{"id":434,"date":"2024-03-01T22:10:51","date_gmt":"2024-03-02T04:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.writingforlife.net\/?p=434"},"modified":"2024-03-01T22:11:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-02T04:11:19","slug":"how-not-to-do-autism-awareness-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.writingforlife.net\/index.php\/2024\/03\/01\/how-not-to-do-autism-awareness-month\/","title":{"rendered":"How (Not) To Do Autism Awareness Month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

April is Autism Awareness Month, and I overheard someone say in a Facebook community that they got jumpscared by Autism Speaks merch in Walmart already, so I figured it was a good time for a little review of how (not) to handle AAM in advance of anyone making social media content or the like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Main point: Unfortunately, a lot of the content \/ messaging that is put out is harmful due to a failure to actually go directly to the autistic community as opposed to neurotypical \u201cexperts\u201d who talk about<\/em> us instead of to<\/em> us.\u00a0 This results in content that is actively offensive at worst, and sometimes just useless to autistic people at best.\u00a0 I assume most random people mean well though, so I wanted to make a guide for how to, and not to, talk about us this month, as well as evaluate what you see others say\/post about us.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get started, shall we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do not:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Use puzzle pieces. These are meant to indicate that we\u2019re an unsolved puzzle, or missing a piece of what makes everyone else complete humans, or something like that, and therefore are seen as offensive. (Here\u2019s an article<\/a> that explains it in more depth, as well as touches on some other things on my list.)\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Promote the color blue.  Blue is used as the autism color because it\u2019s traditionally been seen as a boys\u2019 issue due to sexism in what research populations are prioritized and helped, so while it may be a very nice color as part of design, avoid explicitly using it as \u201cthe autism color.\u201d  It\u2019s also the color of Autism Speaks (see next point).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Promote Autism Speaks.  Autism Speaks is often seen as a hate group within the community for focusing on a \u201ccure,\u201d promoting ABA, etc. actually.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Promote ABA. This is basically conversion therapy to make people act neurotypical, and traumatizes kids for the convenience of other people around them instead of focusing on actually accommodating the child\u2019s needs.\u00a0 Many of us consider it child abuse.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Be trans- or acephobic.  Autistic people are much more likely to be trans and\/or asexual than the general population (and more likely to be LGBTQIA+ in every category surveyed in the source linked at the end), so to be an ally to the community you have to support those communities too.  We come as a package deal in some ways.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Instead, do:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Use the rainbow infinity symbol for neurodiversity generally, or the gold infinity symbol for autism specifically.  Or if you want to be more cutesy, the autism creature :P.  Gold and red are the colors often associated with autism by the community.  <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Use identity-first language when talking about us generally.\u00a0 Some individuals prefer \u201c(person) with autism\u201d and this should be respected if they request that you refer to them as such, but 76% percent of us exclusively use \u201cautistic (person)\u201d between the two, and of the remaining quarter, the majority are okay with both, so when you\u2019re talking about autistic people as a category, you should refer to us as autistic, not \u201cwith autism.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s similar to sexual orientation in that way: you don\u2019t say that you \u201chave bisexuality,\u201d you just say you\u2019re bisexual, for example.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Consider talking about autistic adults too.  Autism awareness is very child-centric, but we don\u2019t grow out of it – autistic children grow up to become autistic adults, who often don\u2019t know<\/em> they\u2019re autistic until they\u2019re adults, and have little support available regardless of when they found out.  So this is an area where raising awareness can have greater impact.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Make sure you\u2019re getting your info from autistics, not neurotypicals who have a financial incentive to talk about us like it\u2019s a tragedy that needs a cure.  Perhaps you\u2019ve heard the phrase \u201cnothing about us without us.\u201d  We can speak for ourselves, and we\u2019re fundamentally a more reliable and better informed source on our own lived experience<\/em> than an outsider talking about us – you don\u2019t need to rely on articles from Autism Speaks for info.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Why we need both awareness AND acceptance:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      I also want to note that awareness alone isn\u2019t enough.  Many people say \u201cwe don\u2019t need awareness, we need acceptance.\u201d  I think most people know at this point that autism exists and a few basic traits, and would go \u201cOh yeah, I support autistic people\u201d in April, but months later when someone you work with is \u201cweird\u201d and communicates more directly and bluntly than others, do you just go with it or do you assume they\u2019re being rude to people and complain to someone?  (Not a hypothetical – I see vents all the time about people getting called into HR, written up, etc. because people are offended by their to-the-point communication style.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      To some extent we don\u2019t need awareness reminders; we need people to actually accept and accommodate autistic traits on a day to day basis<\/em>, even when it challenges their expectations for how people should be or what\u2019s reasonable.  Awareness only goes so far if it doesn\u2019t lead to actual changes in people\u2019s behavior towards those around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      But that said, I actually think we do need more awareness as well.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know I was autistic until around 2021 because I simply didn\u2019t know about the medical sexism element and the nuances on how it can manifest in different people.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure we need the entry level \u201cHey guys, autistic people exist, don\u2019t be offended if they don\u2019t make eye contact!\u201d awareness any more, but we do need greater awareness of all the nuances of what being autistic can be like, especially if you\u2019re not a young white male.\u00a0 Dig deeper for your awareness content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Why this matters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      A lot of this is basic stuff.\u00a0 I don\u2019t say that to make random people feel bad – when big organizations like Autism Speaks claim to help autistic people and are doing things like putting puzzle pieces everywhere, there\u2019s little reason someone who doesn\u2019t have an openly autistic friend or family member would know to be wary – but because it\u2019s a measure of how much a source can be trusted for accurate info, to handle our concerns appropriately, etc.\u00a0 Stuff like the survey at the end (we’re almost there, I promise) is freely available to the public.\u00a0 If a professional source talks about us using terms and symbols that the community rejects, that\u2019s a red flag that they haven\u2019t engaged with the community in a meaningful way when they could have, and if they haven\u2019t actually engaged with us, how can they be trusted with anything autism-related on a more serious level?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      If you happen to be a social media manager, that\u2019s something to keep in mind.  (Although you\u2019re probably on the right track already if you\u2019re reading this post to begin with.)  More likely this is useful as a way to evaluate sources of info though if you just want to know how seriously to take them \/ whether they\u2019re likely up to date with community-driven data.  For example, diversity trainings at your workplace that claim you always have to refer to us as \u201cpeople with autism\u201d if you want to be respectful.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Lots of information in one place:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      If you\u2019re a regular reader you\u2019ve seen me talk about this by now: the Autistic Not Weird Community Survey<\/a> of over 7000 autistic respondents on everything from terminology preferences to what social environments we struggle with to what co-occuring conditions we tend to have.\u00a0 This is probably the best place to find relevant and accessible information without having to slog through a bunch of organizational sources trying to figure out what\u2019s by the community, or having spent a lot of time in online autistic spaces already.\u00a0 (This is also the source for the person versus identity first language and LGBTQIA+ stats.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Case in point of some of things discussed here: I just looked up “autism” and “autism awareness” photos on pexels for the featured image, and despite the large quantity of photos, there’s nothing I’m comfortable using because everything that’s not a photo of a specific person has puzzle pieces, children’s building blocks, or is exclusively done in blue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Questions? Leave a comment!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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