I find it disheartening that Autism Acceptance Month is never acknowledged within mainstream culture/Media

[TheRealKaren]

Pride, Black history and Woman History are all get widely celebrated in mainstream media. Companies always acknowledge these periods and appear to be posting about them on their social media (even if it is insincere and they’re just doing it to look ‘woke’). So why is autism acceptance hardly ever mentioned and represented? More and more people are coming out as autistic, and I think autistics (myself included) would appreciate a bit of recognition for it. The only people I have her talk about it (or the less favoured name, autism awareness month) are actual autistics or people with connections such as friends or families. it’s called acceptance/awareness, not self-appreciation.
I would like to point out that I am not saying that autism acceptance is more important than pride, black history or women's history As they are equally as important. My point is, the above have all become normalised in society which is amazing, I just find it a shame that autism acceptance doesn’t seem to be normalised into society. I feel like very few people care about it.

I'm constantly dumfounded by the sheer numbers of people I encounter in everyday life who still have completely warped and bizarre ideas about what Autism actually is and how Autistic people present.

I think it's still an enormously uncomfortable and taboo subject because of this, and until such time that's eradicated and perceptions of Autism completely changed, I don't think the public or mainstream media will be in any way receptive to a day that 'promotes' Autism awareness. It's too much for a good number of people to get their heads around, so it's much easier and more convenient to just ignore it and hope it goes away, even if that means concentrating on some other cause or issue instead so as not to be seen to be uncaring or indifferent.

It's not mainstream media, but kids up and down the country wore colourful socks (and donated cash) on Friday for Autism. They had talks/assemblies to raise awareness. Our company invited an organization to talk to our staff about how we could do better at supporting people with autism (the main speaker was autistic). We have hired an extra member of staff specifically for people who might need more tailored support (mostly autistic clients at the moment, but others too). Efforts are not going far enough if you've not felt it. We do need to do better as a society, that's very evident.

You don't "come out" as autistic!

But anyway, I did hear them talk about it on the radio the other day. And I suppose there are so many " national week of.....".

The idea that people 'come out' as autistic doesn't sit right with me. That makes it sound as if it's a choice.

Aside from that I do agree with you. I wish we just had more understanding.

There was a doctor on TikTok earlier who made a post about autism because it's April and she did a nice wee talk about what autism is but ended it by mentioning there are lots of 'treatments' It was deleted after many comments from angry autistic people (including myself).

I'm just exhausted with it all tbh. It's like a constant fight for no reason. Nobody listens.

I think there has been huge leaps in autism acceptence in the past few years tbf and I wouldn't classify it as hardly mentioned. quiet hours in shops, work experiences etc that I did not have before.

The trouble is that a lot of these things are driven by crappy groups such as Autism Speaks (yuck), and actual autistic voices aren’t listened to.

I think there’s more acceptance of autistic children than autistic adults.

I disagree with PP who say you don’t “come out” as autistic. For instance, if you’re diagnosed as an adult & have been masking all your life, especially if you’re currently in a social context that is unsupportive, then yes it is a good term to use.

I disagree with PP who say you don’t “come out” as autistic. For instance, if you’re diagnosed as an adult & have been masking all your life, especially if you’re currently in a social context that is unsupportive, then yes it is a good term to use

Agreed

Spent most of my adult life being regarded as 'difficult' or a 'weirdo', so while I wouldn't claim it's the same as 'coming out' regarding your sexuality, the fact I'm comfortable disclosing to people that I believe need to know that I am diagnosed is a significant change from the days where I continually masked and attempted (and mostly failed) to conform. It also means my mental health no longer takes a constant battering just because I'm striving to conform to strictures that are impossible for me to adhere to. So yes, it certainly feels like a 'coming out' experience compared to what life was like 20-30 years ago.

I’ve seen a great many autism awareness campaigns over the last few days as it’s been all over my social media (especially from corporates on LinkedIn). I don’t know anyone who has autism so it must be fairly mainstream as I’m not being specifically targeted for this content.

It's over my Facebook a lot but I do know a few people with Autism themselves and even more with children who have.

