World Autism Awareness Day
About Autism Awareness Day
World Autism Awareness Day became internationally recognized annually on the 2nd of April in 2007, encouraging the United Nations to take measures recognising the need to create and raise awareness about autism which affects an individual’s social interaction, communication, and behaviour.
Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world. There is a wide ranged spectrum for Autism, it is recognised that more than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.
Below is a list of difficulties autistic people may share,
- Social communication and social interaction challenges
- Repetitive and restrictive behaviour
- Over- or under-sensitivity to sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light, colours, temperatures or pain.
- Highly focused interests, often from a fairly young age. These can change over time or be lifelong. Autistic people can become experts in their special interests and often like to share their knowledge.
- Anxiety is a real difficulty for many autistic adults, particularly in social situations or when facing change. It can affect a person psychologically and physically and impact quality of life for autistic people and their families.
- When everything becomes too much for an autistic person, they can go into meltdown or shutdown. These are very intense and exhausting experiences.
- A meltdown happens when someone becomes completely overwhelmed by their current situation and temporarily loses behavioural control. This loss of control can be verbal (eg shouting, screaming, crying) or physical (eg kicking, lashing out, biting) or both.
Ways to advocate and raise awareness
- Wear blue (the official event colour) to help raise awareness.
- Share your support for the awareness day on social media.
- Take part in some fundraising activities for a local or national Autism charity.
- Get involved in events run by Autistic communities.
- Listen to Autistic people speak about what Autism means for them.
- Support Autism-friendly businesses.
- Read a book about Autism and inclusion.
- Display Autism awareness posters.