World Autism Awareness Day

Today is Autism Awareness Day. Being Autistic is not something to fear, feel
ashamed of, or be devastated by! Being Autistic is simply another way of
being!

Being Autistic is awesome but we need to share this knowledge the
world. Society must stop seeing Autism as a deficit model but instead a
different model – we are all human and everybody deserves to be respected
for who they are.

There is so much false information around Autism and this leads to
generalised judgements being made.

Here’s just a few –

If you are autistic you can’t give eye contact – watch Aiden in this video, he
absolutely can!

If you are autistic you don’t understand humour – watch Aiden in this video,
he is more that able to laugh at himself and the situation with others.

If you are autistic you can’t work within a team – watch Aiden in this video,
he works brilliantly as a team player.

If you are autistic you can’t have friends – watch the video…

If you are autistic you can’t interact with others – yeah yeah you get – watch
the video!!!

So where has it all got confused?

It’s not that autistic people can’t do these things, it’s that quite often, the
environment they are in stops them from doing these things.

Our society is
geared up for one way of being – the neurotypical way!

But as you can see,
when you give an autistic person the right environment , their own
neurotype to work with, a non-judgmental team who respect, trust and
allow him autonomy, Aiden is able to interact, engage, build relationships,
have fun, complete a tricky task through problem solving, work as part of a
team and so much more.

So let’s share this knowledge and show the world that being autistic is not a
deficit model of being human it’s simply a different model and one that
need acceptance.

Let’s support those who diverge from the majority and
provide them with an environment they can thrive in.