Autism rights movement#Terminology

Jim Sinclair is credited as the first person to communicate the autism rights perspective. In the early 1990s, Sinclair frequently participated in autism conferences led by parent-centric organizations but found them "overwhelmingly hostile from both sensory and emotional standpoints".{{Cite book |last=Dinh |first=Ann |title = Don't Mourn for Us: The Autistic Life of Jim Sinclair and an Extraordinary Story of Neurodiversity |date=2024 |publisher=Independently published |asin=B0DG6T67TD}}{{pn|date=December 2024}}{{self-published inline|date=December 2024}} In 1992, Sinclair co-founded the Autism Network International (ANI) with Donna Williams and Kathy Grant, an organization that publishes newsletters "written by and for autistic people."

The ANI newsletter, Our Voice, had its first issue distributed online in November 1992 to an audience of primarily neurotypical professionals and parents of young autistic children. The number of autistic people in the organization increased over the years, and ANI eventually became a communication network for like-minded autistic people.

{{cite web |url=http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/History_of_ANI.html |title=Autism Network International: The Development of a Community and its Culture |author=Sinclair, Jim. |date=January 2005|publisher=Jim Sinclair's personal website |access-date=2007-11-07 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090126110607/http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/History_of_ANI.html |archive-date=2009-01-26}}{{self-published inline|date=December 2024}} Sinclair wrote the essay "Don't Mourn for Us" (1993) in the ANI newsletter (Volume 1, Number 3) with an anti-cure perspective on autism.{{cite web |url=http://www.autreat.com/dont_mourn.html |title=Don't mourn for us |publisher=Autreat

|last=Sinclair |first=Jim |year=1993 |access-date=2014-08-11 |archive-date=11 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711013136/https://www.autreat.com/dont_mourn.html |url-status=live}} Some{{Like whom?|date=September 2024}} have considered the essay a touchstone for the autism rights movement, and it has been mentioned in The New York Times and New York Magazine.{{cite magazine |last=Solomon |first=Andrew |title=The Autism Rights Movement |date=2008-05-25 |magazine=New York Magazine |url=https://www.nymag.com/news/features/47225/ |access-date=2008-06-28 |archive-date=4 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704174810/https://nymag.com/news/features/47225/ |url-status=live}}

ANI established the yearly retreat "Autreat" in 1996. Autreat was a retreat and conference held in the United States specifically for autistic peopleSinclair, Jim. [http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/History_of_ANI.html History of ANI] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126110607/http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/History_of_ANI.html |date=26 January 2009 }}. Retrieved 12 November 2005.{{self-published inline|date=December 2024}} and was held every year from 1996 to 2013, except in 2001. The theme of the first conference in 1996 was "Celebrating Autistic Culture", and it had close to 60 participants. It was hosted at Camp Bristol Hills in Canandaigua, New York.{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/technology/2015/09/the-neurodiversity-movement-autism-is-a-minority-group-neurotribes-excerpt.html|title=Autism Is a Valuable Part of Humanity's Genetic Legacy|last=Silberman|first=Steve|date=2015-09-23|website=Slate |access-date=2019-08-03|archive-date=14 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214112226/http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/09/the_neurodiversity_movement_autism_is_a_minority_group_neurotribes_excerpt.html|url-status=live}} The success of Autreat later inspired similar retreats, such as the Association for Autistic Community's conference, Autspace, in the United States;{{Cite web|url=http://autisticcommunity.org/faqs/|title=FAQs – Association for Autistic Community|website=Association for Autistic Community|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-03|archive-date=3 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803190500/http://autisticcommunity.org/faqs/|url-status=live}} Autscape in the United Kingdom;{{Cite web|url=http://www.autscape.org/about/concept|title=Concept|website=Autscape|access-date=2019-08-03|archive-date=3 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803190502/http://www.autscape.org/about/concept|url-status=live}} and Projekt Empowerment in Sweden.{{cite journal |last1=Bertilsdotter Rosqvist |first1=Hanna |last2=Brownlow |first2=Charlotte |last3=O’Dell |first3=Lindsay |title=Mapping the social geographies of autism – online and off-line narratives of neuro-shared and separate spaces |journal=Disability & Society |date=April 2013 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=367–379 |doi=10.1080/09687599.2012.714257 |url=https://oro.open.ac.uk/35175/2/AB8F664.pdf}}

Martijn Dekker, an autistic computer programmer from the Netherlands, launched an e-mail list called "Independent Living on the Autism Spectrum", or "InLv", in 1996. The list also welcomed those with similar conditions, such as ADHD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia. American writer Harvey Blume was a member of the list and described it as embracing "neurological pluralism" in a 1997 article in The New York Times.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/30/business/autistics-freed-from-face-to-face-encounters-are-communicating-in-cyberspace.html |title=Autistics, freed from face-to-face encounters, are communicating in cyberspace |last=Blume |first=Harvey |work=The New York Times |date=30 June 1997 |access-date=8 November 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080126085905/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E7DC1F31F933A05755C0A961958260 |archive-date=26 January 2008}} Blume discussed the concept of neurological diversity with Australian sociologist Judy Singer.{{Cite web |url=http://www.myspectrumsuite.com/meet-judy-singer/|title=Meet Judy Singer, Neurodiversity Pioneer |last=Craft |first=Samantha |website=My Spectrum Suite |language=en |access-date=2019-08-03 |archive-date=6 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606235437/http://www.myspectrumsuite.com/meet-judy-singer/ |url-status=live}} The term "neurodiversity" was first published in Judy Singer's 1998 Honours thesis{{cite thesis |last=Singer |first=Judy |title=Odd People In: The Birth of Community Amongst People on the Autistic Spectrum: A personal exploration of a New Social Movement based on Neurological Diversity |degree=Bachelor of Arts Social Science (Honours) |place=Sydney |year=1998 |publisher=Faculty of Humanities and Social Science University of Technology |url=https://www.academia.edu/27033194 |access-date=29 October 2022 |archive-date=15 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115023408/https://www.academia.edu/27033194 |url-status=dead }}{{sfn|Singer|2017|p={{pn|date=December 2024}}}} and in Harvey Blume's 1998 article in The Atlantic.Blume, Harvey (1998). [https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1998/09/neurodiversity/305909 Neurodiversity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604091348/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1998/09/neurodiversity/305909/ |date=4 June 2019 }}. On the neurological underpinnings of geekdom. The Atlantic, September 1998.

Aspies For Freedom (AFF) was founded in 2004. They established June 18 as Autistic Pride Day starting in 2005. AFF member Joe Mele initiated a protest against the National Alliance for Autism Research in 2004. AFF also initiated protests against Cure Autism Now and the Judge Rotenberg Center.{{Source?|date=September 2024}}

In 2004, Canadian autism researcher Michelle Dawson challenged applied behavior analysis (ABA), a common behavioral intervention for people with autism, on ethical grounds. She testified in Auton v. British Columbia against the lack of required government funding for ABA.Collier, Roger. [http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/observer/story.html?id=71fae5dc-7eb5-48fd-8f60-78deebee9879&p=1 "Autism".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226143403/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/observer/story.html?id=71fae5dc-7eb5-48fd-8f60-78deebee9879&p=1 |date=26 February 2008 }} The Ottawa Citizen (1 December 2007). Retrieved 2008-02-17. That same year, The New York Times covered the autism rights perspective by publishing journalist Amy Harmon's article, "How About Not Curing Us, Some Autistics Are Pleading".{{cite news|last=Harmon |first=Amy |title=How About Not 'Curing' Us, Some Autistics Are Pleading |date=2004-12-20 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/20/health/20autism.html |access-date=2007-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202073041/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/20/health/20autism.html |archive-date=2 December 2011 |url-status=live }}

In 2006, The Autism Acceptance Project (TAAP) was founded by Estée Klar, the mother of an autistic child, with help from an autistic advisory and board. The project is affiliated with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and other activist groups in North America.

From 2005 to 2007, TAAP organized arts-based events.{{Cite web |date=April 7, 2019 |title=What was: The Autism Acceptance Project (TAAProject) |url=https://au-ti.com/2019/04/07/what-was-the-autism-acceptance-project-taaproject/ |website=AU-TI}} TAAP also sponsored the Joy of Autism: Redefining Ability and Quality of Life events and lectures in Toronto, featuring dozens of autistic artists and speakers such as Jim Sinclair, Michelle Dawson, Phil Schwartz, Morton Ann Gernsbacher, and Larry Bissonnette.