It would be good to cover in schools though as the average child seems to have no real understanding of neurodiversity.

@Whatalovelydaffodil

You don't "come out" as autistic!

But anyway, I did hear them talk about it on the radio the other day. And I suppose there are so many " national week of.....".

Actually, some people do.

You spend so much of your life masking or hiding the fact that you are autistic in case it goes against you that deciding to admit/make known your diagnosis is like coming out.

Actually I take it back. I think it is 'coming out' - I don't know why I was against it when I read it. It is exactly what I did. It doesn't imply choice at all, in the same way being gay isn't a choice, yet still has a 'coming out'. It's just saying 'this is me'. I was diagnosed in my 40s!

My daughter was constantly told by college that she should hide her autism as no one would employ her.

They have diversity policies covering everything from all the rainbow colours and letters of the alphabet, to body image and of course (right so) race, but neuro-diversity isn’t included.

Thankfully she’s left there now.

You don't "come out" as autistic!

Sorry I realised that I didn’t say what I meant clearly. Similar to what igloo said above, What I meant was that many people who are diagnosed autistic are very apprehensive about opening up that they are autistic because they are scared of how the public will preserve it (several people have told me this). Many adults only find out that they are autistic later in life due to not being aware of what the condition is and all the things that are symptoms, I see this more and more. Although self-indulgent ‘Autism and our family’ ( paddy McGuinness documentary on BBC) is good at explaining this.

Is it because there’s every week, you could have a “ awareness month”.

calendar of National campaigns -nhs

I agree, obviously those who live and deal with autism know today is national autism day, it would be nice for others to learn about and appreciate autism. That’s the problem, is society isn’t educated about it. And for most people it is a non issue so they don’t care to learn. Media always portray Autism in one way and the fact it’s a spectrum isn’t shown enough.
That’s why we always get comments like
He/she doesn’t look autistic.
I get it a lot because DS doesn’t look or act how they think he should. If only they knew the struggles....

@Whatalovelydaffodil

You don't "come out" as autistic!

But anyway, I did hear them talk about it on the radio the other day. And I suppose there are so many " national week of.....".

For some of us it is a case of "coming out" to people.

I was diagnosed two years ago and have only told a handful of people. The close friends and family who know me well have been great but I had a horrible response from my employer. I tell as few people as possible simply because I can't be bothered with dealing with possible bad reactions.

I'm thinking about doing a coming out post on FB for autism acceptance month but still feeling nervous about it.

Tourette syndrome is even less acceptable.

It really upsets me the extent to which neurodevelopmental conditions are misunderstood and misrepresented- when we are all supposed to embrace and accept individual choices these days.

I definitely do see more ‘awareness’ than I did as a child growing up, which means we are definitely beginning to head in the right direction, but currently not enough. I definitely do not see much ‘acceptance’ though.

it's still an enormously uncomfortable and taboo subject
Unfortunately, I feel this is true. This is why many autistics want ‘acceptance’ not ‘awareness’, although I think both are equally as important. in a perfect world what I would like to see, autistic's actually being listened to, being allowed to speak for themselves and for workplaces/educational institutions taking actions to make sure that autistics (And for that matter, all neurodivgent people) can have the right support in place to fully succeed!

’My daughter was constantly told by college that she should hide her autism as no one would employ her.’
And if this isn’t evidence that ‘acceptance’ needs to be promoted, I don’t know what is! comefromaway my biggest pet peeve is when people tell me to stop saying ‘sorry’ after every word as it makes me sound like I don’t want to own my words, it makes me want to say ‘I do, but unfortunately the words I am saying May translate differently to you and for all I know could be offensive in your translation, I mean it’s not like the world has already given me enough social anxiety over it, so basically sorry not sorry but sorry’

Sophie, the Countess of Wessex has posted it on Instagram

It's limbloss awareness month in April.I haven't seen much on that either.

With regards to "coming out", yes I see what you mean. If you are diagnosed as an adult and then you tell people you have realised that you are autistic I suppose it's like coming out. It's a medical condition though so personally I prefer "was diagnosed with".