How to be an Ally: World Autism Acceptance Month
This year, World Autism Month is more important than ever. The inequalities that face individuals with autism have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Access to care and support, disproportional rates of unemployment, and the deprivation of routine and special education within the autistic community have all been magnified this year. This is why we have decided to participate in World Autism Acceptance Month, rather than just “World Autism Day” or “World Autism Awareness Month”. We are committed to working year round to promote autism awareness, the next step is cultivating a narrative for acceptance rather than just acknowledgment; we don’t believe this can be done in just one day.
This month is not just about raising awareness for autism, it is about learning, un-learning, and engaging in meaningful conversations about what we can do as a community to uplift a group of individuals that continue to face discrimination and underrepresentation. For too long we have been teaching individuals with autism how to act and behave “properly” when interacting with neurotypical individuals. We need to reverse this public discourse and alleviate the pressures individuals on the spectrum face at the hands of these unfair expectations. People need to be aware of their unintentional ableism, being mindful that everyone is different and perceives the world in different ways. It should be the responsibility of neurotypical people to increase their own understandings of neurodiversities and broaden their perspectives. It is our turn to listen, and our turn to celebrate people’s differences rather than dismiss them.
The global situation right now is less than ideal, but we have an opportunity now to imagine the world we would like to live in once things return to normal. What can we do in terms of our societal involvement and public discourse to benefit those who are underrepresented? What can we do within our community to better the lives of those with autism and their families? How can we support them? This all starts with acceptance. Judgement and expectations must be abandoned in order to eliminate the stigma associated with neurodiversities. Accepting one another for our differences and embracing those differences will lay the foundation for increasing the opportunities and livelihood of those within the autistic community.
