Ah yes. In the middle of a worldwide crisis, it's also time for our favorite day of all: #WorldAutismAwarenessDay

Oh joy.

(Thread.)

Let's get the awareness part out of the way first. 

Take a moment and think of the autistics in your life today. Be aware of them.

Did it work? Good! Points for all of you!

Of course, awareness is the easy part. It requires nothing but literally acknowledging that we exist. And awareness without acceptance or accessibility is empty. 

So let's take a moment and focus on the *acceptance* part instead.

I wrote part of this last year for #WorldAutismAwarenessDay . The reminders still hold true:

We *need* acceptance, not just awareness.

We *want* acceptance of our voices and our stories and our lives.

We *deserve* acceptance.

This is what you can do:

1. Listen to #ActuallyAutistic advocates. Boost our voices. Listen to what we have to say.

Boost #ActuallyAutistic people of color. Boost #ActuallyAutistic people of all genders. Boost #ActuallyAutistic disabled voices.

We contain multitudes.

2. Don't #LightItUpBlue. Don't. Do not.

LIUB is the signature campaign of Autism Speaks. The same AS that consistently (still) dehumanizes autistics.

Choose #RedInstead.

3. Prioritize autistic voices.

Autism Speaks doesn't speak for us.

Non-autistic voices shouldn't speak over us.

Listen. Listen. Listen.

4. Don't speak of autism as a burden. Don't speak of autism as a tragedy. Don't speak of autism as an inspiration, a missing puzzle piece, a destroyer of families.

Don't hope that we may be able to "pass" as "normal".

Accept us for who we are.

5. Stay away from functioning labels. They're misleading at best, harmful at worst. They can and often do diminish both our struggles and qualities.

Recognize that autism is a spectrum and that we all have individual strengths and weaknesses.

6. Do speak of autism as simply another neurotype. Another way of interacting with the world. Recognize where we can meet each other. Recognize where access is limited.

Celebrate being different. Celebrate autistic voices. Lift up autistic creators. Listen to our perspectives.

7. If you do wish to talk tragedies, talk about lack of access and acceptance. Talk about ableism. Talk about endless cure narratives. Talk about institutional violence and abuse. Talk about autistic children being murdered by their caregivers.

Call out bullshit:

VACCINES. DON'T. CAUSE. AUTISM.

VACCINATE YOUR KIDS.

(Also, bleach doesn't cure autism *or* Covid. WTF.)

8. Educate yourself.

Ask yourself what YOU can do to make YOUR world more accessible to the neurodiverse people around you, whether you realize they're there or not.

(Equity and access are good, actually.)

9. Be kind.

Recognize that in times of crisis, we all struggle with chaos, change, and uncertainty. We all live with anxiety and fear.

Recognize that this may be extra true for people on the spectrum.

Be kind to us. Be kind to yourselves, too.

Let's not hold one another up to impossible standards of perfection or harmful standards of normalcy, but celebrate all the wonderfully different ways in which we get to be human.

10. Celebrate #WorldAutismAcceptanceDay today instead.

And then celebrate it tomorrow too.