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April 9, 2021

April is Autism Acceptance Month 

Every April, we celebrate Autism Awareness Month, with World Autism Awareness Day sanctioned by the United Nations (UN) to be on April 2nd every year. This April, we celebrate differences in an effort to build an inclusive society where individuals with autism live fully through connection and acceptance. The goal is to lead the legislative effort for lawmakers to federally and globally designate April as Autism Acceptance Month, a shift from the commonly used phrase “Autism Awareness Month.”

While the goal is to educate others about autism, words matter; the need for acceptance is greater than ever as our society strives for autistic individuals to live fully in all areas of life. It is extremely important to foster acceptance, to ignite change through improved support, and to create opportunities in education, employment, accessible housing, affordable health care and comprehensive long-term services and supports.

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. According to a 2020 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1 in 54 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.



“Autism is not a choice. Acceptance is. Imagine if the opposite was true”
Stuart Duncan
A central topic of Autism Awareness Month is to highlight the several common and unique traits, along with challenges that people with autism live with on a daily basis. Understanding autism more thoroughly will help communities and families better support people diagnosed with any of the varying degrees of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
#DEIatCTI #autismacceptance #autism #autismawareness #autismacceptancemonth #autismsupport
 
 
Please watch:
Advancing Autism Acceptance | Jakob Anseman | TEDxUniversityofMississippi – video length 12.27 minutes

How Autism Inclusion Transforms Your Community | Eileen Soon | TEDxBayanLepas - video length 22.58 minutes

How I use Minecraft to help kids with autism | Stuart DuncanTEDxClaremontColleges - video length 10.56 minutes