Can you have acceptance without awareness?
World Autism Acceptance Week starts on Monday. Here's some reflections, resources, and my usual fundraiser.
First off, next week is World Autism Acceptance Week, and I’ll be doing my usual fundraiser 🥳 This time, I’m going to take advantage of my recently developed alopecia and write messages on my head 🎨
Of course, you’re all welcome to contribute (😇) whether it’s by donating, forwarding this email to someone who might need it or enjoy it, making suggestions or following and sharing the daily updates I’ll be posting on Instagram, LinkedIn and maybe even TikTok (I can’t promise I’ll have enough energy for that, but I plan to try!)
Is it acceptance or is it awareness?
A few years back, this used to be called “awareness” week. It got changed to “acceptance” only recently, because it was thought that “awareness” was not enough.
I understand the point, but I want to play devil’s advocate: I feel like there’s so much about the core of neurodiversity that is not yet part of our collective “awareness”, it makes it harder to just “accept” it.
I had a bit of a wake-up call this week, in the form of an actual call with my dad. I was explaining to him that ADHD is not just “the kids who can’t sit still in school”, because he still doesn’t fully understand how I could have it since my teachers in school liked me, and “Isn’t that the sort of thing they would notice?”. Similarly, when I got my autism diagnosis, he was the hardest in my family to convince it was a real thing.
Now, to clarify, I’m not talking about a random person from an older generation who doesn’t go on the internet and doesn’t care about social issues. My father is an educated man, with a degree in pedagogic studies, and who has worked for years with special needs students. His knowledge is just a bit out of date, but the foundations to understand are all there.
So here’s what goes through my head:
How can there still be so many misconceptions and outdated definitions of the neurodivergent spectrum out there?
Have I been so focused on the DE&I side of the conversation that I forgot how to explain neurodiversity outside of work?
The first answer is fairly easy: of course. People learn what they need to learn when they need to learn it. It’s unrealistic to expect that the whole world could keep up with every social development. The only solution is patience, persistence, and keeping in mind that a lack of acceptance can still simply be caused by a lack of awareness.
The second answer is: yes, my focus has always been geared towards work and adult diagnosis. I’m used to talking to professionals, who have a self-interest in understanding, in a context that is familiar to me. This causes a bit of tunnel vision.
But it’s ok, because the internet comes to the rescue, explaining this way better than I could: with memes 🎉
Hey, there’s even one about my phone call with my dad!
What I’m trying to say is…
While I’m gonna figure out how to keep my perspective wider going forward, I’d encourage you and everyone to look beyond your usual sources, and get your updates and information from multiple perspectives.
And, as I said last time, share your own stories!
Here are some of my favourite non-work-related ND resources, to get you started:
Best for Explaining ND: “Autism is a Spectrum” Doesn’t Mean What You Think
Role reversal: Inside Our Autistic Minds (BBC short films)
Relatable: ADHD Love (TikTok. Anything on TikTok.)
Fun: The Âûtism Comedy Club (Facebook)
Fun: r/autismmemes (Reddit)
Do you have anything to share with me?
I’m afraid my social feeds are set in stone, LinkedIn’s algorithm knows me too well and keeps suggesting similar content that is just going to reinforce my existing point of view.
So, if you have any recommendations for content you think I should see, give me a shout! You can leave a comment or message me 🙏
Thank you in advance!
Bunny of the day
