Autistic Pride Day 2020 - History, Significance, and everything you need to know

Just like people’s physical abilities, people’s mental abilities also vary. Autistic Pride Day is originally a freedom initiative and is a pride celebration for autistic people, held on June 18 every year. Autistic pride recognises the importance of the confidence and pride for autistic people and its role in bringing about a change in the way people look at Autism in society. Read ahead-

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Autistic Pride Day- History and Significance

Aspies For Freedom (AFF) is a campaigning and solidarity group that aims at raising public awareness for the autism rights movement. The goal of Aspies For Freedom is to educate people about the fact that autism is not always a disability, and that there are advantages as well as disadvantages of having it. For this purpose, the group organizes an annual Autistic Pride Day to be held on June 18. AFF provides support for the autistic community and protects attempts to cure autism.

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In 2005, Autistic Pride Day was first celebrated by Aspies for Freedom and it soon became a global event that was being celebrated widely, offline and online. AFF modelled this celebration on the gay pride movement. Kabie Brook, the co-founder of Autism Rights Group Highland (ARGH) said during an interview that, the most important thing to note about the day is that it is an autistic community event, it originated from and is still led by autistic people themselves. This means that it is not a day for other charities or organisations to promote themselves or stifle autistic people.  

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Autistic pride points towards the fact that autistic people have always been an important part of the human culture. Being autistic is a form of neurodiversity. As with all forms of neurological related issues, most of the challenges autistic people face come from other people's attitudes about autism and a lack of supports and accommodations (ableism), rather than being essential to their own autistic condition. Many autism-related organizations promote feelings of pity for parents, rather than fostering understanding Autistic activists have contributed to a shift in attitudes away from the notion that autism is a deviation from the norm that must be treated or cured. Autistic self-advocacy organizations, which are led and run by autistics, are a key force in the movement for autistic acceptance and autistic pride

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