Autism rights movement

It emphasizes the neurodiversity paradigm, viewing autism as a set of naturally occurring variations in human cognition, a disability with both strengths and weaknesses, rather than as a disease to be cured or a medical disorder.

[8][9] The movement seeks to reform, advance, and foster autism-oriented support services, interventions or therapies in accordance with neurodiversity principles to emphasize coping skills for challenging situations,[10] promote adaptive skills, and promote psychological well-being and mental health, through incorporating voices and perspectives of autistic people in intervention reforms, advancements, and developments.

[2] In the early 1990s, Sinclair frequently participated in autism conferences led by parent-centric organizations but found them "overwhelmingly hostile from both sensory and emotional standpoints".

[26] In 1992, Sinclair co-founded the Autism Network International (ANI) with Donna Williams and Kathy Grant, an organization that publishes newsletters "written by and for autistic people."

The ANI newsletter, Our Voice, had its first issue distributed online in November 1992 to an audience of primarily neurotypical professionals and parents of young autistic children.

[35] Martijn Dekker, an autistic computer programmer from the Netherlands, launched an e-mail list called "Independent Living on the Autism Spectrum", or "InLv", in 1996.

[32] American writer Harvey Blume was a member of the list[32] and described it as embracing "neurological pluralism" in a 1997 article in The New York Times.

[41] That same year, The New York Times covered the autism rights perspective by publishing journalist Amy Harmon's article, "How About Not Curing Us, Some Autistics Are Pleading".

[43] TAAP also sponsored the Joy of Autism: Redefining Ability and Quality of Life events and lectures in Toronto, featuring dozens of autistic artists and speakers such as Jim Sinclair, Michelle Dawson, Phil Schwartz, Morton Ann Gernsbacher, and Larry Bissonnette.

[44] The campaign was canceled two weeks after its launch when the center's director had received an estimated 3000 e-mails and phone calls, most of them "expressing anger and hurt".

Much of autism awareness and campaigning was driven by social media, including the notable growth of TikTok and the emergence of autistic advocates like Chloé Hayden[48] and Paige Layle.

[52] A comprehensive approach to inclusion in the workplace, the Canary Code, was developed in 2022 by Ludmila Praslova, specifically focusing on autistic talent and other marginalized communities.

[58] Autistic people are considered to have neurocognitive differences[59] that give them distinct strengths and weaknesses, and they are capable of succeeding when appropriately accommodated and supported.

[2][60] According to Ludmila Praslova, author of The Canary Code, creating systems that support the employment of autistic people and their success through organizational transparency, justice, and flexibility benefits all employees.

[2] An analysis of data from the UK and Hungary in 2017 found evidence that autistic or intellectually disabled self-advocates are rarely involved in leadership or decision-making within organisations.

[71] A wider debate on the ethics involved in the possible elimination of a genotype that has advantages as well as disadvantages, has focused on possible negative effects of tampering with natural selection.

"[75] Temple Grandin comments that if autism were eliminated, society would lose scientists, musicians, and mathematicians; a caveman "with high-functioning Asperger's" might have developed the stone spear.

[41] Some autistic activists suggest that life with autism is like being born among people who speak a different language,[77] follow a religion or philosophy one does not share, and live a lifestyle that feels alien.

[80] United Nations (UN) human rights experts have expressed that autistic people are particularly at risk for harmful medical practices and some approaches amount to "ill-treatment or torture.

[29] Studies have shown that efforts to pass as non-autistic is associated with poorer mental health and psychological well-being,[84][85] and such findings were consistent across various age groups.

His resignation came two days after the release of an op-ed by the group's co-founder Suzanne Wright which, according to Robison, "is simply not defensible for someone who feels as I do, and I cannot continue to stand up for the public actions of an organization that makes the same mistakes over and over again by failing to connect to the community it purports to represent".

[94] Simone Greggs, the mother of an autistic child, filed a lawsuit against Autism Speaks for disability discrimination after her job offer was rescinded.

[135] Some autistic individuals learn sign language, participate in online chat rooms, discussion boards, and websites, or use communication devices at autism-community social events.

[139] Conducting work, conversation and interviews online in chat rooms, rather than via phone calls or personal contact, helps level the playing field for many autistics.

"[150] The idea for the event developed out of opposition to a Communication Shutdown fundraising campaign led by United States charity Autism Speaks.

[156] At Autreat—an annual autistic gathering—participants compared their movement to gay rights activists, or the Deaf culture, where sign language is preferred over surgery that might restore hearing.

Notable individuals known to have Asperger syndrome include Craig Nicholls,[171] lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and only constant member of the Australian rock band The Vines, who was diagnosed in 2004,[172] and actor Paddy Considine.

[175] In an interview with presenter Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4's Today, the 16-year-old activist said that autism helps her see things in "black and white".

The magazine also reported that on Celebrity Rehab, Drew Pinsky deemed basketball player Dennis Rodman a candidate for an Asperger's diagnosis, and the UCLA specialist consulted "seemed to concur".

Nora Ephron criticized these conclusions, writing that popular speculative diagnoses suggest autism is "an epidemic, or else a wildly over-diagnosed thing that there used to be other words for".