza doesn’t make it taste the same–and they reassured him that he was correct.

It was a really special night because of some really special people in our lives. And my boys had the opportunity to hear their diagnoses in a celebratory style. How wonderful that they get to know who they are now, and see so many loved ones embrace that as something that makes them special.