Adult Autistics Exist Too
Autistic kids are awesome, just don’t forget they eventually become Autistic adults
April 18, 2024
Today is National Adult Autism “Awareness” Day.
Many* Autistic self-advocates prefer terms such as Autism Acceptance, Autistic Appreciation, Autistic Pride, and Autism Equity. Awareness campaigns have a history of being ableist, deficits-focused, and focused more on neurotypical (NT) parents of Autistic children than on Autistic people.
Autistic people generally don’t need more awareness, we need better public education, understanding, and acceptance. Many of us simply want others to treat us with dignity and respect, rather than trying to change us to conform to NT expectations.
If you wish to support Autistic people and the Autistic community, please don’t “light it up blue” in April or post images with puzzle-pieces (I won’t explain why here because I’ve already written about these issues, please feel free to click those links to learn more).
*To be clear, I do not speak for the entire Autistic community. I write based on my academic, personal, and professional experience, which includes being very involved in the Autistic community, as well as being an Autistic parent to an Autistic child.
