Search the site...

Autism Spectrum Explained
  • Home
  • Introduction to Autism
    • Characteristics
    • Common Myths >
      • Negative Narrative >
        • Autism Controversies
  • How to Interact
    • Stigma & Discrimination
    • What to Avoid
  • Advice for Parents
    • Visual Supports
    • Autism Treatments
    • Explaining Autism to Kids
    • A Mother's Story
    • My Sibling Perspective
    • Autism Explained for Kids Site
  • All Kinds of Minds
    • Culture of Autism
    • Late Diagnosis
  • More
    • How to Assess Claims
    • What Causes Autism?
    • Additional Resources
    • Site Info & Feedback >
      • About the Website
      • ASE FAQ
      • Survey
      • Contact Us
      • Make a Submission
  • Our Blog
    • On Self-Advocacy
    • Trouble with Changes
    • Smoothing Transitions
    • Autism Speaks
    • Vaccines
    • Infantilization
    • Her Autism is Worsening
    • Stimming
  • Autism Tutoring
  • Home
  • Introduction to Autism
    • Characteristics
    • Common Myths >
      • Negative Narrative >
        • Autism Controversies
  • How to Interact
    • Stigma & Discrimination
    • What to Avoid
  • Advice for Parents
    • Visual Supports
    • Autism Treatments
    • Explaining Autism to Kids
    • A Mother's Story
    • My Sibling Perspective
    • Autism Explained for Kids Site
  • All Kinds of Minds
    • Culture of Autism
    • Late Diagnosis
  • More
    • How to Assess Claims
    • What Causes Autism?
    • Additional Resources
    • Site Info & Feedback >
      • About the Website
      • ASE FAQ
      • Survey
      • Contact Us
      • Make a Submission
  • Our Blog
    • On Self-Advocacy
    • Trouble with Changes
    • Smoothing Transitions
    • Autism Speaks
    • Vaccines
    • Infantilization
    • Her Autism is Worsening
    • Stimming
  • Autism Tutoring

On Autism Awareness: Why Caley and I Will Not Light It Up Blue

4/2/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
If I wear blue today, it will be because I stumbled blindly out of bed and grabbed the first thing I saw which happened to be blue. Otherwise, this Autism Acceptance Day (yes, it's not just autism awareness day!), I'll be wearing red. And maybe some taupe. Here's why:

1. Autism awareness can be a great way to feel like we're helping...
...but in reality, people tend walk away from awareness events with little if any more understanding for autistic people than when they came. Instead, as Jess at Diary of a Mom coined the phrase, the most they tend to walk away with is cocktail party awareness (if that). 1 in 68, more boys than girls, more common than childhood cancer/diabetes/AIDS combined (which, by the way, is a very hurtful comparison) - that's what you tend to leave knowing. Awareness makes us feel like we're doing something - it feels GREAT when we light an entire building up blue or share that Autism Awareness status! But most awareness related things are actually not conducive to understanding. Awareness was great back when no one had heard of autism before, and it still comes with the best of intentions, but now that most people have heard of autism (at least here in the US), we need to move on to tackling harder goals - like autism understanding and acceptance of autistic people for who they are.

2. Autism awareness can actually be pretty hurtful to autistic people...
...because how often do you ever spread awareness of something good, or just different? Ever seen a gifted awareness campaign? No? Neither have I. If you just spread awareness, the impression people can leave with is that autism is bad and autistic people need to be saved. (Don't believe me? Think about how similar to the breast cancer awareness campaigns autism awareness campaigns are.) Moreover, it risks spreading the false impression that autistic people are lesser, because again, if you’re spreading awareness it lends the impression it’s because they have this “bad” thing. A lot of people on the spectrum, Caley included, hate April for this very reason. Which is why they’ve launched counter-movements: Tone it Down Taupe and Walk In Red.

3. Light it up blue is especially not useful and hurtful…
…because there are two likely outcomes when someone walks past a blue building. 1) They think, huh, the building is blue. Or 2) They think, huh, the building is blue, I wonder why that is? Oh, yeah, I remember, it’s because of autism awareness. I’ve heard of autism before. Those are those kids who have some kind of problem, right? ...and then they (likely) walk away with the exact same level of lack of understanding as they had previously. There are many activities that would be better suited to help people understand autism than lighting it up blue.

