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Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

Happy Autism Acceptance Month from the National Council on Independent Living!

A young girl holds a protest sign that says "I am not a puzzle - I am a person"This year, NCIL is joining our partner, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), in celebrating Autism Acceptance Month: Acceptance is an Action. By celebrating Autism Acceptance Month, we acknowledge the importance of moving beyond awareness and embracing the action of acceptance.

The power of social media has helped spur the Autism Acceptance Month campaign. It began as a Facebook event that explored the idea of refocusing the dialogue from pleas and donations to engagement and acceptance. From there, the movement found a groundswell of support aided by our friends at ASAN.

In honor of Autism Acceptance Month, ASAN has launched the new website autismacceptancemonth.com, which features more information about the campaign, events happening across the nation, and a pledge of autism acceptance.

I pledge to only attend, speak at or otherwise participate in autism panels, conferences and events that meaningfully involve Autistic people. I choose not to give my business or my time to settings that fail to include Autistic voices in conversations about autism.

NCIL joins ASAN in asking that people from all walks of society – advocates, business owners, writers, policy makers, everyone – take a moment and sign the pledge. Each of us can become an ally to the movement by signing the pledge and passing the word. 

Read more about ASAN’s efforts for Autism Acceptance Month.