The rainbow-colored infinity symbol represents the diversity of the autism spectrum as well as the greater neurodiversity movement. Some autistic people prefer jigsaw puzzle-piece based symbols, others dislike them.
The autism rights movement (ARM), also known as the autistic culture movement, is a social movement within the neurodiversity and disability rights movements
that encourages autistic people, their caregivers and society to adopt a
position of neurodiversity, accepting autism as a variation in
functioning rather than a disorder to be cured. The ARM advocates a variety of goals including a greater acceptance of autistic behaviors; therapies that teach autistic individuals coping skills rather than therapies focused on imitating behaviors of neurotypical peers; the creation of social networks and events that allow autistic people to socialize on their own terms; and the recognition of the autistic community as a minority group.
Autism rights or neurodiversity advocates believe that the autism spectrum is genetic and should be accepted as a natural expression of the human genome.
This perspective is distinct from two other likewise distinct views:
the mainstream perspective, that autism is caused by a genetic defect
and should be addressed by targeting the autism gene(s), and the fringe theory that autism is caused by environmental factors like vaccines and pollution and could be cured by addressing environmental causes.
The movement is controversial. There are a wide variety of both
supportive and critical opinions about the movement among people who are
autistic or associated with people with autism. A common criticism
leveled against autistic activists is that the majority of them are "high-functioning" or have Asperger syndrome and do not represent the views of all autistic people, although some prominent figures in the movement are nonverbal and have been labeled as "low-functioning".
History
Jim Sinclair was the first individual to communicate the anti-cure or autism rights perspective in the late 1980s. In 1992, Sinclair co-founded the Autism Network International,
an organization that publishes newsletters "written by and for autistic
people". Other individuals involved in the creation of the ANI were Donna Williams and Kathy Grant, two autistic individuals who knew Sinclair through pen pal lists and autism conferences. The first issue of the ANI newsletter, Our Voice,
was distributed online in November 1992, to an audience of mostly
neurotypical professionals and parents of young autistic children. The
number of autistics in the organization grew slowly, over the years, and
it eventually became a communication network for like-minded autistics.
In 1996, a yearly retreat known as Autreat was established. Autreat is a United States retreat and conference hosted by the autism rights organization Autism Network International, specifically for autistic people. As of 2012, Autreat has been held every year, except for 2001.
In 2004, Michelle Dawson challenged applied behavior analysis (ABA) on ethical grounds. She testified in Auton v. British Columbia against the required government funding of ABA. That same year The New York Times covered the autism rights perspective by publishing Amy Harmon's article, "How about not curing us? Some autistics are pleading."
Aspies For Freedom (AFF) was founded in 2004, and established June 18 as Autistic Pride Day starting in 2005. AFF was also instrumental in initiating protests against the National Alliance for Autism Research, Cure Autism Now, and the Judge Rotenberg Center.
In 2006, the Autism Acceptance Project was founded by Estée Klar, the mother of an autistic child, with help from an autistic advisory and board.
The project affiliated with The Autistic Self Advocacy Network and
other activist groups in North America and was one of the first to sign
the petition against the New York Child Study Campaign. It is also
recognized by ASAN in a letter to the United Nations of being one of the
first autism organizations to promote autism acceptance. From 2005-8,
TAAProject organized arts-based events to show the public an active
autism rights movement that burgeoned online. In addition, it sponsored
the controversial Joy of Autism: Redefining Ability and Quality of Life
events and lectures in Toronto, featuring dozens of autistic artists and speakers including Jim Sinclair, Michelle Dawson, Phil Schwartz, Morton Ann Gernsbacher, Larry Bissonnette and more. In 2014, TAAProject worked with York University to bring non-verbal autistic self-advocates who type to communicate, Larry Bissonnette and Tracy Thresher to discuss autism and screen the film Wretches & Jabberers. Estée Klar continues her work also in Critical Disability Studies (PhD program) at York University in Toronto.