In 2007, an ASAN initiative helped halt the New York Child Study Campaign. The advertising campaign launched in 2007 depicted conditions like autism and ADHD as kidnappers holding children for ransom.{{Cite web |last=Ne’eman |first=Ari |date=December 8, 2007 |title=An Urgent Call to Action: Tell NYU Child Study Center to Abandon Stereotypes Against People With Disabilities |url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/2007/12/tell-nyu-child-study-center-to-abandon-stereotypes/ |access-date=September 19, 2024 |website=Autistic Self Advocacy Network}} The campaign was canceled two weeks after its launch when the center's director had received an estimated 3000 e-mails and phone calls, most of them "expressing anger and hurt".{{Cite web |last=Kaufman |first=Joanne |date=December 4, 2007 |title=Ransom-Note Ads About Children's Health Are Canceled |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/business/media/20child.html |url-access=limited |work=The New York Times}} ASAN halted another advertising campaign in 2008 where PETA had implied a link between autism and casein in milk.{{Cite web |date=2009-10-30 |title=Learn About the Link Between Dairy Products and the Disorder |url=https://www.peta.org/features/got-autism-learn-link-dairy-products-disease/ |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821084550/https://www.peta.org/features/got-autism-learn-link-dairy-products-disease/ |archive-date=21 August 2019 |access-date=2019-08-21 |website=PETA |language=en-US}} Phone calls, letters, and petitions organized by ASAN contributed to the removal of the advertisements.Ne'eman, Ari. (October 2008) [http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=35 PETA Billboard Removal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216034223/http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=35 |date=2012-02-16 }}. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

The internet has provided a space for members of the autism movement to organize and communicate independently without relying on non-autistic people, such as family members, healthcare workers, or events hosted by non-autistic individuals, especially considering the geographical distance and communication and speech patterns of autistic individuals.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a drop-off in physical events in the summer of 2020, including autism pride events. Much of autism awareness and campaigning was driven by social media, including the notable growth of TikTok and the emergence of autistic advocates like Chloé Hayden{{Cite web |date=2020-05-23 |title='It's a superpower': an autistic young woman takes her message of inclusion to TikTok |url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/23/its-a-superpower-an-autistic-young-woman-takes-her-message-of-inclusion-to-tiktok |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=The Guardian|language=en |archive-date=8 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208024933/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/23/its-a-superpower-an-autistic-young-woman-takes-her-message-of-inclusion-to-tiktok |url-status=live }} and Paige Layle.{{Cite web |last=Emanuel |first=Daniella |title=A Girl on TikTok With Autism Is Going Viral For Talking About How Autism Is Different in Women |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/daniellaemanuel/girl-tiktok-autism |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=BuzzFeed |date=11 March 2020 |language=en |archive-date=28 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528191101/https://www.buzzfeed.com/daniellaemanuel/girl-tiktok-autism |url-status=live }}

Autism advocacy made progress within the traditional media, making its way into influential business publications such as Harvard Business ReviewPraslova, Ludmila N. (2021). [https://hbr.org/2021/12/autism-doesnt-hold-people-back-at-work-discrimination-does Autism Doesn't Hold People Back at Work. Discrimination Does.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805224346/https://hbr.org/2021/12/autism-doesnt-hold-people-back-at-work-discrimination-does |date=5 August 2022 }} Harvard Business Review, 13 December 2021, https://hbr.org/2021/12/autism-doesnt-hold-people-back-at-work-discrimination-does Praslova, Ludmila N. (2022). [https://hbr.org/2022/06/an-intersectional-approach-to-inclusion-at-work|An Intersectional Approach to Inclusion at Work] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924154627/https://hbr.org/2022/06/an-intersectional-approach-to-inclusion-at-work%7CAn |date=24 September 2022 }}. Harvard Business Review, 21 June 2022 https://hbr.org/2022/06/an-intersectional-approach-to-inclusion-at-work {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805214150/https://hbr.org/2022/06/an-intersectional-approach-to-inclusion-at-work |date=5 August 2022 }}. and Fast Company.Praslova, Ludmila N.(2021).[https://www.fastcompany.com/90706149/neurodivergent-people-make-great-leaders-not-just-employees Neurodivergent people make great leaders, not just employees] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805214413/https://www.fastcompany.com/90706149/neurodivergent-people-make-great-leaders-not-just-employees |date=5 August 2022 }}. Fast Company, 15 December 2021. https://www.fastcompany.com/90706149/neurodivergent-people-make-great-leaders-not-just-employees . A comprehensive approach to inclusion in the workplace, the Canary Code, was developed in 2022 by Ludmila Praslova, specifically focusing on autistic talent and other marginalized communities.Praslova, Ludmila N. (2022).[https://www.fastcompany.com/90730688/to-build-a-healthy-workplace-you-need-a-toxic-culture-alarm To build a healthy workplace, you need a toxic culture alarm.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412225745/https://www.fastcompany.com/90730688/to-build-a-healthy-workplace-you-need-a-toxic-culture-alarm |date=12 April 2023 }} Fast Company, 14 March 2022.https://www.fastcompany.com/90730688/to-build-a-healthy-workplace-you-need-a-toxic-culture-alarm

{{main|Neurodiversity}}

Judy Singer coined the term neurodiversity in the late 1990s as a middle ground between the two dominating models of disability, the medical model and the social model, dismissing both of them as insufficiently capturing the solution for—and cause of—disability.{{sfn|Singer|2017|p=10}}

Steve Silberman describes neurodiversity as seeing the virtue of different conditions while taking into consideration that the conditions also convey challenges.{{Cite web |last1=Teitel |first1=Emma |last2=Silberman |first2=Steve |date=2015-08-25 |title=Steve Silberman on autism and 'neurodiversity' |url=https://www.macleans.ca/society/science/steve-silberman-on-autism-and-the-neurodiversity-movement/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803145501/https://www.macleans.ca/society/science/steve-silberman-on-autism-and-the-neurodiversity-movement/ |archive-date=3 August 2019 |access-date=2019-08-03 |website=Maclean's |publisher=Rogers Media |location=Toronto}} Autistics for Autistics, a self-advocacy group, describes neurodiversity this way: "Neurodiversity means that—like biodiversity—all of us have a role to play in society ...and we should be valued for who we are. Included in public life, such as school and employment. For nonverbal autistics, this also means equal and fair access to communication, such as AAC."{{Cite web|url=https://a4aontario.com/2019/04/27/raising-the-neurodiversity-flag-at-toronto-city-hall/|title=Raising the Neurodiversity Flag at Toronto City Hall!|last=a4aontario|date=2019-04-27|website=A4A Ontario|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-16|archive-date=16 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116232330/https://a4aontario.com/2019/04/27/raising-the-neurodiversity-flag-at-toronto-city-hall/|url-status=live}}

The autistic self-advocacy movement, made up of autistic individuals, works from a social model of disability perspective. For example, the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network describes its mandate as "to advance the principles of the disability rights movement with regard to autism".{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=26 May 2011 |title=About ASAN |url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809175020/http://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/ |archive-date=9 August 2019 |access-date=2019-11-16 |website=Autistic Self Advocacy Network |language=en-us}}

Autistic people are considered to have neurocognitive differences{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PV95DwAAQBAJ|title=The Bloomsbury Companion to Philosophy of Psychiatry|last=Chapman|first=Robert|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|year=2019|isbn=9781350024069|editor-last=Tekin|editor-first=Serife|pages=371–387|chapter=Neurodiversity Theory and Its Discontents: Autism, Schizophrenia, and the Social Model of Disability|editor-last2=Bluhm|editor-first2=Robyn|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PV95DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA371|access-date=5 August 2019|archive-date=28 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728095050/https://books.google.com/books?id=PV95DwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}} that give them distinct strengths and weaknesses, and they are capable of succeeding when appropriately accommodated and supported.{{Cite web |last=Silberman |first=Steve |date=2016-04-04 |title=Autistic people are not failed versions of "normal." They're different, not less |url=https://ideas.ted.com/autistic-people-are-not-failed-versions-of-normal-theyre-different-not-less/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803145504/https://ideas.ted.com/autistic-people-are-not-failed-versions-of-normal-theyre-different-not-less/ |archive-date=3 August 2019 |access-date=2019-08-03 |publisher=TED (conference) |language=en}} According to Ludmila Praslova, author of The Canary Code, creating systems that support the employment of autistic people and their success through organizational transparency, justice, and flexibility benefits all employees.

There is no leader of the neurodiversity movement, and little academic research has been conducted on it as a social phenomenon. As such, proponents of the neurodiversity approach have heterogeneous beliefs but are consistent in the view that autism cannot be separated from an autistic person. The movement opposes therapies that aim to make children "indistinguishable from their peers". Instead, they advocate for accommodations in schools and work environments{{Cite web|url=https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/does_neurodiversity_have_a_future|title=Does Neurodiversity Have a Future?|last=Nerenberg|first=Jenara|date=2016-11-21|website=Greater Good |access-date=2019-08-03|archive-date=3 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803145502/https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/does_neurodiversity_have_a_future|url-status=live}} and including autistic people when making decisions that affect them.{{Cite web|url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/position-statements/|title=Position Statements|website=Autistic Self Advocacy Network|date=28 May 2011|language=en|access-date=2019-08-03|archive-date=16 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416032240/http://autisticadvocacy.org/policy-advocacy/position-statements/|url-status=dead}} Neurodiversity advocates oppose researching a "cure" for autism, and instead support research that helps autistic people thrive as they are.

An analysis of data from the UK and Hungary in 2017 found evidence that autistic or intellectually disabled self-advocates are rarely involved in leadership or decision-making within organisations.{{cite journal |last1=Petri |first1=Gabor |last2=Beadle-Brown |first2=Julie |last3=Bradshaw |first3=Jill |title='More Honoured in the Breach than in the Observance'—Self-Advocacy and Human Rights |journal=Laws |date=16 November 2017 |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=26 |doi=10.3390/laws6040026 |doi-access=free }} It also showed that poverty, unpaid positions at disability organisations, and lack of support are significant barriers for most autistic people, including autistic people with an intellectual disability who wish to self-advocate.{{cite journal |last1=Petri |first1=Gabor |last2=Beadle-Brown |first2=Julie |last3=Bradshaw |first3=Jill |title='Even a Self-Advocate Needs to Buy Milk' – Economic Barriers to Self-Advocacy in the Autism and Intellectual Disability Movement |journal=Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research |date=5 July 2021 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=180 |doi=10.16993/sjdr.738 |doi-access=free }}

File:Autistic Self Advocacy Network symbol.gifal symbol to represent both the autistic spectrum and the idea of diversity.]]

