Autism Acceptance Month: More than just awareness

By Michael Bolcato

April is Autism Acceptance Month, marking a very special time for people who are on the spectrum. The month is meant to shed light on individuals who have said disability. Initially started by the Autism Society of America, Autism Awareness Month has been around since April 1970 and has been a yearly tradition ever since. However, its importance still does not have the strongest impact on most people.

Before 2021, Autism Acceptance Month was widely referred to as Autism Awareness Month. The name change occurred to better highlight the goal of being more inclusive to the autistic community. Despite this, I and other people feel that the month tends to still be overlooked. As someone who is on the autism spectrum, Autism Acceptance Month does not do enough to shine light on individuals. 

The word “acceptance” is a more diverse word than the word “awareness,” but some autistic people find themselves struggling with lack of validation, which is a part of being accepted. A lot of autistic people feel lonely these days, especially with social media and online communication platforms. These social media channels can isolate autistic people from being social and can create social anxiety problems. The isolation can also lead to low self-esteem in life and an increase in stress levels. 

Another point I would like to bring up is that not everyone has the same version of autism. Some people have more “severe” autism while others are on the outskirts of the spectrum, like myself. Autistic people can have different stands on their disability as well. Some autistic people use their disability to their advantage and publicly speak up on it, while others cannot speak on it depending on their abilities. Despite the diverse range of autism, autistic people can easily get misjudged and cluttered together into one category, also causing negative perceptions and generalizations of them being socially awkward. 

In relation to the negative views of autism, the belief that autism is a bad thing is outdated. There have been many successful autistic people in the world since that belief has come to be. Albert Einstein paved the way for many autistic people; he is one of the world’s smartest people and has been posthumously speculated to have had autism. There are also many other well-known individuals who have been diagnosed with autism, like actor Anthony Hopkins. This goes to show that being autistic can lead to a great path of glory. 

I feel that Autism Acceptance Month tends to be overshadowed by other things in the month of April. Like I said before, I am a person who has autism, and it saddens me that there are still people out there who do not accept someone on the autism spectrum, and people who tend to ignore that April is Autism Acceptance Month. There are many resources for autistic people to utilize and get the support they need, like accommodations for students and support groups like Autism Speaks for those individuals not in school anymore. A lot of these resources should be pushed a bit more as some autistic people are not even aware of their existence. Autism Acceptance Month should really be a time of celebrating autistic individuals and embracing their disability. It also needs to shine light on resources for autistic people. Autism Acceptance Month should mean to be proud of being autistic.

Michael Bolcato is a sophomore communications major