Autism Acceptance Month
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[Image description: Text that reads "Autism Acceptance Month: Acceptance is Action" next to multi-colored stars]
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The idea of accepting autism as a normal part of the human population has been around for as long as the Neurodiversity Movement has been. Autism Acceptance in name originated in the mid 2000s. The Autism Acceptance Project started by Estée Klar popularized it. Then in the early 2010s, the idea of Autism Acceptance Month as a counter to Autism Awareness Month was actualized. It was coined by Paula Durbin-Westby. This also includes several colors that are donned in protest to the blue from Autism Speaks's Light it Up Blue campaign, also started in the early 2010s. You can find our more about Autism Acceptance Month below.
The Autism Acceptance Project (TAAP) was started by Estée Klar in 2006. It featured blog posts, videos, art, and various resources that were meant to conquer the fear-mongering that autism awareness campaigns emphasized. They were affiliated with Autism National Committee and Autistic Self Advocacy Network. The project has now moved to what is known as Dis Assembly. There is a video that mentions the project from CBC here.
#RedInstead
Following Autism Speaks's Light it Up Blue campaign started in 2011, autistic people responded with #RedInstead. Red was chosen for a number of reasons. One of them being that red is the opposite of blue. It was also chosen to represent love. There is plenty of content on the Red Instead hashtag on all social media. In 2015, a campaign known as #WalkInRed was started, where people would wear red to protest the blue.
Tone it Down Taupe is a parody of Light it Up Blue. The "tone down" part calling for a toning down of fear-based rhetoric. Instead of Autism Awareness, it is "Allism Bewareness". Allism meaning not being autistic. The project was started by Menelly Martin and Kassianne Asasumasu. It is symbolized by a taupe ribbon with googly eyes, because non-autistic people in Western cultures like to emphasize eye contact, something many autistic people prefer not to make. They have gifted several communication devices and apps to autistic adults who needed them.
Another color used for autism acceptance is gold. This is because the chemical symbol for gold is Au. The earliest instance of lighting it up gold that has been found was in the year 2014.