30 things members of the autism community want society to better understand about autistic people
Here is what some members of our Instagram community had to say
"More acceptance!"
"Treat us like any other human being despite our disabilities."
"Not everyone with autism is the same. People can have a hard time speaking sometimes."
"Nonvebal does not mean the person does not understand."
"I want our leaders and law enforcement to make life easier for us and to understand us."
"Just because we are quiet doesn't mean we don't have things to say. We are not dumb. We are smart too."
"The offensiveness and outdatedness of ‘high functioning’ and ‘low functioning’ labels."
"Even though it's harder to express or understand emotions, we still feel them."
'To accept us for who we are and our mixed disabilities we have are different, not less."
I want people to stop sayin 'she/he don't look like they have autism.' We are people, not a label."
"The meltdowns are not him being naughty, that is him trying to process the situation."
"That the r word is offensive."
"We can do anything!!!"
"Our brain works differently than others."
"You don't have to look a certain way to have autism. Anyone can have it."
"We are people too"
"That we just look and learn about the world in a different way."
"That it's a life-long diagnosis."
"Autistic kids show emotions differently and should not be seen differently"
"They all want what typical people want they just have their own pathways of getting it."
"Our voices matter. We have feelings too."
"That anyone could could be autistic. Sensory issues are very common. Be understanding."
"We all have BIG dreams."
"Autism looks different on everyone."
"My son expresses his emotions with his entire body."
"That we have difficulty imitating and maintaining conversations with others."
"Sometimes we can't control mood swings."
"I wish they didn’t treat me like a kid when I go to the store. They’re so rude me every time."
"Looking at us funny, doesn’t help."
"Please don’t say, ‘they seem normal’ to me after brief interactions."