Following the success of the event of March 31, 2018,
the Autistan Diplomatic Organization proposes,
each year from 2019,
the concept of “Autistan Day“.
This is a concept:
- Which responds to the initiative of the UN-proposed World Autism Awareness Day (of which we support the general principle) and which uses the same date (around the 2nd of April);
- Which is “autistic”: organized by autistic people, therefore in the respect of autism (the Autistan Diplomatic Organization is a specialist in autism, which is not the case of the UN);
- Which is global (since our vision of autism is global, extra-national).
Groups and organizations of autistics or autistic parents, or others, who organize events to defend the autistics and autism around April 2, may decide to organize their event in harmony with the Autistan Day.
- To participate, you can organize your event as you wish but here are 7 Conditions (C1 to C7) to respect:
C1- (Of course) Organize awareness actions about autism for the public, in the public space (physical, or virtual on the Internet).
C2- Use the flag of Autistan (or elements of the flag: in this case, consult us to check if it is appropriate), with a link to the present page (https://autistan.org/en/autistan-day/) in your communication (previous, during the day, and posterior).
C3- Use the title “Autistan Day” (which does not prevent the use of other titles, association names, etc.)
C4- Verify that the messages, presentations and publications of the event are respecting the Fundamental Rights of Autistic people according to the Autistan Diplomatic Organization (https://autistan.org/en/8-rights/).
C5- Verify that the messages, presentations and publications of the event are consistent with our vision of autism (https://autistan.org/en/9-our-explanation-of-autism/), in particular by never using a “defectological” approach to autism.
– Examples of incompatible messages :
— “Autism is a disease”: no, it’s a natural biological difference (like being left-handed, dwarf or albino).
— “Autism is a disorder (or a set of disorders)“: No, autism is autism, and the difficulties associated with autism are not autism;
— “Fighting against autism“: no, but, on the contrary, fighing for autism… (For understanding, respect, use and respect of autistic characteristics and qualities);
— “Getting out of autism“: no, but rather overcoming the difficulties (especially those imposed by the social environment), respecting the autistic nature of the person;
— “Therapies“: no, but “apprenticeships” and “adaptations”, yes. (The word “therapy” carries an idea of “medical treatment”, even if it is used figuratively.)
– If you manage to have people understanding these essential fundamentals in your event, this will be very useful for your audience, and this will also be an example of the usefulness of our Organization.
C6- Send us the links of the (previous and subsequent) publications concerning your event, mentioning the Autistan (with at least one link to Autistan.org), so that we can publish them too. (contact@autistan.org)
C7- Do not use the “ribbon” (as for HIV) in the event’s communication.
– Explanation: Autism cannot be compared to HIV; we are opposed to the “catastrophism”; these ribbons are often about deadly and very sad plagues, and autism has nothing to do with it; we do not want to be equated with things that are saddening and scary, and that everyone would like to get rid of.
- In addition to these 7 Conditions, here are 4 Recommendations (R1 to R4) to try to follow as much as possible:
R1- If possible, invite an Ambassador of Autistan or another member (or sponsor, or supporter) of our Organization.
R2- If possible, try to harmonise the local event with other events organized by other associations or groups as part of the “Autistan Day” concept.
R3- If possible, do not use a “puzzle” in the communication of the event.
– You can use only the minimum, when it is impossible to remove, for example in case of presence of “puzzle” in the logo of the association that organizes.
– Explanation: For autistic people, there are no “puzzles” or “headaches” about autism: it is a natural thing for us; it is on the contrary the very absurd and harmful functioning of the non-autistic social system which deserves to be corrected.
– The organization that created this concept of “puzzle” is not an organization of autistics and did not involve autistics in this idea. We do not know any autistic who likes this concept of “puzzle”.
– More explanations : http://www.judyendow.com/advocacy/goodnight-autism-puzzle-pieces/ and https://the-art-of-autism.com/the-autism-puzzle-piece-a-symbol-of-what and https://web.archive.org/web/20160220153444/http://unpuzzled.net/2012/05/02/i-am-not-a-puzzle-from-reports-from-a-resident-alien/
R4- If possible, avoid illumination of monuments in blue, and in any case do not refer to the title “Light It Up Blue”.
– You can use the blue light as you wish, but avoid copying the concept “Light It Up Blue”.
– Explanation: This concept is part of the “defectological” and “alarmist” approach of autism that uses ribbons and puzzles.
-Information to understand better : some autistics, tired of this approach that does not respect autistics nor autism, invented a reverse concept: Tone It Down Taupe.
- Explanations to avoid “automatic confusion”, in relation to the “Conditions” and “Recommendations” above:
- Our positive way of seeing autism is neither an “ideological position” nor a sort of “denial of problems”.
We never say that there are no problems or that there is no need of efforts, adaptations, solutions, etc. - But it is essential to understand that autism itself is neither a disease, nor a disorder, nor a defect, nor a problem, in order to distinguish between “autism” and “difficulties”: indeed the difficulties must be solved by respecting autism, not by trying to erase it.
It is obviously impossible to do this if we confuse “autism” and “difficulties”. - It is very detrimental to want to ensure that autistic people adapt, seeking to “erase” their autism instead of trying to understand the qualities, and to develop them (while reducing the problems).
- It is unfair, “dictatorial” and counterproductive (not to mention the suffering generated) to force autistic people to adapt to an absurd and unjust system, without making any effort of reciprocal adaptations and without seeking to correct the general social flaws (the “Non-Autistic Disorders”), which cause autistics to suffer first.
- It is impossible to solve the difficulties of autistic people if autism is considered a defect, because this generates a fundamental error that prevents the understanding of autism, which is why most families fail to move forward, and are still blocked (and sometimes “lost”) in stories of “puzzles” or other things incomprehensible, alarmist, and not respectful of reality.
- Our positive way of seeing autism is neither an “ideological position” nor a sort of “denial of problems”.
- Notes on the title “Autistan Day”:
- We do not need to specify “World” in “Autistan Day”, because Autistan is already a global concept;
- We do not need to specify “Awareness” in “Autistan Day”, because Autistan is already a concept of awareness;
- We do not need to specify “Autism” in “Autistan Day”, because Autistan is already a totally autistic concept, which is, roughly, “autism according to autistics”.
- This shows that the concept called “Autistan” is particularly well suited for autism awareness at the global level.