Published on 12, July, 2020
The week commencing 27 March is the designated 'Autism Awareness Week'.
Looking at the NAS articles, it seems to be all about fundraising, about baking cakes, going for a walk or holding a sponsored event. All very worthy, I am sure.
But aren't we missing something really important. The slogan is 'until everyone understands'. And what will everyone understand about autism if we just bake cakes or go for a walk? That there is a condition called 'autism'. That those who are autistic can bake cakes?
'Autism awareness week' should surely be an opportunity we should all use to state our case. Anyone who has been touched by autism, from parents and carers, relations, and those who are autistic themselves - should get involved in awareness where it really counts.
And that is by contacting the newspapers, writing letters to the media, writing to our MPs, lobbying parliament, writing to local councillors, and organising campaigns where the real issues relating to autism are stated. Issues such as lack of available diagnoses for adults, the waiting time for a diagnosis, the real lack of anything having been done under the 'Autism Strategy', the fact that NHS trusts do not offer any help at all to adults who may be on the spectrum. Many MPs are on Twitter and Facebook, we could message and tweet them. Get the broadcasters, local radio especially, interested in our cause. Write an article or letter for the local newspaper on the difficulties we face in everyday life, barriers put up not by us but by the attitude of others. This is surely as important as any amount of fundraising in raising awareness.
Daily I see discussions on this forum about problems autistic people and their carers are having with authority, funds being cut, barrers put in our way. And if we also let a wide audience know of these difficulties some of this may just begin to make others understand. Some seed may fall on stony ground, but if we all did communicate our issues to the media, our lawmakers, our local councillors then maybe, just maybe, we would begin to open a few doors in the barriers that are put in our way.
But how many of us will do this?
The whole concept of the awareness week is that the NAS make us look like helpless but undemanding people who can be pitied. This helps their image and their fundraising. All the posters here are right that as it stands the week does almost nothing to improve the daily lot of autistic people.
Its hard for individual autistic people to make a difference and galling that, having an organisation that purports to represent and help us, we should need to try. But as the Dalai Lama says: if you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a room with a mosquito.
In my opinion it should be Autism Acceptance Week, far better that people are encouraged to accept us as we are, stop looking for cures, stop seeing us as neurodeviant and celebrate what we are.
Have you suggested this to NAS clovis? ~ your idea of changing the name of the campaign.
I know very little about it. I don’t read newspapers, magazines, social media, watch television, listen to radios etc so if it hadn’t of been mentioned on here, I likely wouldn’t know about it. And right now, I have little interest to know more. However, my gratitude for this site, the community group and the information on their website, has definitely prompted me to make a mental note to have a look at it when I’m ready, and decide if I think the campaign is worthwhile, what it produces and how I can help, if that’s what I decide to do.
I do agree that we are looking for acceptance but don’t people have to first know that we exist before they can accept us? Many people I speak to have never really considered autism before. If anything, many people have so little awareness that their only clue is people they see in films. They’re often curious to find out more when I tell them I’m autistic though and they feel like their world has somehow been expanded, by hearing and learning more about autism. We both often find it a very positive experience where by we both learn something and I find you can match what you tell them to their level of awareness and sometimes it’s a lot of fun.