Autism Awareness Month vs. Autism Acceptance Month

The month of April has been historically referred to as Autism Awareness Month. The first  Autism Awareness month began over 50 years ago and initially started by the Autism Society as National Autistic Children’s Week. This observance soon expanded to Autism Awareness month. 

Fast forward to now - there are more and more conversations happening each year about the language of Autism Awareness Month vs. Autism Acceptance month. However, this is not just about the language. It’s much deeper than that. This is about the meaning, intention, the message, and the movement at large.  Here’s why. 

Autism Awareness

Autism awareness is absolutely, fundamentally important and necessary. What is awareness? The perception that something exists. But this is only the foundational step: acknowledging that autism exists. That of course needs to happen first. There are definitely more people than ever who know that autism exists. Still, their knowledge and actual understanding of autism can be very limited. For others, their knowledge of autism is just completely lacking or incorrect. Advocating for more autism awareness is to hopefully, educate more people to increase their knowledge about autism and reduce their ignorance, bias, misperceptions, and stereotypes towards the community. Autism can manifest very differently in different people, and every autistic person’s experience is unique. More people need to be aware of that. They also need to be aware of how to treat autistic people with respect. Again, this is just the bare minimum. What about compassion? What about true understanding? That requires more than just acknowledging something exists. 

Autism Acceptance

Let’s talk about autism acceptance and why it is so important to understand the distinction. What is acceptance? A quick search of Webster dictionary describes acceptance as to receive willingly, to give approval to, to make a favorable response to－ just to name a few iterations. 

These are all phrases that require action. It is within a person’s control to accept something. Autism acceptance requires much more than just awareness. Autism acceptance is to make a decision to affirm that our experiences are valid, our voices are welcome at the table, we are included, we are respected, and our autistic identities are received without judgment. It’s accepting that your autistic coworker may not communicate or do things the way you communicate and do things. It’s accepting that we deserve understanding, care, support, and resources. It’s accepting that people can think and operate differently than the norm, and that’s okay. Autism acceptance is embracing people’s strengths, differences, opinions, expressions, challenges, talents, barriers, dreams, and goals. Autism acceptance is to genuinely hold the position that there are many ways of being, and to adopt the belief that no one way of being is the “right,” “proper,” or “normal” way. It’s also to hold the belief that autism is not something that needs to be fixed, cured, treated, or changed. It is to let go of the judgment that there are “acceptable” qualities and “unacceptable qualities,” It’s embracing autistic people holistically, for the dynamic, multifaceted individuals they are. This means not only celebrating their strengths, talents, gifts, or positive qualities that society deems acceptable or valued, but accepting the more troublesome characteristics or behaviors, too. You need to accept every part of an autistic person, and not ignore or minimize their struggles or disadvantages by only highlighting the advantages. That would be conditional acceptance. We need unconditional autism acceptance. 

To transition from awareness to acceptance, one must examine their stereotypes and misconceptions about autism. That also means accepting that you don’t know everything about autism, even if you have personal connection to the autistic community. This requires a posture of humility, and the attitude that only the autistic person is the expert of their own experience. Acceptance requires being open-minded and always willing to learn more about who the autistic person is and what they need from you (if anything). If you do know an autistic person, accept that you don’t know the next autistic person. Challenge assumptions. When someone shares that they are autistic, don’t reply by saying they don’t look autistic or seem autistic. This is dismissive, offensive, invalidating, and unhelpful. Instead, ask them respectful questions to further your understanding. Enter these conversations from a place of curiosity and wonder, not judgment. 

Autism Appreciation

The ultimate goal, however, goes much deeper than acceptance, and that is autism appreciation. Celebration. Love. Appreciation and gratitude and fondness towards autistic people. I personally have not met an autistic person that doesn’t make me smile and fill me with happiness and amazement for who they are. This includes working with autistic people who have been labeled by others as too “behavioral” or “challenging.” I still love them equally and appreciate them for who they are. I focus on how we can connect and engage together, and I have even more of a profound appreciation when I can share joy with another autistic person who has been labeled in this way. I genuinely feel lucky and overjoyed to be in spaces where I get the pleasure of being around autistic people. I see someone stimming, and I feel happy. I hear someone talking about their special interest, and I feel happy. It is beautiful to witness and be a part of. I genuinely love this community and hope that many others can share that. Autism appreciation is celebrating and treasuring what makes people unique and special. Happy April, and Happy Autism Appreciation Month. Every day, for me, is autism appreciation. This includes the process of moving away from self-judgment and into appreciation for my own autistic identity, which has allowed me to further value other autistic people. My appreciation grows stronger every day.