Individuals and organisations all over the world commemorate Autism Awareness Month in April by hosting events to educate local communities and promote public awareness around Autism. The Autism Society conducted the first National Autism Awareness Month in April of 1970, over 50 years ago. Since then, Autism has been the world's fastest-growing developmental condition due to increased understanding of Autism and how this can present.

Over the years, the general public have become increasingly aware that Autism exists. However, misinformation, stigmatisation and judgements around Autism are extremely prevalent. Emotions, empathy and the ability to love others is often (wrongly) regarded to be lacking in Autistic people. Professionals can tend to focus on various ‘deficiencies’, and people with Autism can be hugely underestimated, especially those who can't communicate through spoken language. Despite decades of increased awareness, the system still has a long way to go in its understanding and acceptance of Autism.

Many autistic individuals, as well as a rising number of non-autistic supporters, dislike 'awareness' campaigns. Instead, a movement and celebration called ‘Autism Acceptance’ was coined in recent years and has since spread around the world.

‘Autism Acceptance’ is about embracing Autistic people as part of the community, focusing on inclusivity and diversity and changing the public image of what Autism is. It is about moving the dialogue around Autism away from a negative stance and centering Autistic voices in that dialogue. It is important that Autistic people are empowered and have acceptance, not mere ‘awareness’.

At Acorn, we aim to support autistic individuals by ensuring that our services are person-centred, putting the thoughts and feelings of our clients and their families at the heart of what we do. Our goal is to support autistic individuals to be independent and able to advocate for themselves. We strive to listen to Autistic voices and use our platform to promote Autism acceptance amongst families and other professionals.

To find out more about events taking place during Autism Acceptance Month 2022, please visit the ‘Altogether Autism’ website. If you would like to find out what support Acorn can offer children and young neurodiverse individuals, please don’t hesitate to contact us.