You must have heard today, April 2, which is called Autism Awareness Day. However, the autistic self-advocacy community is reportedly not keen on the title.
The promotion of autism skyrocketed during the 1990s and 2000s, as it grew from one in 500 children in 1991 to one in sixty-eight in 2014. According to the Autism Society, in 2020 the number is now one in sixty-four and about two percent. of children. However, the leap in diagnosis and awareness left, as ASAN puts it, “a long way”, understanding, acceptance and basic decency for autistic people.
For the tenth consecutive year, the Autism Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) has organized Autism Acceptance Day instead. Dive into why name differences are important.
Note: Many people in the autism community, including ASAN, have stated that they prefer identity-first language, we will honor their wishes in this article. Although, we accept the preference between identity and person-first language, it is a personal choice that should be respected.
Origin of Autism Awareness Day
Like Autism Acceptance Month, Autism Acceptance Day was created in response to Autism Awareness Month and for the autistic community. Started by the Autism Society in 1970, according to their website, their goal was to ensure that “all people affected by autism are able to achieve the highest quality of life”, by the United Nations General Assembly on Autism Awareness Day 2007, worldwide Was established. Holiday.
Autism is a spectrum disorder, and signs and symptoms can vary wildly between individuals. DSM V’s screening checklist includes delayed speech, lack of nonverbal communication, socio-emotional reciprocity, and “difficulties developing and maintaining relationships to developmental level”. Essentially, the criterion boils down to observed problems and observational problems related to others.
DSM also screens for a range of repetitive motions, sensory issues, and other symptoms that people on the spectrum may not experience mildly, severely, or at all. For example, a person on the spectrum may have only mild difficulty interacting with others, but may experience severe sensory overload affecting their ability to be in and out of the world without help.
Language matters
According to ASAN’s tenth year statement on Autism Acceptance Month, “To change the interaction with autism for Autism Acceptance Month and for the autism community, it was created to shift away from stigmatizing” autism awareness “language Was, to accept autism as a threat. Awareness. ”
ASAN further explained that organizations in the past had used “autism awareness” in combination with language, including goals such as “making autism a term for history books”.
Instead of imposing autistic people they should be cured or put out of existence, Asan worked on autism acceptance day as working towards ensuring “welcoming communities, inclusive schools and workplaces, and equal opportunities” and Imagined month.
Without us not about us
Asan’s statement about Autism Acceptance Month sets out the stated goals for prioritizing the autism community: “To truly practice autism acceptance, autism organizations must also change how they treat autism. Think, and how they work to represent autistic people. ”
ASAN stated that autism acceptance should include leadership or board positions for people with autism, prioritizing people on the spectrum, researching and treating them and identifying autistic people as the core of what they do, not Family and caregivers only. Extend the posture:
“Advocating things that autistic people routinely describe as harmful, such as applied behavior analysis, institutionalization, or research on” cures “or preventing autism, is not autism acceptance. Autism acceptance means those Stand up against those who promote anti-debunking vaccine rhetoric, attack self-advocates, or work to expand individual settings like shelter workshops and institutions. “
Tone it up or #restored
ASAN takes issue with groups such as Autism Speaks, who claim that the autism community has been harmed despite a tidy image, stating: “Autism Speaks uses its platform and advertising budget to make autism and autistic people mysterious and Does to portray as sinister. Their fundraising strategy increases stigma and creates barriers to the inclusion of autistic people in our communities. ”
Autism Speaks’ Light It Up Blue is often used for autism awareness, which the autistic community has claimed is problematic because 1) it reinforces the stereotype that only boys are diagnosable, girls. To leave undaunted and 2) puzzle grinding, which is often used in autism services. Autism circles, autism is depicted as a puzzle to be solved, something to be fixed, or a piece that will not fit – a piece that is marginalized.
ASAN instead advocated #RedInstead or #ToneItDownTaupe. Per Learn with autistic Wearing red dots for autism acceptance rather than awareness, explaining: “Blue in fact is a color that was originally chosen by non-autistic people to represent autism. Many people in the autism community actually prefer to wear red in an effort to support autism acceptance rather than just awareness. ”
The blog Time to Listen explained that this taupe is not only as a nod to sensory issues in the autism community, but also: “Take it down. Removes fear from rhetoric. The alarm stopped ringing. It is not necessary for an autistic person to do anything blue to show support and love, which can actually be accomplished by supporting autistic people. ”
