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Autism Acceptance Month

Posted by Simar Walia on

April is Autism Acceptance Month! For many countries April is Autism Acceptance Month, it is not an international holiday, however World Autism Awareness Day/Week are both in April, so this month the entire world should be learning more about autism and supporting autistic people. 

Why is Autism Acceptance Month important?

Autism is a disability that affects how individuals think, understand the world, behave and communicate. Autistic people (which is the terminology used for, and preferred by, people with autism) are everywhere, however many allistic (non-autistic) people do not accurately know what autism is. Unfortunately, harmful stigma, stereotypes and prejudices around autism are rampant and most allistic people are ignorant to the damage this does. Most autistic children deal with bullying and alienation, later in life autistic adults are less likely to be employed, and often autistic people that can manage to act “normal” struggle with harmful burnout, meltdowns or shutdowns because of it. A 20-year long study by Anne V. Kirby published in 2019 on suicide death in a statewide autism population found that autistic people had a suicide rate that was almost 55% greater than the general public. Plus, young autistic people were at more than 2 times the risk of suicide than allistic young people. Information needs to be spread on autism to help autistic people and lower statistics like these. 

Autism Acceptance Month was created by autistic people for autistic people, to change the conversations happening about autism: to give autistic people the accommodations they deserve, give them a place in our society, advocate against those trying to ‘cure’ autism, and aligning research priorities and advocacy with what the autistic community themselves prioritize. For too long, the biggest “charities” and organizations surrounding autism presented it as a problem or a disease to be cured and these “charities” are run by allistic people for allistic people. The work that big organizations like Autism Speaks and Autism Society (etc.) are doing is harmful to the autistic community and changes need to continue being made on giving the autistic community the power and the attention to speak for themselves. 

What should you do to help?

Whether you are a member of the autistic community or not, the most important act you can do to start helping is educate yourself. Our school systems and work environments do not do a good job of teaching, so you have to research on your own. It is vital that in your research you listen to autistic people and use reliable sources, since there is unfortunately an abundance of harmful material about autism online. ASAN (Autistic Self Advocay Network), AWN (Autistic women and nonbinary network), Embrace Autism and AuTeach are all reputable, trusted websites to find resources on autism. ASAN has also compiled a book called Welcome to the Autistic Community which is an easy read and has a lot of useful information for allies and autistic people to begin learning more. There are many other websites and books to learn from, just make sure to check that a source is supported by the autistic community before trusting them!

In addition to educating yourself, you can also help as an ally by accommodating autistic people. You may think that without being in a position of power, you do not have the ability to help much, but individually being accommodating and supporting still makes a positive impact. Remember to work together to find solutions to problems.

Here are some helpful changes you can make:

  • Do not judge people for wearing headphones or sunglasses indoors, they can be disability aids! 
  • Let people fidget or stim in peace; stimming is repetitive motion and everyone does it (for example someone clicking their pen), however autistic people stim more and it helps them a lot, don’t point it out, mock, copy or stop them.
  • When an autistic person wants to leave a certain environment or doesn’t want to do something that you might consider easy, listen to them.
  • If someone is semi-verbal or non-verbal, don’t make them speak, let them communicate how they will. (i.e. through apps, writing, signs, etc.)
  • Many autistic people struggle with face expressions, tone and body language so listen to autistic people’s words (whether they’re spoken, written, etc.) and when you want to communicate something to them be clear and direct. 
  • Respect autistic people’s privacy and space, even if their wants are different to yours.
  • Do not assume things about autistic people! Do not believe something you hear once, fact-check information.
  • Include autistic people! Acceptance can only be done by including them, include them in group projects, in work discussions, in decision-making, in school trips, in everyday life. Autistic people are people, they deserve the same positions as everyone else.
  • Listen to autistic people. Learn from your mistakes and talk about autism respectfully. 

Acceptance is not something that can be achieved in one month, but this is a start. False notions about disabilities like autism have been ingrained in our society and we need to actively choose to unlearn the biases we know and re-teach ourselves how to be better. Autistic people are people. They did not choose to be born into a society run by systems that disadvantage them, but you can choose to help change these systems to be better. 

Websites used:

Written by: Marsh Mayloh

Edited by: Tvisha Sinha

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