Happy World Autism Awareness & Acceptance Day!!!! This is a day when we celebrate and honor autistic people globally. Did you also know that April is Autism Awareness & Acceptance Month? Of course we know that being autistic doesn’t start and stop before and after April, so in truth, we are called to practice a lifestyle of inclusion, acceptance, and learning about autism 365 days a year. But April is a month of more public presence to educate and increase the understanding of autism for those who don’t already know. It’s a time for autistic people, caregivers of autistic children/loved ones, teachers, therapists, and those people who devote their lives to the autistic community to share with anyone who will listen.
How do some people celebrate? Some may “light it up blue” by placing a blue light on their porch or in windows of their home. Some may run races to raise funds for autism research or supports. Others may share resources through fairs or fun events. The most important part of the celebration is the love, honoring and acceptance of differences in autistic people from everyone else.
I’d like to take a moment to clarify something… the words “awareness and acceptance.” Think about what those words mean to you. Having awareness of autism doesn’t mean you simply know it exists and can kind of “tell” that someone is autistic. Nope. Awareness means you are actively building a working knowledge, understanding of and connection to autistic people. Acceptance doesn’t imply, “Oh yeah, I’m totally good with someone being autistic. They’re good.” True acceptance means you are inclusive of autistic people in all things without trying to change, reshape or normalize them.
Here are some great autistic people in social media you can learn from! I beg you to understand that you are not truly learning if you are not learning from autistic voices! Here are some great sources to start with:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087870753308
https://www.facebook.com/morenike.onaiwu
https://www.facebook.com/KerrysAutismJourney
https://www.facebook.com/NeuroClastic
https://www.facebook.com/NeurodivergentRebel
https://www.facebook.com/dannywithwords
