HAPPY AUTISTIC PRIDE DAY
Today, June 18th is Autistic Pride Day!
This is a day where we show that we are not broken and don't need to be fixed. We show that we have the ability (no matter what) to speak up for ourselves and advocate for ourselves based on where we're at.
Autism acceptance is about accepting someone's true authentic self.
Us autistic individuals are one of a kind. We are unique. We deserve basic human rights no matter where we live. The world NEEDS us just as much as we need the world.
Autistic Pride Day started in 2005, created by a group called Aspies for Freedom, an autistic-led organization. That’s important — it wasn’t created by allies, doctors, or parents — it was born from within the community, which makes it radically different from “Autism Awareness Month,” for example.
Typical messaging about autism can be deficit-focused: “struggles,” “interventions,” “risk factors.”
Autistic Pride Day says:
💬 “Autism is not a tragedy. The stigma is.”
It reclaims language, space, and identity from pity-based narratives and pushes for celebration instead of “cure.” A lot of people who are "threatened" by autism are those who see the negatives in it such as the individuals who are of level 3 and need a lot of support. There is no need to cure it. However, I believe that you can make it easier in someways to understand those individuals who cannot fully communicate. We shouldn't cure autism!!
While this day centers autistic voices, it also asks non-autistic people to listen, learn, and support. Not by speaking for autistics, but by making space — in families, classrooms, media, and other systems in society — for autistic people to be able to lead.
So many autistic people grow up being told to hide their stims, mask their behaviors, or blend in to survive. Autistic Pride Day says:
“You don’t have to hide anymore. You’re enough.”
That message can be life-changing. Authenticity is everything
Autistic Pride Day reminds the world that autistic lives are whole, worthy, and beautiful — not in spite of autism, but because of it.
Let’s make the world safer, brighter, and more inclusive for autistic folks 365 days a year.
Not just today. Every day. 💖🧠✨
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