The autism rights movement rejects the classification by psychiatrists of autism as a disorder.{{Source needed|date=October 2024|reason=Advocates within the movement seem to have varied opinions}} Autistic self-advocates{{Which|date=October 2024}} also reject terming the reported increase in autism diagnoses as an "epidemic" since the word implies autism is a disease and point out that the increase is likely due to an expansion of diagnostic criteria rather than an epidemic.{{cite web |url=http://www.neurodiversity.com/mind_epidemic.html |first2=Robert |last2=Hendren |first1=Kathleen |last1=Seidel |title=The 'Autism Epidemic' & Real Epidemics |format=Email exchange |date=2005-03-28 |access-date=2008-01-04 |publisher=neurodiversity.com |archive-date=2 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202051300/http://neurodiversity.com/mind_epidemic.html |url-status=live}}

The autism rights movement rejects the use of the labels "high-functioning" and "low-functioning" when describing different autistic people, arguing that the strengths and struggles of autistic people are on a spectrum and not linear.{{cite web |title=How the "High-Functioning" Label is Letting Us Down |website=Milestones Autism Resources |url=https://www.milestones.org/resources/blog/2019/09/17/how-the-high-functioning-label-is-letting-us-down |access-date=16 January 2020 |archive-date = 26 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726115349/https://www.milestones.org/resources/blog/2019/09/17/how-the-high-functioning-label-is-letting-us-down |url-status=live}}

{{anchor|Anti-cure perspective}}

The autism rights movement opposes "curing" autism, criticizing the idea as misguided and dangerous. Instead, autism is viewed as a way of life and advocate acceptance over a search for a cure.Woodford, Gillian. [http://www.nationalreviewofmedicine.com/issue/2006/04_30/3_patients_practice05_8.html {{"'}}We don't need to be cured,' say autistics"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202254/http://www.nationalreviewofmedicine.com/issue/2006/04_30/3_patients_practice05_8.html|date=2016-03-03}} National Review of Medicine. Volume 3 Number 8. 2006-04-30. Retrieved 2008-02-10.{{cite news |author=Saner E |date=2007-08-07 |title=It is not a disease, it is a way of life |url=http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,2143123,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820055604/http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0%2C%2C2143123%2C00.html |archive-date=20 August 2007 |access-date=2007-08-07 |work=The Guardian}} The autism rights movement is a part of the larger disability rights movement and acknowledges the social model of disability.{{sfn|Waltz|2013|p={{pn|date=December 2024}}}} Within the model, struggles faced by autistic people are viewed as discrimination rather than deficiencies.

Autism rights activists are opposed to attempts to eliminate autism genes, and argue that doing so would decrease human genetic diversity. In particular, there is opposition to prenatal genetic testing of autism in fetuses, which some believe might be possible in the future. On 23 February 2005, Joseph Buxbaum of the Autism Genome Project at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai said there could be a prenatal test for autism within 10 years.{{cite web |author=Herrera, Sue |date=2005-02-23 |title=Autism research focuses on early intervention: Genetic clues sought in fight against disorder |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/7013251 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107060725/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7013251 |archive-date=7 November 2017 |access-date=2007-11-07 |publisher=NBC News}} However, the genetics of autism have proven to be extremely complex.{{cite journal |author=CM |year=2007 |title=The genetics of autistic disorders and its clinical relevance: a review of the literature |journal=Mol Psychiatry |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=2–22 |doi=10.1038/sj.mp.4001896 |pmid=17033636 |doi-access=}} A wider debate on the ethics involved in the possible elimination of a genotype that has advantages as well as disadvantages, has focused on possible negative effects of tampering with natural selection.{{cite web |author=Caplan, Arthur |date=2005-05-31 |title=Would you have allowed Bill Gates to be born? Advances in prenatal genetic testing pose tough questions |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7899821 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625043346/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7899821/ |archive-date=25 June 2018 |access-date=2007-11-07 |publisher=NBC News}}

Some people{{who|date=September 2024}} lament that professionals, such as social workers, may discourage autistic people from having children. Activists are concerned that the "ultimate cure will be a genetic test to prevent autistic children from being born" and that most fetuses with so-called "autism genes" would be aborted if prenatal tests for autism are developed.

The anti-cure perspective is the view of autism as a normal occurrence—an alternate variation in brain wiring or a less common expression of the human genome—rather than a disorder. Advocates of this perspective believe that autism is a unique way of being that should be valued, and efforts to eliminate autism should not be compared to curing cancer but instead to the "efforts of a previous age to cure left-handedness".

Activist Jim Sinclair expresses in his essay "Don't Mourn For Us" that wishing that an autistic person be cured is equivalent to wishing that an entirely different person exists in their place.{{cite web |url=http://www.edmonds-institute.org/dontmour.html |title=Don't mourn for us |publisher=The Edmonds Institute |author=Sinclair, Jim |year=1993 |access-date=2007-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020225532/http://www.edmonds-institute.org/dontmour.html |archive-date=20 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}

Canadian autism researcher Michelle Dawson writes that "No one has yet calculated the costs to autistics, and to society, of the current widespread autism advocacy effort to create a world where there are no autistic people at all."{{cite web |last=Dawson |first=Michelle |author-link=Michelle Dawson |date=2007-04-03 |title=The autistic person's burden |url=http://autismcrisis.blogspot.com/2007/04/autistic-persons-burden.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012122203/http://autismcrisis.blogspot.com/2007/04/autistic-persons-burden.html |archive-date=12 October 2016 |access-date=2008-01-04}}

Temple Grandin comments that if autism were eliminated, society would lose scientists, musicians, and mathematicians; a caveman "with high-functioning Asperger's" might have developed the stone spear.{{cite web |date=2006-01-02 |title=Interview with Temple Grandin |url=http://www.wrongplanet.net/article295.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927084556/http://www.wrongplanet.net/article295.html |archive-date=27 September 2006 |access-date=31 July 2014 |publisher=Wrong Planet}}

Most autistic self-advocates agree{{Source needed|date=September 2024|reason='most autistic self-advocates' is not supported by the current source given}} that autistic people should not be made to act exactly like everyone else but that society should accommodate their disability and that autism services should focus on quality of life rather than conformity.

{{further|Societal and cultural aspects of autism}}

File:Neurodiversity_Crowd_2.png

Some autistic activists suggest that life with autism is like being born among people who speak a different language,Title translates as "The art of faking Arabic" by :sv:Lina Liman {{cite web | title=Konsten att fejka arabiska | website=Albert Bonniers Förlag | date=2017-05-02 | url=https://www.albertbonniersforlag.se/bocker/207094/konsten-att-fejka-arabiska/ | language=sv | access-date=2025-03-09}} follow a religion or philosophy one does not share, and live a lifestyle that feels alien. Social media, meetups, and specific professions are spaces where autistic people connect and may share common interests.{{Cite web |title=Social/Relationships |url=https://www.autism-society.org/living-with-autism/autism-through-the-lifespan/adulthood/socialrelationships/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214112737/https://www.autism-society.org/living-with-autism/autism-through-the-lifespan/adulthood/socialrelationships/ |archive-date=14 February 2021 |access-date=2021-03-18 |website=Autism Society |language=en-US}}

A common theme expressed among autism rights activists and neurodiversity groups{{Which|date=November 2024}} is that they are different from parent- and professional-led organizations and conferences that dominate the autism scene.

In 2003, autism researcher Michelle Dawson criticizes the norm of allowing parents to speak on behalf of their autistic children at conferences to the exclusion of autistics: "With the happy and proud collaboration of governments, courts, researchers, service providers, and funding bodies", she says, "parents have succeeded in removing autistics from the vicinity of any important discussions or decisions." She says that the exclusion results in policy and treatment decisions being made solely by individuals who do not directly experience autism.{{cite web |author-link=Michelle Dawson |last=Dawson |first=Michelle |title=Bettelheim's Worst Crime: Autism and the Epidemic of Irresponsibility |url=http://www.sentex.net/~nexus23/md_01.html |publisher=Michelle Dawson's No Autistics Allowed |date=2003-09-09 |access-date=2007-11-07| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071031003227/http://www.sentex.net/~nexus23/md_01.html| archive-date= 31 October 2007 | url-status= live}}

In 2005, Autism rights activist Jim Sinclair states that autism conferences are traditionally geared toward neurotypical parents and professionals, and that to an autistic person they may be quite "hostile" in terms of sensory stimulation and rigidity.

{{anchor|Ethical challenges to autism treatment}}

{{further|Autism therapies}}

In 2011, Aspies For Freedom (AFF) stated that they believe many unethical therapies and treatments for autism have become common. AFF argued that extensive—40 hours per week—applied behavior analysis (ABA) and restricting stimming and other coping mechanisms associated with autism are mentally harmful, that aversion therapy and the use of restraints are physically harmful, and that non-medically approved treatments like chelation therapy and exorcism are dangerous.{{Cite web |date=2010-10-01 |title=Aspies for Freedom |url=https://aspiesforfreedom.wordpress.com/about/ |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=Aspiesforfreedom's Blog |language=en}}

United Nations (UN) human rights experts have expressed that autistic people are particularly at risk for harmful medical practices and some approaches amount to "ill-treatment or torture."{{Cite web |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2015/04/discrimination-against-autistic-persons-rule-rather-exception-un-rights |title=Discrimination against autistic persons, the rule rather than the exception – UN rights experts |date=2015-04-02 |website=Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights |publisher=United Nations |language=en |access-date=2020-02-12 |archive-date=9 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609031200/https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2015/04/discrimination-against-autistic-persons-rule-rather-exception-un-rights |url-status=live}}

Canadian autism self-advocate Michelle Dawson testified in court against government funding of ABA therapy.{{cite web |title=In Support of Michelle Dawson and Her Work |url=http://archive.autistics.org/library/dawson.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215181832/http://archive.autistics.org/library/dawson.html |archive-date=2012-02-15 |access-date=2012-03-21 |publisher=Autistics.org}} The Canadian organization Autistics for Autistics (A4A) has outlined some of the main objections to ABA from autistic self-advocates.{{Example needed|s|date=December 2024}}{{Cite web |last=a4aontario |date=2018-05-24 |title=Why we oppose ABA in any form |url=https://a4aontario.com/2018/05/24/why-we-oppose-aba-in-any-form/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116232326/https://a4aontario.com/2018/05/24/why-we-oppose-aba-in-any-form/ |archive-date=16 November 2019 |access-date=2019-11-16 |website=A4A Ontario |language=en-US}}