In 2008, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network
(ASAN) succeeded in halting two ad campaigns it stated were demeaning
to autistics. The first ads were a series published by the NYU Child
Study Center that appeared in the form of ransom notes. One read, "We
have your son. We will make sure he will no longer be able to care for
himself or interact socially as long as he lives. This is only the
beginning", and was signed, "Autism". The second ads were published by PETA
and featured a bowl of milk with the left over bits of cereal forming a
frowning face. The text read, "Got autism?" and was meant to advertise
what PETA claims is a link between autism and the casein in milk. Phone calls, letters and petitions organized by ASAN led to the removal of these ads.
The rise of the Internet has provided more opportunities for
autistic individuals to connect and organize. Considering the
geographical distance, communication and speech patterns of autistic
individuals, and the domination of neurotypical professionals and family
members in established autism organizations, the Internet has provided
an invaluable space for members of the movement to organize and
communicate.
Perspectives
The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) uses a seven-colored heptagonal symbol to represent both the autistic spectrum and the idea of diversity.
Some autistic rights activists believe some characteristics described as being autistic traits are actually misconceptions. Michelle Dawson has disputed the belief that 75% of autistic people have low intelligence. Psychiatrist Laurent Mottron of Hôpital Rivière-des-Prairies in Montreal says that autistic people often score much higher on a nonverbal test of abstract reasoning than on a standard IQ test. The UK's National Autistic Society claims the proportion of autistics with intellectual disability to be between 44% and 52%, a lower figure.
Some autistics have claimed that non-autistics are insensitive to their perspectives, and write parodies based on this, addressing what they call allism (a lack of autism) as a mental disorder characterized by lack of "theory of other minds". Also, Jim Sinclair,
who has also been a target of similar criticism from very early on,
goes into detail about "the politics of opposition to self-advocacy".
The controversy has erupted on autism e-mail lists, where
"curebie" is used as a derogatory term for parents who are portrayed as
"slaves to conformity, so anxious for their children to appear normal
that they cannot respect their way of communicating".
These parents respond that this attitude shows "a typical autistic
lack of empathy by suggesting that they should not try to help their
children". Lenny Schafer said that the autism-like lack of empathy of anti-cure activists prevent them from seeing what is in the hearts of pro-cure advocates.
Autism is not a disorder
Opinions
are divided on the use of a jigsaw-puzzle piece to represent autism,
with some parents liking it, and some autistic adults disliking it.
Autism is classified by psychologists as a disorder, for instance, in DSM and ICD,
rather than the variation in functioning preferred by supporters of
neurodiversity, with an attendant focus on the burden placed on society
in caring for autistic individuals. Caring for autistic individuals has
been compared to treating a patient with cancer, though extended over the duration of a normal lifespan. Autistic children have also been described as being held hostage to a psychiatric disorder. Boyd Haley, an anti-vaccine activist and early promoter of the debunked claim that thimerosol causes autism, labeled the disease as "mad child disease" (akin to mad cow disease), which some autistic individuals and their parents have found highly offensive. Margaret Somerville, founding director of the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law,
said that with activism there is a direct goal and it is sometimes
necessary to sacrifice complexity and nuance to make a point, but some
autistic activists don't believe desperation justifies the rhetoric. Bennett L. Leventhal
said he understands concern about comparing autistic children to
hostages but thinks the campaigns make the point that these are real
diseases that will consume children if untreated. Autistic rights activists also reject terming the reported increase in autism diagnoses as an 'epidemic' since the word implies autism is a disease.
Attempts have been made to place a figure on the financial cost of autism, addressed to both scholarly and popular audiences.
These efforts have been criticized by some autism rights advocates, who
compare them to similar calculations about "persons with bad heredity"
made by the eugenics movement in the early 20th century—a movement currently in disrepute. Michelle Dawson has pointed out that no effort has been made to examine the cost of 'eliminating the disease' to autistic individuals,
and she, as well as others, have also pointed out the valuable
contributions autistic individuals can, and have made to society. Dr. Temple Grandin has speculated that an autistic caveman
probably invented the first stone spear, and that if autism were
eliminated, society would lose most of its scientists, musicians, and
mathematicians.
Some autistic activists say it is not easy to distinguish between high and low functioning.
