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. 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
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