World Autism Awareness Day v's Autistic Pride Day

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You have World Autism Awareness Day (AAD) and Autism Awareness Month (AAM) coming up.
With April Fools Day at the start of the month, and my birthday at the end of the month, something about having Autism Awareness Month in April just seems appropriate to me

Do you pay it any attention to Autism Awareness Day, or Autistic Pride Day (APD)?

I get the sense that AAD/AAM is more about raising awareness, finding a 'cure', supporting people with autism and their families, where as APD is more about celebrating neurodiversity and raising awareness - that maybe there is an element of politics going on between the two, between the likes of Autism Speaks (AAD) and Aspies for Freedom (APD) - am I right about this?

I want to 'come out' as an aspie on Facebook, thinking maybe one of these days would be a good opportunity - not 100% sure on what I'd write, something along the lines of 'Today is ....... Day, for those who don't know I have Asperger's Syndrome...' followed by some brief explanation into what it is, any suggestions on what to write would be appreciated. BUT I don't want to align myself with one view on Autism over another by my choice of day between these two autism awareness days.

What are your thoughts?

I have no particular leanings in either the AAD or APD direction. Seems they both have some good points to make. I get a little testy when I get pressured to choose sides.

I just put a brief sentence about my ASD on my Facebook page. I'm not really excited about using facebook but I keep getting told I need to be on it. Meh.

I don't really pay attention to either. However I've helped professionals get broadcasting support for diagnoses of young children and the awareness of the support available to both children and adults. People with A.S do not qualify. I raise awareness year around about autism and DD inclusion. It's not about pride or disability but about integration and the hope thereof. Each individual has the choice to see themselves as disabled or simply different and I'd suspect many times just don't bother thinking of it. It's important not to effect self-esteem adversely and focus on positives and the reinforcements thereof.

In awareness disability inclusion I call human diversity generically and because of the alternative agendas and confrontational usages of neurodiversity as a concept I won't use it in awareness.

My inclination is to generally on this side. However, like wavefreak58, I don't want to be pressured. Can we be both? Yes, I think so.

Wishing you all the best on your experiments coming out. Please do pay attention to the emotional feel and texture and whether it feels right.

probably not the best idea to announce your autism-ness via facebook.

if you wanna do that, do what I did: to those people you want to know, and in person :-p

Why can't we just not have a day dedicated to this? seriously I don't enjoy unessisary attention.

Well it's more then about myself, you and a few others. It's about the disability \ difference of autism in society as a whole. This is a good thing in general.

I've celebrated Autism Acceptance day by personalizing my apartment last year. It was fun.

How does having a special day where people can pretend they care about autism or aspergers help anything exactly? I mean once the day is over people are back to their every day lives where no thoughts are given to the topic until the next time around. The people that care and want to learn more will do that on their own without a special day, and those who don't wont and will just be annoyed by the existance of that day.

Where I am at I will choose to coordinate awareness or not for this month and I already informed others I may as I said I would be interjecting but already have broadcasting and media verbal confirmation for here and there awareness and year around inclusion awareness concerning individuals with ASD and DD's and inclusion. Folks are balanced here and I think they are nice and on a day to day basis I interact with people in context to autism and majority of the community knows about the project for autism and DD that I do. If focused awareness happens in a month or in a day people like me can use that year around for other advocacy for inclusion, quality control, personal stories and other kinds of advocacy relating to individuals with autism. It simply helps to enable the audacities of diversity, hope, understanding and quality of life.

Well I know what the purpose is, but even so it just seems a little unessisary to have a day devoted to it....when its not going to really get information out to any more people, then are already aware of it.

Then try this in your theory.

The human mind is a collective of idea, information and brain farts in the process. A mention of the word autism activates at times ideas and information but also other times brain farts. Keeps it relevant.

Autistic Pride Day, all the way!

Yeah really. Great thing to have pride in mixes with the abortion politics and organizations that don't take the disability seriously enough. Pride advocates that bully the hell out of parents online with vicious spew. Attack compassionate organizations even ran by individuals with autism.

No pride for me it's the death to self-actualization, realization and rationality. If a pride advocate walked up to me I'd argue with the person until they were blue in the face, eat my curebe energy shake and on to another round. If you want to be proud of yourself with a label because you were labeled don't let your pride-mite buddies attack everything that doesn't agree with their strict everything other then what they think is bigotry mentality.

To me having pride in my autism is an insult and seeks to socially lesson the disability I experience that I seek to be corrected and with my personality held intact ta boot. My difficulties are only part of my personality simply because I didn't choose them to be. Better personality, being and equality without them. Proud of who I am regardless.

Me and the pride-mites are going to duke it out politically and I'm the Undertaker from WWF.

Nothing for us without us does not mean pride-mite only bucko.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFLXxqoapPY[/youtube]