Some autistic individuals, in contrast, are supportive of the
distinction between the low and high functioning labels as well as
autism and Asperger syndrome, and believe it is important in helping individuals get proper consultation and treatment.
Autistic people have their own culture
Some autistic activists suggest that life with autism is very much
like being born among people who speak a different language, have a
religion or philosophy one does not share and live a lifestyle that
feels alien. To put it differently, Autists have an individual culture
that's often very different from their environment.
Autistic people require inclusion in the autism debate
A
common theme expressed among autism rights activists and neurodiversity
groups is that they are different from parent- and professional- led
organizations and conferences that dominate the autism scene. Michelle
Dawson criticizes the norm of allowing parents to speak on behalf of
their autistic children at conferences to the exclusion of autistics.
"With the happy and proud collaboration of governments, courts,
researchers, service providers, and funding bodies," she says, "parents
have succeeded in removing autistics from the vicinity of any important
discussions or decisions." This exclusion results in policy and
treatment decisions being made solely by individuals who do not directly
experience autism.
Jim Sinclair states that autism conferences are traditionally
geared toward neurotypical parents and professionals, and that to an
autistic person they may be quite "hostile" in terms of sensory
stimulation and rigidity.
In defiance of the common complaint that anti-cure advocates'
ability to articulate complex opinions in writing—which some critics see
as being impossible for autistic people—autistic
adults such as Amanda Baggs use their own writing and videos to
demonstrate that it is possible for severely disabled autistics to be
autism rights advocates.
She says that when the critics assume that intelligent and articulate
autistic people do not have difficulties like self-injurious behavior
and difficulty with self-care, they affect the opinions of policy makers
and make it more difficult for intelligent and articulate autistic
people to get services. Baggs cites an example of an autistic person who
was denied services when it was discovered that she could type.
Autism therapy is often unethical
Aspies For Freedom stated that the most common therapies for autism are unethical, since they focus on extinguishing harmless stimming, forcing eye contact and breaking routines. AFF argued that ABA therapy and restriction of stimming "and other autistic coping mechanisms" are mentally harmful, that aversion therapy and the use of restraints are physically harmful, and that alternative treatments like chelation are dangerous. Michelle Dawson, a Canadian autism self-advocate, testified in court against government funding of ABA therapy.
An autistic person named Jane Meyerding criticized therapy which
attempts to remove autistic behaviors because she says that the
behaviors that the therapy tries to remove are attempts to communicate.
Autism genes should not be eliminated
Since
those in the autism rights movement see autism as a natural human
variation and not a disorder, they are opposed to attempts to eliminate
autism. In particular, there is opposition to prenatal genetic testing
of autism in unborn fetuses, which some believe might be possible in the
future. Some worry that this can prevent autistic people from being born. On February 23, 2005 Joseph Buxbaum of the Autism Genome Project at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai said there could be a prenatal test for autism within 10 years. However, the genetics of autism have proven to be extremely complex.
In any case, the Autistic Genocide Clock was started in response to
this, which counts down to 10 years after Buxbaum made this
announcement. The public has started to debate the ethics involved in the possible elimination of a genotype that has liabilities and advantages, which may be seen as tampering with natural selection.
Some people lament that professionals, such as social workers, may discourage autistics from having children. Some are concerned that the "ultimate cure will be a genetic test to prevent autistic children from being born" and that most autistic fetuses would be aborted if prenatal tests for autism are developed.
Notion of "curing" autism is offensive
"Curing" autism is a controversial and politicized issue. Doctors and scientists are not sure of the cause(s) of autism yet many organizations like Autism Research Institute and Autism Speaks
advocate researching a cure. Members of the various autism rights
organizations view autism as a way of life rather than as a disease and
thus advocate acceptance over a search for a cure. Some advocates believe that common therapies for the behavioral and language differences associated with autism, like applied behavior analysis, are not only misguided but also unethical.
The "anti-cure perspective" endorsed by the movement is a view that autism
is not a disorder, but a normal occurrence—an alternate variation in
brain wiring or a less common expression of the human genome.
Advocates of this perspective believe that autism is a unique way of
being that should be validated, supported and appreciated rather than
shunned, discriminated against or eliminated.