In 2004, Jane Meyerding, who is autistic, criticized therapy that attempts to remove autism typical behaviors and states that the behaviors are often attempts to communicate. Studies have shown that efforts to pass as non-autistic is associated with poorer mental health and psychological well-being,{{cite journal |last1=Cook |first1=Julia |last2=Hull |first2=Laura |last3=Crane |first3=Laura |last4=Mandy |first4=William |year=2021 |title=Camouflaging in autism: A systematic review |journal=Clinical Psychology Review |volume=89 |page=102080 |doi=10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102080 |pmid=34563942 |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10134806/ |quote=While significant variation was noted across individual study findings, much of the existing literature supported three preliminary findings about the nature of autistic camouflaging: (1) adults with more self-reported autistic traits report greater engagement in camouflaging; (2) sex and gender differences exist in camouflaging; and (3) higher self-reported camouflaging is associated with worsening in mental health outcomes.}} and such findings were consistent across various age groups. There have been accounts and qualitative evidence that some forms of behavioral interventions increase masking or worsen mental health for some autistic people.{{cite journal |last1=Schuck |first1=Rachel K. |last2=Tagavi |first2=Daina M. |last3=Baiden |first3=Kaitlynn M. P. |last4=Dwyer |first4=Patrick |last5=Williams |first5=Zachary J. |last6=Osuna |first6=Anthony |last7=Ferguson |first7=Emily F. |last8=Jimenez Muñoz |first8=Maria |last9=Poyser |first9=Samantha K. |last10=Johnson |first10=Joy F. |last11=Vernon |first11=Ty W. |year=2021 |title=Neurodiversity and Autism Intervention: Reconciling Perspectives Through a Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention Framework |journal=Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |volume=52 |issue=10 |pages=4625–4645 |doi=10.1007/s10803-021-05316-x |pmc=9508016 |pmid=34643863}}{{cite journal |last1=Cumming |first1=Therese M. |last2=Strnadová |first2=Iva |last3=Danker |first3=Joanne |last4=Basckin |first4=Caroline |date=December 2020 |title='I Was Taught That My Being Was Inherently Wrong': Is Applied Behavioural Analysis A Socially Valid Practice? |url=http://www.ijahss.com/Paper/05122020/1179451317.pdf |journal=International Journal of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences Studies |volume=5 |issue=12 |pages=72–82}} American autism rights advocate Ari Ne'erman argues that by addressing individual traits of autism, it is possible to reduce harmful behavior and avoid encouraging camouflaging behaviors.{{cite journal |last1=Ne’eman |first1=Ari |last2=Pellicano |first2=Elizabeth |date=2022 |title=Neurodiversity as Politics |journal=Human Development |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=149–157 |doi=10.1159/000524277 |pmid=36714278 |pmc=9881465 |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10146533/ |quote=By taking a trait-oriented approach to operationalizing neurodiversity, it is possible to address intrinsically harmful disability-related traits, such as self-injury, lack of communication, or anorexia, while also rejecting and fighting against the clinical passing demands embedded within so much of autism service-provision and research practice (Ne’eman, 2021).}}

{{further|Autism Speaks#Views}}

Autism Speaks has faced criticism from autism rights advocates for failing to represent autistic people and for exploitative practices.{{cite web |last1=Network |first1=Autistic Self Advocacy |title=Disability Community Condemns Autism Speaks |url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/2009/10/disability-community-condemns-autism-speaks/ |website=Autistic Self Advocacy Network |date=7 October 2009 |access-date=15 June 2019 |language=en-us |archive-date=23 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823170020/https://autisticadvocacy.org/2009/10/disability-community-condemns-autism-speaks/ |url-status=live }}

Until he resigned in 2013, John Elder Robison was Autism Speaks' only board member openly recognized as being on the autism spectrum. His resignation came two days after the release of an op-ed by the group's co-founder Suzanne Wright which, according to Robison, "is simply not defensible for someone who feels as I do, and I cannot continue to stand up for the public actions of an organization that makes the same mistakes over and over again by failing to connect to the community it purports to represent".{{cite web|url=http://jerobison.blogspot.com/2013/11/i-resign-my-roles-at-autism-speaks.html|title=I resign my roles at Autism Speaks|author=John Elder Robison|date=2013-11-13|publisher=John Elder Robison's personal website|access-date=28 July 2014|archive-date=14 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114003719/http://jerobison.blogspot.com/2013/11/i-resign-my-roles-at-autism-speaks.html|url-status=live}}

Simone Greggs, the mother of an autistic child, filed a lawsuit against Autism Speaks for disability discrimination after her job offer was rescinded. The suit alleges that she lost the job offer due to asking for an accommodation on behalf of her autistic son.{{cite news|url=http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/08/mom-sues-autism-speaks-after-job-offer-is-rescinded-78415.html|title=Mom sues Autism Speaks after job offer is rescinded|author=Greta Kreuz|newspaper=Wjla |date=2012-08-02|publisher=ABC News|access-date=28 July 2014|archive-date=23 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140623044122/http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/08/mom-sues-autism-speaks-after-job-offer-is-rescinded-78415.html|url-status=live}}

Autism Speaks has produced the documentary films Autism Every Day (2006) and Sounding the Alarm (2014) and the short video I Am Autism (2009), each met with strong opposition from autism rights advocates.{{Which?|date=November 2024}} Autism Every Day is a documentary featuring interviews of parents with mostly negative opinions about autism and their situations. It has been criticized{{By whom|date=November 2024}} due to parents speaking about their children as if they are not there. In one interview, former board member Alison Singer, while in the same room as her autistic daughter, reveals she had contemplated driving herself and her daughter off a bridge.{{cite book|author=Murray, Stuart|year=2008|title=Representing Autism: Culture, Narrative, Fascination|url=https://archive.org/details/representingauti00murr|url-access=limited|publisher=Liverpool University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/representingauti00murr/page/n152 135]|isbn=978-1-84631-092-8|quote=... [the film] drew substantial criticism from disability rights advocates because of its concentration on the condition as one of problems and difficulties, especially for parents. It created particular controversy when one of the mothers being interviewed, discussing the struggles she had endured in searching for a school for her child, commented that the only reason she had not put her autistic daughter in her car and driven off of a bridge was because she has another daughter, who does not have autism.}} I Am Autism is a short video that personifies autism as a narrative voice,{{Cite AV media|title=I am Autism|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UgLnWJFGHQ|author=Autism Speaks|date=2016-04-20|via=YouTube|access-date=2025-02-23}} which compares itself to several life-threatening diseases{{cite web|url=http://autisticadvocacy.org/2009/09/horrific-autism-speaks-i-am-autism-ad-transcript/|title=Horrific Autism Speaks 'I am Autism' ad transcript|date=2009-09-23|publisher=Autistic Self Advocacy Network|access-date=28 July 2014|archive-date=9 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809093605/http://autisticadvocacy.org/2009/09/horrific-autism-speaks-i-am-autism-ad-transcript/|url-status=live}} and makes the false claim{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/19/autism.divorce.rates/|title=Parents of kids with autism not more likely to divorce, study suggests|author=Madison Park|publisher=CNN|access-date=28 July 2014|archive-date=9 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809145720/http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/19/autism.divorce.rates/|url-status=live}} of causing divorce.{{cite news |author= Biever C |title='Poetic' autism film divides campaigners |date=2009-09-29 |work=New Scientist |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17878-poetic-autism-film-divides-campaigners.html |access-date=2009-10-08 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091003122813/http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17878-poetic-autism-film-divides-campaigners.html| archive-date= 3 October 2009 | url-status= live}}{{cite news|author=Wallis C |title='I Am Autism': an advocacy video sparks protest |magazine=Time |date=2009-11-06 |url=http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1935959,00.html |access-date=2009-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091109022116/http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0%2C8599%2C1935959%2C00.html |archive-date=9 November 2009 |url-status=dead }} Sounding the Alarm is a documentary exploring the transition to adulthood and the cost of lifetime care. It was criticized by the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network for being "full of dehumanizing rhetoric" and portraying ignorance of nonverbal communication.{{cite web|url=http://autismwomensnetwork.org/film-review-of-documentary-sounding-the-alarm-battling-the-autism-epidemic/|title=Film Review of documentary "Sounding the Alarm: Battling the Autism Epidemic"|author=Lei Wiley-Mydske|date=2014-07-19|publisher=Autism Women's Network|access-date=28 July 2014|archive-date=27 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727005457/http://autismwomensnetwork.org/film-review-of-documentary-sounding-the-alarm-battling-the-autism-epidemic/|url-status=live}}

Autism Speaks fundraising events have been the object of several organized protests by autism rights advocates.{{cite web|url=http://autisticcommunity.org/2013/11/12/join-the-protest-against-autism-speaks/|title=Join the Protest Against Autism Speaks|date=2013-11-12|publisher=Association for Autistic Community|access-date=2014-07-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720120245/http://autisticcommunity.org/2013/11/12/join-the-protest-against-autism-speaks/|archive-date=2014-07-20|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.autistichoya.com/2012/11/protesting-autism-speaks.html|title=Protesting Autism Speaks|author=Lydia Brown|date=2012-11-05|publisher=Autistic Hoya|access-date=28 July 2014|archive-date=7 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707211802/http://www.autistichoya.com/2012/11/protesting-autism-speaks.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://autisticadvocacy.org/2012/11/protesting/|title=Protesting|author=Katie Miller|date=2012-11-17|publisher=Autistic Self Advocacy Network|access-date=28 July 2014|archive-date=9 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809091804/http://autisticadvocacy.org/2012/11/protesting/|url-status=live}}

