April is Autism Month

April is Autism month, with many sharing on social media about autism awareness or autism acceptance. We used this as an opportunity to talk with our students about how they view autism and what they would prefer from others.

Our students had varying opinions about those two options which helped their team understand their viewpoint. Providing multiple perspectives can help students identify and explain their own perspective with less performance and regulation demands. It provides scaffolding for the conversation and also alternative perspectives to consider.

A few of our students disliked both, however, and wanted to share their own versions:

Anton stated that "it should be autism understanding month. Society is aware of autism and even generally accepts it, but does not understand it. I do not just want to be given space to be judged and on my own. I want support to do my best and that requires understanding."

Akshara discussed that "they (awareness and acceptance) are both ridiculous because our lives are valuable as they are" and recommended we call this month Autism Appreciation. People should "appreciate our skills and abilities" because "we are people with skills and needs". Their final thoughts on the topic were "I have skills that I can't show when I am restricted to behaving normally. Being calm loses personality."

After discussing medical issues, Molly added, "I dislike both (awareness and acceptance) because I am more than autism" and agreed that calling it Autism Appreciation "would be ideal and hopefully, one day, unnecessary."

We are always curious about what our students and their families think - please share!