Diligent Circle 丸It's #AutismAcceptanceMonth, so remember:
Autism acceptance, not "awareness". We are not a disease.
Autism Speaks is a vile hate group that wants to stop us from being born, a genocidal goal. (Reminder for those in the back: genocide does not have murder as a prerequisite.) Autism Speaks doesn't speak for us, and any person or company who supports Autism Speaks is actively doing harm.
The whole "world autism day" and "light up blue" things are campaigns of Autism Speaks. Fuck that. Light up red for Autism Acceptance Month instead.
The blue puzzle piece is a symbol of Autism Speaks and presents us as a "problem" to "solve", which is an incredibly ableist framing.
The vast majority of autistic people, including myself, use identity-first language (like in this sentence). While not a universal preference, the push for the phrase "people with autism" is largely from neurotypical people who see autism as some external force. It is not. Being autistic is in the core of my being. Respect those in the autistic community who do choose person-first language for themselves, but don't force that language on the majority of us who prefer and use identity-first language.
Allistic parents of autistic people and other autism-adjacent allistic people are not in the autistic community and they do not speak for us. This is why the ActuallyAutistic hashtag was created, for those who don't know. We autistic people can speak for ourselves.
And remember autistic people are diverse! We don't fit some stereotype and we are who we are. I'm proud to be who I am.
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