In 2013, the organization Boycott Autism Speaks{{cite web|url=https://boycottautismspeaks.wordpress.com/|title=Autism Speaks Hurts. Real People Speaking.|publisher=Boycott Autism Speaks|access-date=2025-02-23}} published a list of companies that donate money to Autism Speaks along with their contact information, urging those in the autistic community to pressure those companies into dropping their support via an active boycott,{{cite web|url=http://boycottautismspeaks.com/contact-sponsors.html|title=Boycott Autism Speaks – Contact Sponsors|publisher=Boycott Autism Speaks|access-date=2014-07-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809211909/http://boycottautismspeaks.com/contact-sponsors.html|archive-date=2014-08-09|url-status=dead}} since direct appeals to Autism Speaks did not result in the desired changes. A month later, ASAN published its 2014 Joint Letter to the Sponsors of Autism Speaks, signed by 26 different disability-related organizations, appealing to the moral responsibility of the sponsors, donors, and other supporters.{{cite web|url=http://autisticadvocacy.org/2014/01/2013-joint-letter-to-the-sponsors-of-autism-speaks/|title=2014 Joint Letter to the Sponsors of Autism Speaks|date=2014-01-06|publisher=Autistic Self Advocacy Network|access-date=28 July 2014|archive-date=2 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402204358/http://autisticadvocacy.org/2014/01/2013-joint-letter-to-the-sponsors-of-autism-speaks/|url-status=live}}

There are several organizations in the autism rights movement. Some like ASAN are led exclusively by autistic people, while others such as Autism National Committee encourage cooperation between autistic people and their non-autistic allies.

Autism activist activities do not always look like other forms of political activism. For example, many autistic people cannot participate in in-person public protests due to sensory overload from the noise.{{Citation |last=Reading |first=Anna Amza |title=Remembering Autism in the Memory-Activism Nexus |date=2024-11-18 |work=Dynamics, Mediation, Mobilization |pages=377–382 |editor-last=Erll |editor-first=Astrid |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111439273-053/html |access-date=2025-01-18 |publisher=De Gruyter |doi=10.1515/9783111439273-053 |isbn=978-3-11-143927-3 |editor2-last=Knittel |editor2-first=Susanne |editor3-last=Wüstenberg |editor3-first=Jenny}} Other cultural assumptions about the correct way to engage in activism, such as "giving people a voice", are not consistent with valuing non-speaking autistic people.

• In 2010, Autistics Speaking Day was a response to the then-upcoming first commemoration of Communication Shutdown. The annual Communication Shutdown event encourages non-autistics to refrain from using social networking websites for one day as a perspective-taking exercise,[{{Cite web |url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1010/S00030/social-media-users-challenged-to-shutdown-networks.htm |title=Social Media Users Challenged to {{sic|Shu|tdown|nolink=y}} Networks {{!}} Scoop News |access-date=28 July 2014 |archive-date=12 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812235821/http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1010/S00030/social-media-users-challenged-to-shutdown-networks.htm |url-status=live }} Social Media Users Challenged to {{sic|Shu|tdown|nolink=y}} Networks | Scoop News] while Autistics Speaking Day encourages autistic people to become more active on social media and to describe their experiences during a time when there are fewer neurotypical voices in the mix.
• In 2012, autistic activist Zoe Gross organized the first Disability Day of Mourning vigil held in memory of people with disabilities murdered by family members or caregivers.{{Cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/08/15/day-mourning-affirming-value-disabled-people-s-lives|title=Day of Mourning: Affirming the Value of Disabled People's Lives|date=2013-08-15|publisher=White House|access-date=2018-05-17|language=en|archive-date=17 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517223112/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/08/15/day-mourning-affirming-value-disabled-people-s-lives|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://dailyorange.com/2018/02/disability-day-mourning-vigil-held-schine-student-center/|title=Disability Day of Mourning vigil to be held at Schine Student Center | newspaper = The Daily Orange – The Independent Student Newspaper | location = Syracuse University |date=27 February 2018|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-17|archive-date=17 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517223347/http://dailyorange.com/2018/02/disability-day-mourning-vigil-held-schine-student-center/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://autisticadvocacy.org/2013/02/asan-day-of-mourning-on-march-1st/|title=ASAN Day of Mourning on March 1st{{!}} Autistic Self Advocacy Network|last=Network|first=Autistic Self Advocacy|website=autisticadvocacy.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130505200153/http://autisticadvocacy.org/2013/02/asan-day-of-mourning-on-march-1st/|archive-date=2013-05-05|url-status=dead}} These vigils are now held annually on 1 March globally, often by local self-advocacy and disability rights groups.
• In 2015, autistic activist Alanna Rose Whitney created the social media campaign #WalkInRed, later rebranded #RedInstead to be more inclusive of wheelchair users, as another alternative to Light It Up Blue.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-next-civil-rights-movement-accepting-adults-with-autism/2015/07/20/e7c6743e-f338-11e4-bcc4-e8141e5eb0c9_story.html|title=How autistic adults banded together to start a movement|last=Somashekhar|first=Sandhya|date=2015-07-20|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2018-05-17|language=en-US |archive-date=17 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517153411/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-next-civil-rights-movement-accepting-adults-with-autism/2015/07/20/e7c6743e-f338-11e4-bcc4-e8141e5eb0c9_story.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://alannarosewhitney.com/human-rights-advocate/|title=Human Rights Advocate|date=2018-04-23|access-date=2018-05-17|language=en-US|archive-date=17 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517154007/http://alannarosewhitney.com/human-rights-advocate/|url-status=live}}
• Autism rights activists organize protests against organizations they consider objectionable, most notably Autism Speaks and the Judge Rotenberg Center.{{Cite web|url=https://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/speaking-out-against-autism-speaks-even-if-it-means-no-ice-cream/|title=Speaking Out Against Autism Speaks, Even if It Means No Ice Cream|last=Perry|first=David|date=2015-06-04|website=The New York Times |department=Motherlode Blog|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-17|archive-date=4 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704035221/https://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/speaking-out-against-autism-speaks-even-if-it-means-no-ice-cream/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1935959,00.html|title='I Am Autism': An Advocacy Video Sparks Protest|last=Wallis|first=Claudia|date=2009-11-06|magazine=Time|access-date=2018-05-17|language=en-US |archive-date=26 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526104816/http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1935959,00.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/10/31/protestors-demonstrate-controversial-canton-center-for-troubled-youth/BMztldEVd4ERGoBYFeo4tK/story.html|title=Protesters demonstrate at controversial Canton center for troubled youth|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=2018-05-17|archive-date=18 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518054317/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/10/31/protestors-demonstrate-controversial-canton-center-for-troubled-youth/BMztldEVd4ERGoBYFeo4tK/story.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/11/adapt_protests_at_massachusett.html|title=ADAPT protests at State House, Judge Rotenberg Center for disability rights; 'I'd rather go to jail than die in Rotenberg!'|work=masslive.com|access-date=2018-05-17|language=en-US|archive-date=17 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517153116/http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/11/adapt_protests_at_massachusett.html|url-status=live}} In the United States, activists affiliated with ASAN have organized numerous protests against Autism Speaks events, typically protesting and leafleting at fundraising walks.{{Cite web|url=http://autisticadvocacy.org/2009/09/help-us-fight-back-against-autism-speaks-attempts-to-speak-for-us/|title=Help Us Fight Back Against Autism Speaks' Attempts to Speak For Us! {{!}} Autistic Self Advocacy Network|last=Network|first=Autistic Self Advocacy|website=autisticadvocacy.org|date=24 September 2009|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-17|archive-date=17 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517152822/http://autisticadvocacy.org/2009/09/help-us-fight-back-against-autism-speaks-attempts-to-speak-for-us/|url-status=live}} Autistic activists including Shain Neumeier and Lydia Brown have organized lobbying days and protests aiming to close or more strictly regulate the Judge Rotenberg Center.{{Cite news|url=https://www.fox25boston.com/news/fda-meets-on-school-shock-device-warns-of-violations/139485289|title=FDA meets on school shock device, warns of violations|last=EndPlay|date=2013-01-10|publisher=WFXT|access-date=2018-05-17|language=en-US|archive-date=17 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517223335/https://www.fox25boston.com/news/fda-meets-on-school-shock-device-warns-of-violations/139485289|url-status=live}}

There is disagreement within the autism community on whether to use person-first terminology (e.g., person with autism) or identity-first terminology (e.g., autistic person). The autism rights movement encourages the use of identity-first terminology{{Cite web |date=2012-03-02 |title=Identity-First Language - Autistic Self Advocacy Network |url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/identity-first-language/ |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=autisticadvocacy.org/ |language=en-US}} to stress that autism is a part of an individual's identity rather than a condition they have.

