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Every April is Autism Acceptance Month, which focuses of accepting Autistic people for who they are and including them in society.
It started in the 1970’s as Autism Awareness Month, then from 2011 onwards, more people started to name it as Autism Acceptance Month as many autistic people desire acceptance over awareness.
This year’s theme is ‘Celebrating Differences’ which encourages people to recognise that every person is unique in their own way and celebrating how autistic people bring many different things to our communties.
Autism is a lifelong neurodivergent condition; autistic people learn things differently and experience the world differently from most people.
Autism isn’t a learning disability but some autistic people can have a learning disability too as well as other co-occurring conditions.
Autism is a spectrum which means that every autistic person is different, as the saying goes “If you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person!”
There are some things which you could do for Autism Acceptance Month and beyond:
Be an ally to Autistic people!
Avoid using controversial images that people are associating with Autism such as the jigsaw pieces and ribbon symbols
Most autistic people prefer the infinity loop symbol as this represents the vast experiences of autistic people and how they are capable of endless possibilities.
Attend events that promote autism acceptance such as Autistic Pride and The Autism Show.
Avoid using negative terms to describe an autistic person such as ‘suffers from autism’
Most people prefer to be called autistic as opposed to a ‘person with autism’, however, some people may prefer ‘person with autism’
It’s important to ask how a person wants to identify if you’re not sure.
Get involved with a charity or organisation who support and fight for autistic people, here are some links to national autism based charities and organisations
Home | Autistica | Autism research and campaigning | Autistica
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