They believe the quirks and uniqueness of autistic individuals should
be tolerated as the differences of any minority group should be
tolerated and that efforts to eliminate autism should not be compared,
for example, to curing cancer but instead to the antiquated notion of
curing left-handedness. The ARM is a part of the larger disability rights movement, and as such acknowledges the social model of disability. Within the model, struggles faced by autistic people are viewed as discrimination rather than deficiencies.
Jim Sinclair,
a leader in the movement, argues that autism is essential to a person,
not a disease secondary to the person. Sinclair says that wishing that
an autistic person be cured is equivalent to wishing that they disappear
and another completely different person exist in their place. Visions for a future where autism has been eradicated, Sinclair believes, is the desire to end the autistic culture.
Some movement members with Asperger syndrome,
who do not have the language differences typical of autistic
individuals, believe their way of life should be respected and they
should be left alone completely. Other members agree that autistics
should not be made to act exactly like everyone else, but that they
should receive therapy to help them learn to communicate in innovative
ways or regulate emotions. Simon Baron-Cohen, a professor of developmental psychology at Trinity College, Cambridge and an autism researcher, expressed the latter view. Baron-Cohen said:
| “ | I do think there is a benefit in trying to help people with autism-spectrum conditions with areas of difficulty such as emotion recognition. Nobody would dispute the place for interventions that alleviate areas of difficulty, while leaving the areas of strength untouched. But to talk about a 'cure for autism' is a sledge-hammer approach and the fear would be that in the process of alleviating the areas of difficulty, the qualities that are special - such as the remarkable attention to detail, and the ability to concentrate for long periods on a small topic in depth - would be lost. Autism is both a disability and a difference. We need to find ways of alleviating the disability while respecting and valuing the difference. | ” |
Autism Speaks boycott
As the most recognized name in autism advocacy worldwide, Autism Speaks is seen as representative of autism, particularly advocacy of a cure.
As a result, Autism Speaks is implicated in perpetuating
misconceptions, including inaccurate diagnostic criteria, functioning
labels, "person"-first language, the medical model of disability, equation of communication and intelligence, promotion of ABA
therapy, comparisons between autism and diseases, the view of rising
autism diagnosis rates as an epidemic, the concept of autism as
something separable from people with autism, the view of children with
autism as trapped or broken, the belief that married couples who have
children with autism are more likely to divorce, and the belief that
parent-on-child murder is caused by lack of services.
In addition to its cultural impact, Autism Speaks has been criticized for ignoring and excluding people with autism. Until he resigned in 2013, John Elder Robison
was the organization's only board member openly recognized as being on
the autism spectrum. 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." Simone Greggs, the mother of a child with autism, filed a lawsuit against Autism Speaks for disability discrimination
after her job offer was rescinded. The suit alleges that she lost the
job offer due to asking for an accommodation on behalf of her son.
Autism Speaks has produced three major films, each met with strong opposition from the Autistic community. Autism Every Day
is a documentary featuring interviews of parents with mostly negative
opinions about autism and their situations. It has been criticized due
to parents speaking about their children as if they are not there. In
one interview, former board member Alison Singer, mother of a daughter with autism, reveals she contemplated murder-suicide with her daughter in the same room. I Am Autism is a short video that personifies autism as a narrative voice, which compares itself to several diseases and makes the false claim of causing divorce. Sounding the Alarm
is a documentary exploring the transition to adulthood and the cost of
lifetime care. It was criticized for being "full of dehumanizing
rhetoric" and portraying ignorance of nonverbal communication.
Because of the number of objections to the organization, Autism
Speaks fundraising events have been the object of organized protest. Many of these protests are organized by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
In 2013, the organization Boycott Autism Speaks published a list of
companies that donate money to Autism Speaks along with their contact
information, urging those in the Autistic community to pressure those
companies into dropping their support via an active boycott, since direct appeals to Autism Speaks did not result in the desired changes.
A month later, ASAN published its 2014 Joint Letter to the Sponsors of
Autism Speaks, signed by 26 different disability-related organizations,
appealing to the moral responsibility of the sponsors, donors, and other
supporters.
