Autism Wars


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The  "Autism Wars" is a name for a conflict between autistic people and non-autistic people. The autistic people here are part of the Neurodiversity Movement. The non-autistic people are parents and professionals. Kerima Çevik has a blog of the same name. It is not the same thing. There are many reasons why this conflict exists. It started when the Neurodiversity Movement started. The center of the debate is the question, "who has the most authority to talk about autism?". Many autistic people feel they are the ones whose opinions are more important. This is because of their lived experience. Plenty of parents and professionals agree with this assertion. Many do not. They think those advocates are "not autistic enough" for their opinion to matter. They think people who are "really" autistic cannot have an opinion. 


The Neurodiversity Movement thinks that autistic people should be in charge.  They often use the phrase "Nothing About Us Without Us". Nothing About Us Without Us was first  used in protests in Hungary.  These protests were in the 1840s. Then  disability rights activists used it in South Africa in the 1980s. It then made its way into the American Disability Rights Movement. There are autistic people who believe parents and professionals should be in charge. They do not consider themselves part of the Neurodiversity Movement.


Here you will find writings about the "Autism Wars". Some are from autistic people and some are from non-autistic parent allies.