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PaulaDurbin-Westby
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15 Mar 2012, 11:10 am

April 2 is Autism Acceptance Day! Autism Acceptance Day was created in 2011 to counter the typical negative images of autism that we have to endure in April. So far it has been mostly an online event, although I will be speaking about it Asperger Adults oF Greater Washington (AAGW) on this Saturday March 17. Also, I will be doing a radio show on Autism Acceptance Day on Autism Women's Network (AWN) radio on Friday March 30. To find Autism Acceptance Day on Facebook, do a search. I think I have not posted enough here yet to be able to post URLs but it is easy to find. We are also on Twitter. If you join any of the Autism Acceptance Day Facebook events/community, you can also find links to a competition we are in to get funding to do more promotion of positive images of autism/Asperger's. Autism Acceptance Day is for people on the spectrum, parents, friends, family members, anyone who is tired of the devastating disorder" rhetoric.

Something I wrote recently about this:

It’s Time to Take Back April! Autism Acceptance Day and Month
Last year in March (2011) I had read one too many posts by Autistic friends and acquaintances, for one too many years, about how much they dreaded the approach of April. From on-campus “awareness” campaigns that featured shocking and alarmist stunts, to the media blitz, often negative and usually without the participation of Autistic people other than as interesting news items to be commented on (let alone the idea of actually consulting someone on the autism spectrum before producing one of these biased programs), the onslaught was making a lot of us feel devastated, and I am not talking about “devastating disorder.” April was continuing to be one long, drawn-out exercise in gritting our teeth and trying to make it through the month.

No More! We are taking back April. I am talking about: People on the autism spectrum who have had enough of “awareness” that leaves us out: Nothing About Us Without Us! I am talking about: Parents of kids on the spectrum who want to turn off the TV for the entire month so that their kids don’t have to see demeaning portrayals and dire statistics about themselves. No, our kids are not just the stuff of epidemiology. I am talking about: the community, and that means everyone, whether or not they are in the “autism world,”- the general public- who deserve to see a more balanced approach to discussions of autism, because they will no doubt encounter someone on the spectrum at some point, and will need something more than “more prevalent than pediatric cancer, AIDS, and diabetes.”



AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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15 Mar 2012, 1:51 pm

PaulaDurbin-Westby wrote:
. . . No More! We are taking back April. I am talking about: People on the autism spectrum who have had enough of “awareness” that leaves us out: Nothing About Us Without Us! . . .

Here, Here! Thank you for your good activism.

And do you think we might call it Autism Appreciation Day? :D



PaulaDurbin-Westby
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15 Mar 2012, 6:42 pm

I like the idea of appreciation. :) That's something we don't get a lot of.



PaulaDurbin-Westby
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16 Mar 2012, 2:28 pm

For anyone in the DC area tomorrow, I am talking about Autism Acceptance Day at the AAGW meeting. AAGW is at aagw dot net (writing it that way since I still think I can't add URLS yet).

-Paula



TheChamelion
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16 Mar 2012, 2:37 pm

PaulaDurbin-Westby wrote:
No More! We are taking back April. I am talking about: People on the autism spectrum who have had enough of “awareness” that leaves us out: Nothing About Us Without Us! I am talking about: Parents of kids on the spectrum who want to turn off the TV for the entire month so that their kids don’t have to see demeaning portrayals and dire statistics about themselves. No, our kids are not just the stuff of epidemiology. I am talking about: the community, and that means everyone, whether or not they are in the “autism world,”- the general public- who deserve to see a more balanced approach to discussions of autism, because they will no doubt encounter someone on the spectrum at some point, and will need something more than “more prevalent than pediatric cancer, AIDS, and diabetes.”


Finally someone who says it like it is!
Sick of all the people using their shock tactics about 'how devastating this is' and all that other B.S.! How about you stop flapping your lips about something you have no idea about and let US do it!? Autism has ALLOT of people who will actually talk up for US! But wait, that would prove that we're not all sitting in a corner hating our lives! (Which is now thanks to the publics impression that autism 'supporters' have given them!)
How about you stop wasting the money donated to our cause on getting rid of us, and instead use it on helping us!

Stop hushing us up and let us talk! These people are autisms 'false profits'! :evil:

(Sorry about the rant, I'm just sick of what people think of us because of our 'supporters'! Having autism is no reason to abort a baby, so stop wasting our money researching on it! The (unproven) chance at getting autism from immunizations IS ACTUALLY worth the chance of living, and not dying of the disease they would have protected us against!
Sorry, I'm doing it again, aren't I? :oops: )


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AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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16 Mar 2012, 2:58 pm

Our educational and medical systems seem to "need" to define people as either "low"-functioning or "high"-functioning.

If we could more easily define people as medium-functioning, I think that would be a step forward.