Autism rights groups
There are several organizations in the autism rights movement. Some like the Autistic Self Advocacy Network are led exclusively by Autistic people, while others such as Autism National Committee encourage cooperation between Autistic people and their non-autistic allies.
| Year founded | Title | Description | Nonprofit status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | National Autistic Society (NAS) | Charity supporting advocacy and education. NAS manages a number of schools and self-advocacy groups throughout the United Kingdom. | Registered charity |
| 1983 | Autism-Europe (AE) | An international network association located in Brussels, Belgium, whose main objective is to advance the rights of autistic people and their families and to help them improve their quality of life. Autism-Europe does this primarily by representing autistic people and their families in advocacy work with the European Union institutions. | International non-profit organisation (aisbl) |
| 1986 | Vlaamse Vereniging Autisme (VVA) | Flanders based social network consisting of both Autistic individuals and family members. Autistic individuals and couples where one partner has Autism are frequent speakers or hosts at events intended to improve the understanding and collaboration between Autistic individuals and non-Autistic individuals and eliminate misconceptions about Autism. | vzw (equivalent to 501(c)) |
| 1990 | Autism National Committee (AutCom) | Advocacy organization with a specific focus on civil rights, dedicated to "Social Justice for All Citizens with Autism." | 501(c)3 |
| 1992 | Autism Network International (ANI) | Self-advocacy organization founded by Autistic individuals. ANI is the host of the annual Autreat conference. | None |
| 2004 | Aspies For Freedom (AFF) | Web-based organization for the Autistic community that had more than 20,000 members. Aspies For Freedom has disbanded, but some of its former members have reorganized at the online communities of Autism Friends Network and ASDCommunity. |
|
| 2005 | The Autism Acceptance Project (TAAProject) | Organization founded by mother to autistic son Estee Klar with a group of autistic advisory and board members. An arts-based organization with an online presence that conducts online and offline events to support autism acceptance and critical thinking about autism and disability. Based in Canada. | Canadian Registered Charity |
| 2006 | Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) | Self-advocacy organization founded by Ari Ne'eman to represent the Autistic community and further the autism rights movement. | 501(c)3 |
| 2009 | Don't Play Me, Pay Me | UK campaign focusing on Asperger syndrome, encouraging and supporting disabled actors. | None |
| 2009 | Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network (AWN) | Self-advocacy organization founded by several Autistic women, focused on the intersection of the autism rights movement with feminism. | 501(c)3 |
| 2010 | Thinking Person's Guide To Autism (TPGA) | Collaborative online information resource and publisher of the book by the same name. | 501(c)3 |
| 2013 | The I Can Network | The I Can Network is a movement dedicated to driving a rethink of the Autism Spectrum among young people and the community, away from ‘I Can’t’ to ‘I Can’. |
|
| 2015 | White Unicorn e.V. | Self-advocacy association for the development of an autistic-friendly environment e.V., Germany | Registered charity |
| 2016 | Alternative Baseball Organization (ABO) | Adaptive baseball/softball organization formed by Taylor Duncan in 2016 to raise awareness and acceptance for teens and adults with autism through sport. |
|
Events and activities
- The Autism Network International annually hosted Autreat, a retreat-style conference developed to allow autistic individuals to meet, socialize and learn advocacy skills in an "autism friendly" environment for many years before the final Autreat took place in 2013. It was founded in 1996.
- In 2005, Aspies For Freedom founded Autistic Pride Day, which is now celebrated internationally, every year on June 18.
- In 2005, The Autism Acceptance Project began its first arts-based events and lectures to support autistic individuals in response the negative portrayals of autism by the non-autistic community in Canada.
- In 2008, Autistic Rights Movement UK founded. Name changed to Autistic UK, 2012.
- In 2010, an initiative by Corina Lynn Becker created Autistics Speaking Day as a response to the then-upcoming first commemoration of Communication Shutdown. The annual Communication Shutdown event encourages non-autistics to refrain from using social networking websites for one day as a perspective-taking exercise, while Autistics Speaking Day encourages Autistic people to become more active on social media and to describe their experiences during a time when there are fewer neurotypical voices in the mix.
