Autism Awareness Month: The Problem with Autism Speaks

By Olivia Cushman

April is Autism Awareness Month, as the organization Autism Speaks has deemed April 2, 2021, the fourteenth annual World Autism Awareness Day. To kick off this month of awareness and education about the neurodiverse community that we live in, I’m here to provide you a recurring column all throughout the month of April to provide insight into the autistic mind, as well as educate those who want to learn more.

What impression would you immediately get of me if I told you I am on the Autism Spectrum? Would you think I’m not as smart as the average person? Would you think of your six-year-old second cousin that is non-verbal and throws tantrums often? What if I told you that Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, just isn’t that simple? In fact, a lot of neurologists and clinical psychologists don’t understand it as a disorder. 

All of the thinking that I’ve done about it over the years since I was diagnosed could easily write a novel. All of the societal stereotypes and intolerance toward the disorder — the reference to it as a disorder in the first place — and the experiences I’ve had as an autistic person make me wonder if this developmental phenomenon should even be classified as a disorder. Hopefully, my column will provide a first-person point-of-view perspective on what it’s like to like to live a little differently than everyone else. 

You might have heard ASD be referred to as a spectrum because that’s exactly what it is. There are many areas of diagnosis that can greatly vary from person to person, especially with people who are “on the spectrum.” To be brief, ASD greatly varies from the low-functioning or nonverbal end of the spectrum to the high functioning, perhaps seen as “a little quirky” end of the spectrum. All of the areas that make a person with ASD diagnosable can greatly vary in levels of severity. No two people with autism are the same, just like no two neurotypical people are the same. 

One more thing I want to touch upon before I wrap up this first column comes with another important topic involving awareness. Autism Speaks is an organization often referred to in the autistic community as a hate group. You might have seen events or hashtags such as #lightitupblue or people wearing blue in honor of autism awareness. However, I would highly encourage you to think twice before donating to Autism Speaks, or affiliating yourself with the organization in any way. 

As a matter of fact, Autism Speaks talks about the autism community without actually involving anyone on the spectrum. These are a bunch of neurotypical people who put donations and funds towards “awareness” but actually paint the autistic community in a light that promotes fear, stigma, stereotypes, and prejudice against more neurodiverse people. Autism Speaks’ advertising relies on outdated rhetoric of fear and pity, and heavily implies that anyone with autism is a burden to society. 

A simple thing you can do to boycott autism speaks and to stand with the neurodiverse community is to not wear blue on April 2 and to use the rainbow infinity sign to symbolize the autistic community instead of the blue puzzle piece. Use the hashtag #nothingaboutuswithoutus when you post to social media, and visit the website neuroclastic.com if you wish to learn more about neurodiversity and the autism community from a point of view perspective; I highly recommend it.