05/01/2025
April is Autism Acceptance Month ๐
As of 2012, each World Autism Awareness Day has a specific theme and focus, with 2025 focusing on "Advancing Neurodiversity and the UN Sustainable Development Goals."
Ways you can support autistic individuals:
๐ค Offer a helping hand. Ask an autistic individual how you can help in an overstimulating situation and listen to what they need.
๐ง Support autism-friendly accommodations. This may include quiet areas in public places, workplace environments or businesses.
๐ Support businesses that hire autistic individuals. Studies vary but estimate that between 50-85% of autistic adults are underemployed or unemployed, often due to a lack of understanding from employers combined with stereotypes and stigmas about autism.
๐ญ Open your mind to different ways of connecting and communicating. Understand that autism is uniquely characterized by deficits in social communication, meaning someone may experience difficulties with typical social pleasantries.
โธ๏ธ Exercise patience and encourage self-advocacy. Many autistic individuals struggle with expressing how they are feeling in a way that can be digested by a neurotypical person. Be patient, avoid frustrating them and provide a supportive environment for them to express how they are feeling or what they need.
Read more on our blog, ๐ in bio.