April 2nd is World Autism Acceptance Day. As the autistic community has sought to establish their voice and ensure that autistic justice is an effort led by autistic people and not allistic people speaking over us, we have shifted away from “autism awareness” in favor of “autism acceptance.” In general, people are aware about autism but the main issue at hand is our need to be accepted. Especially when organizations like Autism Speaks have led the conversation, autism awareness usually centers around depicting autism as something bad that requires sympathy and accommodations on the individual level rather than acceptance which demands a change to the entire society in which we live. In pursuing this “awareness,” the expectation to fit into society typically falls on the shoulders of autistic people to conform to society. This is seen especially in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, which essentially serves as conversion therapy for autistic people. In ABA, kids are trained using classical and operant conditioning to exhibit more “desirable” traits that reflect the neurotypical ideal such as making eye contact and not stimming. In fact, studies have shown that those exposed to ABA have a very high chance of exhibiting posttraumatic stress symptoms such as this study. In autistic acceptance, allistic people are educated about these different traits and are instead expected to accept them without demanding autistic people change in order to be valued.
This difference between acceptance and awareness can be seen heavily in the organizations we see speaking about autism and the symbols used in this process. There are easy trends that one can notice to know whether a movement is led by autistic people seeking acceptance or allistic people simply raising awareness. Some organizations well-known for silencing autistic voices and focusing on “cures” and control over autistic people include Autism Speaks and NEXT For Autism. These organizations will often use the puzzle piece icon (because they think autistic people are “puzzling”) as well as the color blue in campaigns. These symbols will often identify who to avoid. There are many amazing organizations that focus on autistic leadership such as the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) and the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network (AWN). These organizations will often use red or gold to counter the “light it up blue” campaign and will use the rainbow infinity symbol that is preferred by autistic people.
It is also easy to identify accepting organizations by the language they use. An organization that talks about what they do “for” autistic people or tends to center only around children is usually one to avoid. Seek out organizations that speak about working “with” rather than “for” and focuses on collaboration and accessibility rather than programs meant to “train” autistic people. If an organization speaks about the autistic experience using “we” or “us,” there is a greater chance that autistic people are leading that conversation. Accepting organizations will also tend to use identity-first language rather than person-first language. Often, people are told to call autistic people “a person with autism” because this person-first language separates the person from the diagnosis. However, this is not something supported by the actual community. For us, our autistic identity is a part of who we are and the only reason many allistic people want to separate the person from the label is because the label is what prevents them from accepting the person. Nobody wants to be accepted “despite their autism” any more than a gay person would want to be described as “someone suffering from homosexuality” or a Black person as “someone experiencing dark skin.” It’s part of who we are and we demand to be accepted in our entirety.
It is really easy to accept autistic people in the roles society expects for us. As long as an autistic person is a student in a “special” classroom or a client in a therapy setting or working a minimum-wage job (or often less) as part of a work program, allistic people are happy to embrace the autistic community. They will even volunteer in these settings when they feel like it and can count it as community service. I recall a professor in seminary proudly boasting about how his church even had a “special place” for autistic people to go during the service. The difficulty that autistic people face occurs when they choose to move out of these subservient labels and pursue roles where they aren’t just being cared for or treated like a volunteer project. When an autistic person goes from student to teacher, client to therapist, employee to employer, or parishioner to pastor, it can be difficult for allistic people to accept autistic people as leaders. For those who have spent their whole lives seeing autistic people in one role, our traits such as stimming or not making eye contact can often be seen as inherently unprofessional or “wrong” because of the power allistic people still hold over autistic people. Autism acceptance means more than simply allowing autistic people to exist. It requires us to reframe society so autistic existence is seen as good and powerful, recognizing how diverse the community is and valuing autistic people in their full identity. Instead of reshaping autistic people to fit into our social circle, we are meant to open our mind further to see autistic traits as respectful and professional and just as human as allistic traits. Autism awareness is far easier because it requires us to do all of the change and learning. Autism acceptance means that the world itself much change.
Image created by Maisie Moore she/they - Autism Advocate @mini.moores
Sources:
Kupferstein, Henny. “Evidence of increased PTSD symptoms in autistics exposed to applied behavior analysis.” Advances in Autism. 4. 00-00. (2018) 10.1108/AIA-08-2017-0016.
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