Autistic Pride Day

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Autistic Pride Day is celebrated on June 18 each year. ^[1] It is a day of celebration of the 'neurodiversity' of people on the Autistic spectrum.

Many families around the world celebrate in a simple way, but there are also numerous public events. There are also gatherings of autistics via IRC ^[2] so that many can communicate together in real time via their computers.

Autistic Pride day is an initiative by Aspies For Freedom. This autism rights group aims to educate the general public with such initiatives to end ignorance of the issues involved within the autistic community.

The day has captured public interest as it is a novel idea to some members of the public whose previous perception of autism was one of innate suffering and helplessness. The fact that is it a condition that has positive aspects that can be celebrated has been well accepted by the scientific community in general, particularly researchers such as Professor Simon Baron-Cohen. New Scientist magazine released an article entitled Autistic and proud on the first ever Autistic Pride Day that discussed the idea.^[3]

The main event of 2005 was in Brasília, capital of Brazil. The main events of 2006 are an Autistic Pride Summer Camp in Germany, and an event at Scienceworks in Melbourne, Australia. An event is also planned in central park NYC, USA.

Contents 1 Philosophy of advocates of Autistic Pride Day 2 Themes for Autistic Pride Day 3 Choice of the date 4 See also 5 Footnotes 6 External links

[edit] Philosophy of advocates of Autistic Pride Day

Advocates of autistic pride reject the notion that there is an ideal, and thus desirable, structure to the human brain. This notion leads many practitioners of psychiatry to assume that any deviation requires a "cure" to achieve conformity to the 'neurotypical' norm. Some supporters believe a form of ethnic cleansing is being imposed by advocates of a cure for autism. All believe that, at a bare minimum, there should be greater consideration shown for members of the autistic community as unique individuals.

Advocates of autistic pride point out that homosexuality was once classified as a form of mental illness that could be treated medically with libido-reducing hormonal therapy. Only after political agitation from the gay rights movement did this classification become obsolete. One of the enduring expressions of this movement is gay pride. The Autistic Pride Day hopes to start the same process of education of this view and activism, with the goals of promoting the basic human rights of autistics and finding a valued home for their individual voice and talents in modern society.

[edit] Themes for Autistic Pride Day

• 2006 Celebrate Neurodiversity
• 2005 Acceptance not cure

[edit] Choice of the date

June 18 was picked as Autistic Pride Day because it was the birthday of Aspies For Freedom's youngest member.

[edit] See also

• List of autism-related topics
• Autistic community
• Autistic culture
• Autism rights movement
• Ethical challenges to autism treatment
• Neurodiversity

[edit] Footnotes

1. ↑  Autistic Licence. Retrieved on 31 December, 2005.

1. ↑  chatautism Autistic IRC Network which hosts an Autistic Pride Day event each June 18.

1. ↑  Trivedi, Bijal. "Autistic and proud of it", New Scientist, 18 June 2005.

[edit] External links

• http://www.autisticprideday.com Official site for Autistic Pride Day information
• http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com A group promoting human rights for autistics