Phrases like {{Not a typo|suffers fr|om autism}} are objectionable to many people,{{Cite web |last=Pellicano |first=Liz |title=Watch your language when talking about autism |url=http://theconversation.com/watch-your-language-when-talking-about-autism-44531 |access-date=2022-06-01 |website=The Conversation |date=13 July 2015 |language=en |archive-date=4 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004194613/https://theconversation.com/watch-your-language-when-talking-about-autism-44531 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2021-08-06 |title=Is the Term "Autists" Offensive? |url=https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/is-autists-offensive/ |access-date=2022-06-01 |website=Autism Parenting Magazine |language=en-US |archive-date=14 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814175920/https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/is-autists-offensive/ |url-status=live}} and are discouraged by both the American Psychological Association's style guide and National Center on Disability and Journalism's style guide.{{Cite web |date=August 2021 |title=Bias Free Language Disability |url=https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/bias-free-language/disability |access-date=2022-06-01 |website=American Psychological Association Style Guide |publisher=American Psychological Association |language=en |archive-date=22 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422081753/https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/bias-free-language/disability |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=Disability Language Style Guide {{!}} National Center on Disability and Journalism |url=https://ncdj.org/style-guide/ |access-date=2022-06-01 |language=en-US |archive-date=1 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601212926/https://ncdj.org/style-guide/ |url-status=live}}

The autistic community has developed their own terminology such as:

• Aspie – a person with Asperger's syndrome. Not as frequently used with Aspergers being removed as an official diagnosis.
• Autie – an autistic person.{{cite journal |journal=He@LTH Information on the Internet |year=2003 |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=3–4 |title=Autism e-mailing lists |author=Mitchell C |url=http://hii.rsmjournals.com/cgi/reprint/33/1/3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715205640/http://hii.rsmjournals.com/cgi/reprint/33/1/3.pdf |archive-date=15 July 2011 }}
• Autistics and cousins (AC) – a cover term including aspies, auties, and their "cousins", i.e., people with some autistic traits but no formal diagnosis{{cite web |url=http://access.autistics.org/resources/glossary/main.html |title=A World Apart: Definitions |access-date=23 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204100549/http://access.autistics.org/resources/glossary/main.html |archive-date=4 December 2008 }}
• Curebie – a person with the desire to cure autism. This term is considered derogatory.
• Neurodiversity – the framework for understanding some disabilities, such as autism, as a variation in human neurological makeup rather than a disorder.
• Neurotypical (NT) – a person who does not have any neurological differences. It is often used to describe an individual who is not autistic.
• Allistic – a person who is not autistic.{{cite web | first = Alicia | last = Lile |url=http://www.shiftjournal.com/2011/11/11/autistics-speaking-day-–-changing-from-shame-to-pride/|date = 11 November 2011 |title= Autistics Speaking Day – Changing from shame to pride |website=shiftjournal.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222064137/http://www.shiftjournal.com/2011/11/11/autistics-speaking-day-%E2%80%93-changing-from-shame-to-pride/ |archive-date=22 February 2012}} Originally it was used satirically to describe those without autism.{{cite web |url=https://www.fysh.org/~zefram/allism/allism_intro.txt |title=Allism: An Introduction to a Little-known Condition|access-date=20 April 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030222010740/http://www.fysh.org/~zefram/allism/allism_intro.txt |archive-date=22 February 2003 }}

{{Further|Autistic Pride Day}}

Autistic pride promotes the idea that autistic people are not defective.{{Cite web |title=Autistic Pride |url=https://www.autisticempire.com/autistic-pride/ |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Autistic Empire |language=en-US}} It emphasizes the variation and diversity in human neurology.

Autistic pride asserts that autistic people are not impaired or damaged; rather, they have a unique set of characteristics that provide them many rewards and challenges, not unlike their non-autistic peers.{{cite journal|author=Costello, Mary |url=http://www.into.ie/ROI/Publications/InTouch/2006/JanuaryFebruary2006/File,2407,en.pdf |title=Autistic Pride |journal=InTouch |date=January–February 2006 |pages=26–7 |access-date=24 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120024107/http://www.into.ie/ROI/Publications/InTouch/2006/JanuaryFebruary2006/File,2407,en.pdf |archive-date=20 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}

File:Bookbits - 2011-05-03 John Elder Robison-Be Different.vorb.oga talks about Be Different on Bookbits radio.]]

With the recent increases in autism recognition and new approaches to educating and socializing autistics, an autistic culture has begun to develop. Autistic culture is based on a belief that autism is a unique way of being and not a disorder to be cured. The Aspie world, as it is sometimes called, contains people with Asperger syndrome (AS) and high-functioning autism (HFA), and can be linked to three historical trends: the emergence of AS and HFA as labels, the emergence of the disability rights movement, and the rise of the Internet. Autistic communities exist both online and offline; many people use these for support and communication with others like themselves, as the social limitations of autism sometimes make it difficult to make friends, to establish support within general society, and to construct an identity within society.{{cite journal |journal= Disabil Soc |year=2007 |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=413–26 |title= Orchestrating voices: autism, identity and the power of discourse |author= Bagatell N |doi=10.1080/09687590701337967 }}

Because many autistics find it easier to communicate online than in person, a large number of online resources are available.{{cite web|author=Shapiro, Joseph|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5488463|title=Autism Movement Seeks Acceptance, Not Cures|publisher=NPR|date=26 June 2006|access-date=23 November 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224113918/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5488463|archive-date=24 December 2007}} Some autistic individuals learn sign language, participate in online chat rooms, discussion boards, and websites, or use communication devices at autism-community social events. The Internet helps bypass non-verbal cues and emotional sharing that autistics tend to have difficulty with.{{cite web|author=Blume, Harvey|url=http://web.mit.edu/m-i-t/articles/index_blume.html|title=Autism & The Internet or It's The Wiring, Stupid|date=1 July 1997|publisher=Media in Transition, Massachusetts Institute of Technology|access-date=8 November 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123143816/http://web.mit.edu/m-i-t/articles/index_blume.html|archive-date=23 January 2008}} It gives autistic individuals a way to communicate and form online communities.{{cite news |author=Biever C |title= Web removes social barriers for those with autism |work= New Scientist |issue=2610 |date=30 June 2007}}

Conducting work, conversation and interviews online in chat rooms, rather than via phone calls or personal contact, helps level the playing field for many autistics.{{cite journal|title=Autistic and proud of it|date=18 June 2005|journal=New Scientist|author=Trivedi, Bijal|issue=2504|page=36}} A New York Times article said "the impact of the Internet on autistics may one day be compared in magnitude to the spread of sign language among the deaf" because it opens new opportunities for communication by filtering out "sensory overload that impedes communication among autistics."

{{main|World Autism Awareness Day}}

File:Light it Up Blue - World Autism Awareness Day (8613785933).jpg declared the World Autism Awareness Day on 2 April 2013.]]

World Autism Awareness Day, sometimes referred to as World Autism Day, is marked yearly on 2 April. It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly at the end of 2007.{{cite press release |title=Third Committee calls on Assembly to designate 2 April World Autism Day |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/gashc3899.doc.htm |publisher=UN General Assembly |date=1 November 2007 |access-date=3 April 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305090945/http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/gashc3899.doc.htm |archive-date=5 March 2009 }}

Some autism rights advocates have campaigned to rename it Autism Acceptance Day because of a misconception that the day is affiliated with Autism Speaks.{{Cite web |last=Michaelsen |first=Shannen |date=2019-04-02 |title=Autism Acceptance and Destroying Misconceptions |url=https://medium.com/@shannenmichaels/autism-acceptance-and-destroying-misconceptions-d1461fa0ba6a |access-date=2023-04-07 |website=Medium |language=en |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407192346/https://medium.com/@shannenmichaels/autism-acceptance-and-destroying-misconceptions-d1461fa0ba6a |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Autism Sunday}}

Autism Sunday is a global Christian event observed annually on the second Sunday of February. It is supported by church leaders{{Which|date=November 2024}} and organisations{{Which|date=November 2024}} around the world. The event was initiated by the founders of Autism Awareness Campaign UK, Charika Corea and Ivan Corea. Autism Sunday was launched in London in 2002 with a service at St. Paul's Cathedral.{{cite web |title=Autism Sunday: world church leaders send messages of support |url=http://www.bloggernews.net/119578 |year=2009 |access-date=31 January 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202051235/http://www.bloggernews.net/119578 |archive-date=2 February 2009 }}

{{Further|Autism Awareness Campaign UK}}The year 2002 was declared Autism Awareness Year in the United Kingdom—the idea was initiated by Ivan and Charika Corea, parents of an autistic child, Charin.{{cite web|url=http://www.24dash.com/news/Health/2007-05-31-Gordon-Brown-urged-to-take-up-autism-issue|title=Gordon Brown urged to take up autism issue|date=31 May 2007|publisher=24dash.com|access-date=23 November 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217105549/http://www.24dash.com/news/Health/2007-05-31-Gordon-Brown-urged-to-take-up-autism-issue|archive-date=17 February 2012}}

Autism Awareness Year was led by bibic, Brainkind, Shirley Foundation, National Autistic Society, Autism London, and 800 other organizations in the United Kingdom. It had the personal backing of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1380939/Yesterday-in-Parliament.html?pageNum=3 |title=Yesterday in Parliament: Blair backs campaign for autism awareness |date=10 January 2002 |work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=23 November 2007 |location=London |first=Michael |last=Kallenbach |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202182845/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1380939/Yesterday-in-Parliament.html?pageNum=3 |archive-date=2 December 2008 }}

The 2002 Autism Awareness Year helped raise awareness of the serious issues concerning autism and Asperger's syndrome across the United Kingdom.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A692183|title=2002 Autism Awareness Year (UK) (BBC)|year=2002|publisher=BBC|access-date=23 November 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020213220242/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A692183|archive-date=13 February 2002}} A major conference, Autism 2002, was held at the King's Fund in London with debates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords in Westminster. Autism awareness ribbons were worn to mark the year.{{cite news |last1=Rawstrone |first1=Annette |title=Autism campaign seeks to fit the pieces together |url=https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/news/autism-campaign-seeks-to-fit-the-pieces-together/ |work=Nursery World |date=16 January 2002 }}

Some British autism advocates want autistic people acknowledged as a minority rather than as disabled, because they say that "disability discrimination laws don't protect those who are not disabled but who 'still have something that makes them look or act differently from other people.{{Single+double}} But the autism community is split over this issue, and some view this notion as radical.

