April is "Autism Awareness" month, & today (April 2nd) is "Autism Awareness" day. So here's a thread of some important things to keep in mind. While the masses tend to call it "Autism Awareness" month/day, that's frowned upon. The preferred term is "Autism Acceptance" month/day.

This is because the other term/phrase implies you should be "aware" of people with autism, not accepting of them. A lot of autistic people feel ostracized because of their differences, so being told they're accepted makes a difference. "Awareness" makes it sound like a disease.

The second thing to note is that the blue puzzle piece is seen as an offensive/in bad taste symbol, because it's been coined by Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks is a hateful organization that advocates for the unwillful sterilization, euthanasia & eugenics of autistic people.

The symbol that we've coined instead is a rainbow infinity symbol. This symbolizes that autism is a spectrum, and that there isn't just one way an autistic person is or behaves. If you're going to use a symbol, please use this one instead of the blue puzzle piece.

Another important thing to note is to avoid terms like "high functioning" & "low functioning". They're harmful terms for a multitude of reasons, but I'll link an article that explains why. Instead, try to use terms like non-verbal, etc. https://www.learningdisabilitytoday.co.uk/why-highlow-functioning-labels-are-hurtful-to-autistic-people

If you're looking for places to donate: please donate to organizations that have actually autistic people running them. Autism Speaks is a bunch of people exploiting scared parents for monetary gain, & hardly any donations actually go to helping autistic people & their families.

If you're looking for a good place to donate to or to seek out resources from, ASAN (Autistic Self Advocacy Network) is a great one. https://autisticadvocacy.org/ 

Anyways, there's my obligatory yearly informational spiel. Happy Autism Acceptance Day and Month!