And why is it hurtful? Well, not only for the same reason that autism awareness campaigns can be unintentionally hurtful, but also because according to Autism Speaks the color blue was chosen EXPLICITLY TO REPRESENT BOYS ON THE SPECTRUM. So if you’re a girl on the spectrum the message that sends is that you're not actually important to the people lighting it up blue. And that’s just messed up.

4. These are generally activities associated with Autism Speaks…
…which Caley and I and a LOT of other autistic people do not support, due to some very hurtful actions on their part, among other things. Read more here:

 http://www.autismspectrumexplained.com/…/i-too-my-autism-sp…


That’s just the very tip of all the things I want to talk about related to autism awareness, there is much more to it. If you want to read more, check out The Negative Narrative, a page on our website about how unintentionally hurtful many of the things done to help autistic people are, the narrative about autism in our society, and how to avoid accidentally contributing to these hurtful attitudes: http://www.autismspectrumexplained.com/negative-narrative.h…

And if you’re looking for alternatives to all the blue going on, check out Walk in Red, a protest against some of the harmful attitudes that can accidentally be spread this month, and Tone it Down Taupe, another protest. I think a post they shared says everything about how this month can feel for people on the spectrum. “April 1st is International Allism [Meaning Not-Autistic] Awareness Day. Today, please remember to Tone it Down Taupe for all those persons currently suffering from a condition known as allism. It is a tsunami. An epidemic. Experts currently believe that 49/50 people are allistic, although those numbers may be thankfully diminishing. As you wear your Taupe, remember to be extra kind to an allistic today. Don't forget to let them know how truly inspirational they are for surviving such trials as excessive social contact. Tone it Down Taupe for Allism Awareness!” It's an exercise in empathy to read that.

This April (and every month), please join Caley and me in supporting autism understanding, acceptance and respect, not just awareness. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Remember, Caley does read these comments and can find things hurtful, so please use your judgment before commenting.

-Creigh

1 Comment
Ettina link
12/20/2015 11:41:42 am

A gifted awareness campaign would actually be a great idea. So many people have misconceptions about giftedness, thinking 'all kids are gifted', or 'gifted kids have it made' and not realizing it's a special need.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    About Creigh

    I'm a college student who grew up with my Autistic younger sister, Caley. I've got a bachelor's degree in Psychology and I'm currently studying for my Master's in Speech Language Pathology.

    Neither of those, however, have given me an understanding of autism. All of my understanding comes from learning from the many autistic people that I know. As a result, I have a very different outlook on autism than most, and a burning desire to tell the world what I've learned. This blog is one of the many areas in which I attempt to do that.


    *Note, none of these make me a professional, so advice I give is not professional advice.

    Top Posts

    On Self-Advocacy
    Difficulty with Changes 
    On Parental Guilt
    Transition Time!
    My Autism Speaks Story
    A Tale of Two Sensitivities
    Autism and Haircuts
    Cause of Autism
    Vaccines and Autism
    Happiness's Variations
    I Cannot Call Caley Cute
    The Power of Listening
    Her Autism is Worse
    On Preventing Bullying
    Autistic Parenthood
    Facing Discrimination
    Stimming's Function
    On Anxiety

    Categories

    All
    Acceptance
    Accommodations
    Awareness
    Caley's Posts
    Cause Of Autism
    Change
    Controversies
    Creigh's Updates
    Different Not Less
    Empathy
    Kindness
    Listening
    Meltdowns
    Myths
    Parenting
    Presume Competence
    Reader Q&A
    Science
    Self Advocacy
    Stigma / Discrimination
    Stimming
    Understanding
    Word Choice

    RSS Feed

    Blog Info

    Starting about in March 2014, all of these posts are originally published on Autism Spectrum Explained's Facebook page, and later reposted here for archiving purposes and easy access for ASE readers, including those who don't use Facebook. 

    Archives

    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos from madmiked, Jim Larrison, Purple Sherbet Photography