{{Main|Autistic Pride Day}}

Autistic Pride Day is an Aspies For Freedom initiative celebrated on 18 June each year. It is a day for celebrating the neurodiversity of people with autism. Inspired by LGBT+ communities, Autistic Pride often compares their efforts to the civil rights and LGBT social movements.{{cite web |url=http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/autism-unexpected/2011/nov/1/autistics-speaking-day-broadcasts-autistic-voices/ |title=Autistics Speaking Day broadcasts autistic voices |department=Communities |work=The Washington Times |date=1 November 2011 |access-date=5 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105020831/http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/autism-unexpected/2011/nov/1/autistics-speaking-day-broadcasts-autistic-voices/ |archive-date=5 November 2011 }}{{citation|title=Autistic Pride Day 2016: Why we are proud to have autism|first=Kashmira|last=Gander|work=The Independent |date=18 June 2016|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/autistic-pride-day-2016-why-we-are-proud-to-have-autism-neurotypical-a7085066.html|access-date=24 December 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619140237/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/autistic-pride-day-2016-why-we-are-proud-to-have-autism-neurotypical-a7085066.html|archive-date=19 June 2016}}

Autistics Speaking Day is a yearly event designated on 1 November, a self-advocacy campaign run by people with autism to raise awareness and challenge negative stereotypes about autism by speaking for themselves and sharing their stories. The first Autistics Speaking Day was held in 2010.{{cite news |title=Social networkers switch off for autism awareness |first=Monique |last=Ross |work=ABC News |location=Australia |date=1 November 2010 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-11-01/social-networkers-switch-off-for-autism-awareness/2319638?section=justin |access-date=24 December 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111232401/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-11-01/social-networkers-switch-off-for-autism-awareness/2319638?section=justin |archive-date=11 November 2011}} According to Corina Becker, one of the early founders, the day is to "acknowledge our difficulties while sharing our strengths, passions, and interests."{{citation |date=9 September 2011 |title=The Beginnings of Autistic Speaking Day |first=Corina |last=Becker |website=Thinking Person's Guide to Autism |url=http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2011/09/beginnings-of-autistic-speaking-day.html |access-date=24 December 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516054253/http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2011/09/beginnings-of-autistic-speaking-day.html |archive-date=16 May 2013}} The idea for the event developed out of opposition to a Communication Shutdown fundraising campaign led by United States charity Autism Speaks. Participants had been asked to "simulate having autism" by straying from all forms of online communication for one day. The event received criticism and accused Autism Speaks of missing the point of what autism actually is, referring to autistic individuals' comfort using other means of communication.{{citation |first=Emily |last=Willingham |magazine=Forbes |date=31 October 2015 |title=The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets Autistics Speaking Day Is November 1, So It Is (Really) Time To Listen |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2015/10/31/autistics-speaking-day-is-november-1-so-it-is-really-time-to-listen/ |access-date=24 December 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104030414/http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2015/10/31/autistics-speaking-day-is-november-1-so-it-is-really-time-to-listen/#ecd11fb77ec3 |archive-date=4 November 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/autism-unexpected/2011/nov/1/autistics-speaking-day-broadcasts-autistic-voices/ |title=Autistics Speaking Day broadcasts autistic voices |website=The Washington Times |department=Communities |format= Blog |last1=Winegardner |first1=Jean |date=1 November 2011 |access-date=5 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105201059/http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/autism-unexpected/2011/nov/1/autistics-speaking-day-broadcasts-autistic-voices |archive-date=5 November 2012|url-status=dead}}

In 2006 the Autism Acceptance Project (TAAProject) was founded by Estée Klar, the mother of an autistic child, with help from an autistic advisory board.{{cite web |url=http://www.taaproject.com/ |title=The Autism Acceptance Project |publisher=TAAProject |date=2 April 2008 |access-date=5 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119195433/http://www.taaproject.com/ |archive-date=19 November 2017}} The project was dedicated to promoting acceptance and accommodations for autistic people in society and was primarily supported by autistic people. The website for TAAProject disappeared a decade later, but the idea of promoting acceptance has now been adopted with other campaigns such as Autism Acceptance Month.

In 2011, the first Autism Acceptance Day celebrations were organized by Paula Durbin Westby, as a response to traditional "Autism Awareness" campaigns which the autistic community found harmful and insufficient.{{cite web |author=Administrator |url=http://www.autismacceptancemonth.com/acceptance-month-conclusion/ |title=is coming to a close. Thank you for your support! |publisher=Autism Acceptance Month |date=30 April 2013 |access-date=5 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504082430/http://www.autismacceptancemonth.com/acceptance-month-conclusion/ |archive-date=4 May 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.autismacceptancemonth.com/about/ |title=About |publisher=Autism Acceptance Month |date=18 April 2013 |access-date=5 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405002954/http://www.autismacceptancemonth.com/about/ |archive-date=5 April 2013}} Autism Acceptance Day is now held every April. "Awareness" focuses on informing others of the existence of autism while "acceptance" pushes towards validating and honoring the autism community. By providing tools and educational material, people are encouraged to embrace the challenges autistic people face and celebrate their strengths. Rather than making autism into a crippling disability, acceptance integrates those on the autistic spectrum into everyday society. Instead of encouraging people to wear blue as Autism Awareness Day does, Autism Acceptance Day encourages people to wear red.{{Cite news |title=April Is Autism Acceptance Month |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-jo/april-is-autism-acceptance-month_b_7004260.html |work=HuffPost |access-date=26 October 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409070622/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-jo/april-is-autism-acceptance-month_b_7004260.html |archive-date=9 April 2015 |date=6 April 2015}}

At Autreat—an annual autistic gathering—participants compared their movement to gay rights activists, or the Deaf culture, where sign language is preferred over surgery that might restore hearing. Other local organizations have also arisen: for example, a European counterpart, Autscape, was created around 2005.{{cite news |last=Gal |first=Limor |date=2007-06-28 |title=Who says autism's a disease? |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/876283.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701201936/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/876283.html |archive-date=1 July 2007 |access-date=2007-07-16 |work=Haaretz}}

Autism received increasing attention from social-science scholars in the early 2000s, with the goals of improving support services and therapies, arguing that autism should be tolerated as a difference not a disorder, and by how autism affects the definition of personhood and identity.{{cite journal |journal=BioSocieties |year=2008 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=325–341 |title=Fieldwork on another planet: social science perspectives on the autism spectrum |author= Silverman C |doi=10.1017/S1745855208006236 |doi-access=free}} Sociological research has also investigated how social institutions, particularly families, cope with the challenges associated with autism.{{cite journal |journal=Contexts |year=2009 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=40–45 |title=Autism, through a social lens |last=Poulson |first=Stephen |doi=10.1525/ctx.2009.8.2.40 |doi-access=free}}

A study published on 20 January 2021, by the University of Texas at Dallas suggests that educating non-autistic people about the strengths and challenges of autistic people can help reduce stigma and misconceptions surrounding autism, which may help increase social inclusion of autistic people.{{cite press release |title=Reducing biases about autism may increase social inclusion, study finds |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210208085441.htm |work=ScienceDaily |publisher=University of Texas at Dallas |date=8 February 2021}} The study also found that implicit biases about autism were harder to overcome for non-autistic people.

{{See also|Autism in popular culture}}

Much of the public perception of autism is based on its portrayals in biographies, movies, novels, and TV series. Many of these portrayals have been inaccurate, and have contributed to a divergence between public perception and the clinical reality of autism.{{cite journal|last=Sarrett|first=J C|title=Trapped children: popular images of children with autism in the 1960s and 2000s |journal=Journal of Medical Humanities|date=June 2011|volume=32|issue=2|pages=141–53|doi=10.1007/s10912-010-9135-z |pmid=21225325 }} For example, in the 2005 movie Mozart and the Whale, the opening scene gives four clues that a leading character has Asperger syndrome, and two of these clues are extraordinary savant skills. The savant skills are not needed in the film, but in movies savant skills have become a stereotype for the autism spectrum, because of the incorrect assumption that most autistic people are savants.{{cite journal |last=Draaisma |first=D. |title=Stereotypes of autism |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B |volume=364 |issue=1522 |pages=1475–1480 |year=2009 |pmid=19528033 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2008.0324 |pmc=2677582}}

Some works from the 1970s have autistic characters,{{which|date=May 2016}} who are rarely labeled.{{cite journal |last1=Murray |first1=Stuart |title=Autism and the Contemporary Sentimental: Fiction and the Narrative Fascination of the Present |journal=Literature and Medicine |date=2006 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=24–45 |doi=10.1353/lm.2006.0025 |id={{Project MUSE|202372}} |pmid=17040083}} In contrast, in the 2013 BBC2 television miniseries The Politician's Husband, the impact of Noah Hoynes' Asperger syndrome on the boy's behavior and on his family, and steps Noah's loved ones take to accommodate and address it, are prominent plot points in all three episodes.

