Autistic People Should

By Our Selves –

Autistic People Should... embrace and celebrate their autism. It’s a core part of us, to reject it is to reject the Self.

Autistic People Should… stand tall, be proud of themselves and what they’ve achieved, even if it’s only survival in a hostile, uncomprehending world. (That deserves a Nobel prize all on its own!)

Autistic People Should… cherish themselves and love themselves as a child of the Universe, exactly as every other human being and creature on the planet is.

Autistic People Should… understand that no matter what anyone else says, and no matter what problems they undoubtedly have, there is absolutely nothing wrong with them.

Autistic People Should…. find others who are also autistic – community is the way forward, to both self-esteem and changing the world to make it better for us.

Autistic People Should… question, question, question, all the stereotypes and myths, all the ‘objective’ research (which is all too often not objective at all), all the solemn or gloomy or doom-laden or hysterical pronouncements about what autism ‘is’; they should search their own hearts, look at their autistic friends, acquaintances and/or family, and come to their own conclusions.

By Other People -

Autistic People Should… be loved and cherished by those around them. For themselves, not for who others want or expect them to be, or think they ought to try to be.

Autistic People Should… be accepted just as they are, by those around them, even if they are non-verbal, having obvious difficulties, or all too obviously ‘different’.

Autistic People Should… be respected as human beings in their own right, even if others find them hard to understand.

Autistic People Should… be accepted as a normal human variant, and catered for as such, in the same manner we now cater for other differences.

Autistic People Should… be consulted as a matter of course, on ANYTHING that directly affects them or involves them.

Above all -

Autistic People Should… know that they have the right to existence, the right to fair treatment, the right to human dignity and freedom from torture and abuse, the right to choose and direct their lives the way they want, the right to say ‘no’, the right to be as independent as possible, and above all the right to simply be their own true, quirky, lovely, fantastically individual, beautifully autistic selves.