With the #ColorTheSpectrum discussion going on, I keep seeing the term “autism industry” get thrown around, and I want to explain what it means, because I think understanding the autism industry is the first step in not falling for it. #ActuallyAutistic

Because the “autism industry” is exactly what it sounds like; treating autism as a business, but the interesting part of the autism industry is they essentially create their own target audience. How do they do this? Fear tactics.

The industry incites fear into parents of autistic children by telling them autism ruins lives, autism is worse than cancer and that autism is to blame for all of your life’s problems. This creates a desperate and afraid parent, who wants to save their autistic child.

This isn’t to say that having an autistic child doesn’t come with challenges- having ANY child comes with challenges, but these challenges can be overcome. The difference is, that there is plenty of advice available when it comes to challenges with NT kids- not so much autistics.

The only mainstream information about autism comes from this industry. This is EXTREMELY dangerous when the industry is relying on your fear of autism to make money- but how will they make money off of autism? Simple; a cure.

Autism comes with difficulties, but the issue is that when most people think “helping” autistic people means finding a cure that doesn’t exist rather than offer support autistic people? Makes things more difficult, but they won’t stop as long as they keep making money.

Unfortunately, it’s really easy for NTs to fall for this industry, especially NT parents, which is why the autistic community is constantly BEGGING to be listened to, because the companies NTs are trusting are manipulating them, and they hurt us in the end.