Autism rights movement facts for kids

The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) uses a seven-colored heptagonal symbol to represent both the autistic spectrum and the idea of diversity.

The autism rights movement is a social movement that works to make life better for autistic people and their families. This movement wants society to accept the autism spectrum as a natural difference in how brains work. They believe autism is not a mental disorder that needs to be "cured."

The autism rights movement sometimes has different ideas from others. Some people in the movement disagree with the idea that most autistic people have low intelligence. They believe autistic people should be treated fairly, just like everyone else. They also want to make sure autistic people have the same chances in life, like getting married or having children.

What the Movement Wants

The autism rights movement has several important goals:

• Helping people understand and accept autistic behaviors.
• Teaching autistic people skills to manage daily life.
• Stopping efforts to "cure" autism, as they see it as a part of who someone is.
• Creating more social networks and events for autistic people to join.
• Recognizing autistic people as a minority group, like other groups who have faced unfair treatment.

Understanding Neurodiversity

People who support autism rights are sometimes called neurodiversity activists. Neurodiversity is a word that means everyone's brains are different. Autistic people have brains that work differently from people who do not have autism. People who do not have autism are called neurotypical people.

The word 'neurodiversity' is often preferred over 'autism.' This is because 'neurodiversity' does not suggest that autism is a medical problem. 'Neurotypical' is used instead of 'normal' because 'normal' can make it sound like one way of thinking is better than another.

See Also

• Autism spectrum
• Social movement and Activism

Images for kids

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  An autistic pride flag. Gold is used by autistic advocates as the chemical symbol for gold is Au. The infinity symbol represents the broad and varied spectrum of experiences within neurodiversity, the rainbow represents the pride movement.

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  Opinions are divided on the use of a jigsaw-puzzle piece to represent autism, with some parents liking it, and the majority of autistic adults disliking it. Research has found it has negative connotations.

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  Autistic art representing the natural diversity of human minds.

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  Temple Grandin

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  Minnesota governor Mark Dayton declared the World Autism Awareness Day on 2 April 2013

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  Autism awareness ribbon - not supported by many people with autism spectrum disorders.