- In 2011, the first Autism Acceptance Day celebrations were organized by Paula Durbin-Westby as a response to traditional "Autism Awareness" campaigns which the Autistic community found harmful and insufficient. Autism Acceptance Day is now held every April.
- In 2012, autistic activist Zoe Gross organized the first Disability Day of Mourning vigil held in memory of people with disabilities murdered by family members or caregivers. These vigils are now held annually on March 1 globally, often by local self-advocacy and disability rights groups.
- In 2013, autistic activists Kassiane Asasumasu and Shalia Martin created the Tone It Down Taupe campaign as a parody of Light It Up Blue, asking people to "tone down the fear rhetoric [and] alarmism." The campaign has successfully raised funds for multiple iPad giveaways to help autistic adults communicate.
- In 2015, autistic activist Alanna Rose Whitney created the social media campaign #WalkInRed, later rebranded #RedInstead to be more inclusive of people with physical disabilities, as another alternative to Light It Up Blue.
- In 2016, the first Autistics Present Symposium on Culture and Identity was organized by Sara Sanders Gardner of the Bellevue College Autism Spectrum Navigators Program, featuring all autistic presenters. Since 2016, Autistics Present has been held annually with co-sponsorship with the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network.
- Advocates have implemented several experimental programs for alternative education for individuals on the spectrum. For instance, the School of ASPIE (Autistic Strength, Purpose and Independence in Education) in Boiceville, New York aims to help autistics cope with a non-autistic world, but stresses that it is acceptable and expected that they "act autistic".
- Autism rights activists organize protests against organizations they consider objectionable, most notably Autism Speaks and the Judge Rotenberg Center. In the United States, activists affiliated with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network have organized numerous protests against Autism Speaks events, typically protesting and leafleting at fundraising walks. Autistic activists including Shain Neumeier and Lydia Brown have organized lobbying days and protests aiming to close or more strictly regulate the Judge Rotenberg Center.
Criticisms and counter-movements
Parents with the perspective of autism as a disorder (which is called the "pro-cure perspective"
in the autism rights movement) believe that therapy with the intent of
extinguishing stereotypically autistic behavior is in their children's
best interests; they see this as a treatment that will reduce their
children's suffering.
These critics say ABA gives autistic children the best chance of
success in adulthood, as they either do not believe it is possible that
adult society could accommodate autistic people (who have not been
trained by ABA to exhibit neurotypical behavior at all times) or they do
not believe it is desirable to do so.
Some parents believe that intensive behavioral therapy is the only way to alleviate autistic children's disabilities.
Some critics also fear that the movement will prevent autistic children
from receiving important therapies. Kit Weintraub has responded to
Michelle Dawson's claims that ABA is harmful by insisting that it is
medically necessary and appropriate treatment, and that it is harmful to
deny it to autistic children who need it.
There are also accusations about how well autistic people of
different functioning levels are represented in the movement. Critics of
the movement argue that anyone on the autism spectrum who is able to
express their desire not to be cured must be high functioning autistic or have Asperger syndrome, Lenny Schafer argues that if every use of autism were changed to read Asperger syndrome, then the movement might make sense,
although the incorporation of Asperger syndrome into the autism
diagnosis in the DSM-5 has been used as a counterargument by the autism
rights movement.
Sue Rubin, the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary Autism Is A World,
is an example of an autistic adult who is aligned with the cure group.
In her opinion, people with Asperger syndrome can communicate well and
"pass for normal", while "low-functioning"
people have a severe disability; "low functioning people are just
trying to get through the day without hurting, tapping, flailing,
biting, screaming, etc. The thought of a gold pot of a potion with a
cure really would be wonderful."
Jonathan Mitchell, an autistic
author and blogger who advocates for a cure for autism, has described
autism as having "prevented me from making a living or ever having a
girlfriend. It's given me bad fine motor coordination problems where I
can hardly write. I have an impaired ability to relate to people. I
can't concentrate or get things done." He describes neurodiversity as a "tempting escape valve".
