Genetic Research & Autism
April is Autism Acceptance month — and acceptance is more than a buzzword. Working toward acceptance means welcoming autistic people’s leadership on the issues that most affect our lives.
Since Autism Acceptance Month began, the autistic community has made a tremendous cultural impact in terms of how our society views autism. But autism research has lagged behind. The research agenda is still dominated by biomedical “causation and prevention” research, including genetic research on autism. As genetic research continues to develop, autistic people must have our say in how it should be used, and not used.
For Autism Acceptance Month 2022, ASAN is releasing a statement on genetic research and autism. Written in plain language, this statement gives background information on autism research, lays out ASAN’s concerns about genetic research as applied to autism, and recommends safeguards to make sure that any genetic research on autism is done by and for the autistic community.…. Read More >>
APRIL AND ACCOMMODATIONS: STOP TALKING TO ME LIKE I’M A CHILD!
By Lummine at Thinking Person’s Guide To Autism
We’re honoring Autism Acceptance by publishing April Accommodations—meaning adjustments that other people can do for the autistic people in their lives. (For the flipside, as in things that make life harder for autistics, please see our Autism Checklist of Doom.)
Today we are talking with Lummine, who wants people to stop talking to them like they’re a child.…. Read More >>
More TPGA With April And Accomadations
- Ann Memmott, who wants people to respect when she needs technology like cell phones to communicate.
- Shawna Spain, an autistic ambulatory wheelchair user who wants you to accept that she cannot read your mind—not yet, at least.
- Elliot Keenan, who wants people to use pictures, not just words, to teach him about ideas and concepts
- Kate Ryan, who wants people to stop asking her open-ended questions like “How are you?”.
- Rhi Lloyd-Williams, who wants people to stop second-guessing what she tells them. She means what she means!
The Performance of April and Autism Awareness Month
By Emmanuel
April 27, 2011
Let me start by acknowledging something that the autistics who know, who really know, and dread this month know all too well: April is essentially a cash grab. April is a soapbox for well-meaning organizations and corporations to bank on us. We’re the inspiration porn, the example to strive for, the burden to be eased that’s big money to them. … Read More >>
April Is…
By AdamAuron Lodestone
April 1, 2022
April is for affirmation, inclusion, empowerment, and accomodation!
Center Autistic voices. Unlearn ableist concepts.
Actively dismantle ableist and neurobigoted structures and systems.
Seek out advocates, creators, and change-makers from within the #ActuallyAutistic community, especially those who are BIPOC and Nonspeakers. … Read More >>
Autism “awareness”
Ngā kaipānui kia ora
April is Autism Awareness month, and today, Saturday 2nd April is World Autism Awareness Day. It’s a time when many autistic people “go into hiding”. Why? Because autism is still portrayed as a bogeyman – something that is undesirable, that destroys families, causes misery to “sufferers”, that needs to be eliminated. No it’s not. From my perspective, autism describes a way of perceiving and experiencing the world that is different from the way the majority of the population perceives and experiences the world. … Read More >>
What Autistic Advocacy Really Means
TW – ableism, eugenics, “treatments”, torture, Judge Rotenberg Center, Spectrum 10K
… What I want to talk about is the lasting effects that occur when autistic people are used as a commodity, a political football, a theoretical argument, as exploitation, when autistic people have to witness the dehumanization and legal torture of autistic people. … Read More >>
Before You Donate to Autism Speaks, Consider the Facts
Discrimination, dehumanization, minimization, vilifying, Autistic slurs and hate speech in the name of ‘autism awareness’ month
International Badass Activists 