Popular media have depicted special talents of some children with autism, including exceptional abilities as seen in the 1988 movie Rain Man.{{cite book |last=Nolen-Hoeksema |first=S. |date=2014 |title=Abnormal Psychology |location=New York, NY |publisher=McGraw-Hill Education |page=292 |isbn= 978-0-07-803538-8 }}

Since the 1970s, fictional portrayals of autistic people have become more frequent. Public perception of autism is often based on these fictional portrayals in novels, biographies, movies, and TV series. These depictions of autism in media today are often made in a way that brings pity to the public and their concern of the topic, because their viewpoint is never actually shown, leaving the public without knowledge of autism and its diagnosis.{{cite journal |last1=Holton |first1=Avery E. |last2=Farrell |first2=Laura C. |last3=Fudge |first3=Julie L. |title=A Threatening Space?: Stigmatization and the Framing of Autism in the News |journal=Communication Studies |date=April 2014 |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=189–207 |doi=10.1080/10510974.2013.855642}} Portrayals in the media of characters with atypical abilities (for example, the ability to multiply large numbers without a calculator) may be misinterpreted by viewers as accurate portrayals of all autistic people and of autism itself.{{cite news |last=Bethune |first=Brian |title=Autistic licence: suddenly, Asperger's is the new 'it' disorder on screen and in fiction |url=http://www.macleans.ca/2009/07/13/autistic-licence/ |access-date=18 April 2012 |date=3 July 2009 |newspaper=Maclean's |location=Toronto |publisher=Rogers Media |archive-date=20 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420072820/http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/07/13/autistic-licence/ |url-status=live}} Additionally, the media frequently depicts autism as only affecting children, which promotes the misconception that autism does not affect adults.{{cite journal |last1=Stevenson |first1=Jennifer L. |last2=Harp |first2=Bev |last3=Gernsbacher |first3=Morton Ann |title=Infantilizing Autism |journal=Disability Studies Quarterly |date=18 July 2011 |volume=31 |issue=3 |doi=10.18061/dsq.v31i3.1675 |pmc=4266457 |pmid=25520546}}

{{see also|Retrospective diagnosis#Retrospective diagnoses of autism}}

Some notable figures such as Temple Grandin, a food animal handling systems designer and author,{{cite web |url=http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/mcdonalds/grandin1.html |title=Kill Them With Kindness |publisher=American RadioWorks |date=April 2002 |last=Zwerdling |first=Daniel |access-date=8 November 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040817075912/http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/mcdonalds/grandin1.html |archive-date=17 August 2004}} and Tim Page, a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and author{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/20/070820fa_fact_page?printable=true |last=Page |first=Tim |magazine=The New Yorker |title=Parallel Play: A lifetime of restless isolation explained |date=20 August 2007 |pages=36–41 |pmid=17710777 |access-date=8 November 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030183451/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/20/070820fa_fact_page?printable=true |archive-date=30 October 2007}}{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12750745 |last1=Page |first1=Tim |last2=Seigel |first2=Robert |website=All Things Considered |publisher=NPR |title=Pulitzer-Winner on Living with Asperger's |format= Interview |date=13 August 2007 |access-date=8 November 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825103437/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12750745 |archive-date=25 August 2007}} are autistic.

Notable individuals known to have Asperger syndrome include Craig Nicholls,{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|354129283}} |last1=McCabe |first1=Kathy |title=Rock and a hard place |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |date=27 November 2004 |page=L10}} lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and only constant member of the Australian rock band The Vines, who was diagnosed in 2004,{{Cite web |url=http://www.nme.com/news/vines/18584 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605172725/http://www.nme.com/news/vines/18584 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-06-05 |title=VINES SINGER DIAGNOSIS REVEALED |website=NME |date=2011-06-05 |access-date=2020-03-06}} and actor Paddy Considine.{{cite news |last=Lockyer |first=Daphne |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/8440399/Paddy-Considine-Knowing-I-have-Aspergers-is-a-relief.html |title=Paddy Considine: Knowing I have Asperger's is a relief |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=10 April 2011 |access-date=12 April 2011 |location=London |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112015758/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/8440399/Paddy-Considine-Knowing-I-have-Aspergers-is-a-relief.html |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.ie/showbiz/news/a313837/paddy-considine-reveals-aspergers-diagnosis.html |title=Paddy Considine reveals Asperger's diagnosis |last=Goodacre |first=Kate |website=Digital Spy |publisher=Hearst UK |access-date=19 March 2020 |archive-date=11 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311210947/http://www.digitalspy.ie/showbiz/news/a313837/paddy-considine-reveals-aspergers-diagnosis.html |url-status=live}}

Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg, who in August 2018 started the "School strike for climate" movement, has explained how the "gift" of living with Asperger syndrome helps her "see things from outside the box" when it comes to climate change.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/23/greta-thunberg-autism |title=Greta Thunberg Teaches Us about Autism as Much as Climate Change |work=The Guardian |first=Ian |last=Birrell |date=23 April 2019 |access-date=25 June 2019 |archive-date=15 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190615233715/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/23/greta-thunberg-autism |url-status=live}} In an interview with presenter Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4's Today, the 16-year-old activist said that autism helps her see things in "black and white". She went on to say:{{cite news |last1=O'Malley |first1=Katie |title=Greta Thunberg says 'gift' of Asperger's Syndrome helps her see through 'lies' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/greta-thunberg-gift-asperger-syndrome-environment-strike-climate-change-radio-4-a8883056.html |access-date=27 April 2019 |work=The Independent |date=23 April 2019 |archive-date=23 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423182409/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/greta-thunberg-gift-asperger-syndrome-environment-strike-climate-change-radio-4-a8883056.html |url-status=live}}{{blockquote|It makes me different, and being different is a gift, I would say. It also makes me see things from outside the box. I don't easily fall for lies; I can see through things. I don't think I would be interested in the climate at all, if I had been like everyone else. Many people say that it doesn't matter, you can cheat sometimes. But I can't do that. You can't be a little bit sustainable. Either you're sustainable, or not sustainable. For way too long the politicians and people in power have got away with not doing anything at all to fight the climate crisis and ecological crisis, but we will make sure that they will not get away with it any longer.|title=|source=}}

Additionally, media speculation of contemporary figures as being on the autism spectrum has become popular in recent times. New York magazine reported some examples, which included that Time magazine suggested that Bill Gates is autistic, and that a biographer of Warren Buffett wrote that his prodigious memory and "fascination with numbers" give him "a vaguely autistic aura". The magazine also reported that on Celebrity Rehab, Drew Pinsky deemed basketball player Dennis Rodman a candidate for an Asperger's diagnosis, and the UCLA specialist consulted "seemed to concur". Nora Ephron criticized these conclusions, writing that popular speculative diagnoses suggest autism is "an epidemic, or else a wildly over-diagnosed thing that there used to be other words for".{{cite news|last1=Wallace|first1=Benjamin|title=Autism Spectrum: Are You on It?|url=https://nymag.com/news/features/autism-spectrum-2012-11/|access-date=3 May 2016|work=New York|archive-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428131037/http://nymag.com/news/features/autism-spectrum-2012-11/|url-status=live}} The practice of diagnosing autism in these cases is controversial.{{cite book |last1=Sowell |first1=Thomas |title=The Einstein Syndrome: bright children who talk late |date=2001 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=9780465081417 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/einsteinsyndrome00sowe/page/142 142], 189 |url=https://archive.org/details/einsteinsyndrome00sowe |url-access=registration |access-date=3 May 2016}}{{cite news |last1=Steinberg |first1=Paul |title=Asperger's History of Overdiagnosis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/opinion/aspergers-history-of-over-diagnosis.html|access-date=3 May 2016 |work=The New York Times |date=31 January 2012 |archive-date=25 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160525142455/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/opinion/aspergers-history-of-over-diagnosis.html |url-status=live}}

There are a wide variety of both supportive and critical opinions about the movement among people who are autistic or associated with people with autism. A common criticism leveled against autistic activists is that the majority of them do not have co-occurring intellectual disability and critics argue that their views do not represent the views of autistic people with intellectual disability and their parents.{{Cite web |title=Autism, PDD-NOS & Asperger's fact sheets {{!}} The Autism Rights Movement |url=http://www.autism-help.org/points-autism-rights-movement.htm |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=www.autism-help.org |archive-date=23 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523025259/http://autism-help.org/points-autism-rights-movement.htm |url-status=live}}

• Autism: The Musical
• Ole Ivar Lovaas
• Look Me in the Eye
• Mad pride
• TASH (organization)

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Singer |first1=Judy |title=NeuroDiversity: The Birth of an Idea |date=2017 |publisher=Judy Singer |isbn=978-0-6481547-0-9 }}
• {{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-981-13-8437-0 |title=Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement |date=2020 |isbn=978-981-13-8436-3 |editor-last1=Kapp |editor-first1=Steven K. }}
• {{cite book |last1=Waltz |first1=M. |title=Autism: A Social and Medical History |date=2013 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-0-230-52750-8 }}

• {{cite news |last1=Amdur |first1=Neil |title=Asperger's Syndrome, on Screen and in Life |url=http://www-nc.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/health/04aspe.html |access-date=30 June 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=3 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408185123/http://www-nc.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/health/04aspe.html?=_r=6& |archive-date=8 April 2013 |page=D5}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Davidson |first1=Joyce |title=Autistic culture online: virtual communication and cultural expression on the spectrum |journal=Social & Cultural Geography |date=November 2008 |volume=9 |issue=7 |pages=791–806 |doi=10.1080/14649360802382586 }}
• Grandin, Temple. (2011). Thinking in Pictures, Expanded Edition: My Life with Autism. New York: Vintage. {{ISBN|978-1935274216}}
• Grandin, Temple. (1995). Sachs, Oliver (foreword). [https://archive.org/details/thinkinginpictur0000gran/page/n7/mode/2up Thinking in Pictures, and other stories from my life with autism]. New York: Doubleday. {{ISBN|0-385-47792-9}}
• Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking. Washington, DC: Autistic Self Advocacy Network, 2012. Bascom, Julia. (Foreword). {{ISBN|978-1938800023}} {{OCLC|823510362}}
• {{cite book |author= Nadesan, Majia |year= 2005 |title= Constructing Autism: Unravelling the "Truth" and Discovering the Social |publisher= London: Routledge |doi= 10.4324/9780203299500 |isbn=978-0-415-32180-8}}
• {{cite journal |vauthors=Rossetti Z, Ashby C, Arndt K, Chadwick M, Kasahara M |title= 'I like others to not try to fix me': agency, independence, and autism |journal= Intellect Dev Disabil |volume=46 |issue=5 |pages=364–75 |year=2008 |pmid=19090638 |doi=10.1352/2008.46:364-375 }}

{{Commons category}}

{{wikiquote|Autism}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080511000025/http://www.writersvoice.net/2008/03/podcast-62-life-with-aspergers/ John Elder Robison radio interview about life with Asperger's Syndrome]
• {{cite web |title=This Podcast Has Autism |url=https://thispodcasthasautism.com/ |access-date=30 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319175028/https://thispodcasthasautism.com/ |archive-date=19 March 2022 |date=24 November 2019}}

{{Pervasive developmental disorders}}

{{Autism resources}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Autism Rights Movement}}