So you heard it’s Autism Acceptance Day (well, you might’ve heard Awareness, but awareness isn’t really all that helpful, so we’re using Acceptance in this post), and you want to help. That’s great! Before you go jumping in with the first thing you see though, I’ve gotta warn you that there are some harmful things out there disguised as “help,” and they’re the biggest, most noticeable ones. Namely, it’s Autism Speaks, their #LightItUpBlue campaign, and other associated efforts. Autism Speaks harms autistic people in many ways (check out that link for details on why/how), and many of the “awareness” efforts of other organisations copy their work, and therefore perpetuate harmful stereotypes about autistic people and keep the focus on how autism effects friends and family members rather than actual autistic people. (Pro tip: just like knowing a scientist doesn’t make someone an expert on climate change, knowing an autistic person doesn’t make someone an expert on autism.)
So if the biggest/most well-known autism organisation is so bad, what can you do to help support autistic people? A lot, actually! This is just a brief list of simple actions you can take to support autistic people like me:
1. If you currently “like” or follow any pages for Autism Speaks, unlike and unfollow them. Their over a million followers give them undeserved legitimacy. As an autistic person, it makes me afraid to be open about my identity with anyone I know who likes or follows them.
2. Like/follow the Autism Women’s Network and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (autisticadvocacy) on social media. They are run by autistic people and amplify the voices of autistic people. They deserve legitimacy.
3. Contact your local autism-related organisation to find out if they have any autistic people in places of leadership. If they don’t, ask that they hire them. Unemployment for autistic adults is disproportionately higher than the rest of the population.
4. Amplify the voices of autistic people. Speak out when you see the voices of autistic people being erased or silenced, especially when our voices are replaced by narratives that claim that our families are the victims or that we need non-autistic people to decide what we need.
5. Donate. Again, the Autism Women’s Network and the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network are two excellent organisations who do a good job of supporting autistic people, including autistic people of colour and autistic women/girls, all of whom face additional challenges and are rarely included in other autism-related charity and advocacy.
6. Ask your friends and family to do any or all of the above.
7. And, finally, don’t just support the autistic community today or just this month. Don’t just support autistic people when we’re children. Listen to autistic people throughout the year and amplify on voices when we speak out. There’s so much we can’t cover in one day or one month, and all of us (allies and self-advocates alike) always have more learning and more work to do.
ETA: hahahaha, whoooops, I competely forgot to mention #WalkInRed as the way better alternative to #LightItUpBlue
Autism Acceptance Day
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