Moving From Autism Awareness to Autism Acceptance

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April is autism “awareness” month. President Ronald Reagan was the first to make April the official month for autism awareness, but it was the controversial organization, Autism Speaks, that put in the marketing to make April a month that was about recognizing autism. Yet, over the last decade, autistic people and autism advocates have pushed to move away from the idea of April as autism awareness month towards autism acceptance month.

What is the difference between awareness and acceptance? The difference is subtle but profound. Autism awareness is best represented by the mission of Autism Speaks. Its mission is to help the parents of autistic children find services to help children learn the skills to blend in more with neurotypical society. Much of its funding is dedicated to research for finding a cure for autism. The goal is to be aware of autism so that there is a cure and it goes away and is no longer a challenge. Autism acceptance, on the other hand, has been endorsed by actual autistic adults who argue that the goal should be to educate neurotypicals on autism so they can learn to accept autistic behaviors and embrace the beauty that is present in autistic adults instead of shunning autistic people for their atypical behavior. Autism acceptance is about loving autistic people for who they are, helping them find and embrace their strengths, and helping them learn the skills to thrive in a world that wasn’t meant for them. It isn’t about changing them or doing research to cure them of a part of their personality that they often love.

Someone very close to me is a good example of why autism acceptance is so important. Like most autistic people, I am more comfortable around other autistic people; many of the people I am closest to are autistic. We will call this person Sam. Sam stutters. He stims. He talks a lot and profusely about his hyperfixations. Like many autistic adults, he is also very accomplished and intelligent. He has been deployed 10 times and has participated in almost every global conflict in the last 20 years as a leader of pivotal and successful missions. He worked for FEMA for 20 years. He was a pilot in the Air Force, and after a traumatic brain injury grounded him, he joined the National Guard, went to Ranger School, and led efforts to help people get out of Afghanistan in the exodus. Yet, despite this, he faces prejudice and discrimination regularly. He lost a job recently because a colonel said that people who stutter are liars. Another supervisor wouldn’t work with him because he didn’t make eye contact. His echolalia has led to judgment and criticism. After 20 years of service and combat and being shot in the back, he was discharged from the National Guard with no retirement ceremony and no notice. He is odd. He has a speech impediment. The nation he served has forgotten him. It doesn't matter how capable or hardworking he is. Autism isn’t the face they want.

Sam isn’t alone. Throughout my career, I have had clients and friends lose jobs because they twirled their hair in meetings (a simple stim that neurotypicals interpret as lack of focus), because they went into autistic burnout and needed time off, they didn’t make eye contact, they didn’t talk enough, they were odd, and they were just difficult. A local autism advocate recently lost their job after 10 years of award-winning work because they were struggling with autistic burnout.

When we talk about autism acceptance versus autism awareness, this is what autism advocates mean. We mean that as we move forward, the goal isn’t just to be aware that autistic people exist and support companies that push to make us less weird, less annoying, and less of a bother. The goal should be supporting businesses that allow autistic people to stutter, not make eye contact, and stim without judgment. The difference between acceptance and awareness is the difference between donating food to a food bank and inviting someone over to your house for dinner. Awareness is helpful, but acceptance is transformative. Acceptance is the place where you stop treating autistic people like they are broken. It is the place where you stop trying to teach autistic people neurotypical social skills. It is a place where you stop supporting organizations that assist autistic children in behaving more typically, but you support those that help autistic adults and children appreciate themselves for who they are.

In Resolution 706 in June of 2023, the American Medical Association officially changed its policy with regards to autism treatment. They stopped their endorsement and support of applied behavioral analysis and other treatments that focus on trying to make autistic people more normal. They also removed the language that says “treatment of” autism to “services for” autistic people. They said, based on research that shows increased trauma in autistic people who go through treatments like ABA that suppress autistic behaviors, they believe treatments for autism should focus on neuroinclusivity (Chellappa, The Lancet Psychiatry, 2023). In this small move, they pushed the medical community from an attitude of autism awareness towards autism acceptance. The medical community acknowledges that future treatment for autism needs to focus not on suppressing autistic behaviors but on accepting autistic people as they are.

The political landscape is shifting, and our leaders are pushing to find a “cure” for autism by September 2025. But what autistic people need and want is acceptance. We don’t want to be cured.