World Autism Awareness Day: What do Autistic People Think?

Some of us live in this awareness all year long. It's a time to remind the world about the need to stop and admire our varied loveliness....and consider our contributions to mankind.

Thank you. Autism “acceptance” instead of “awareness” makes so much sense.

Don't need "help," but understanding. Help is usually offered by people who think they are better than you, so no thanks!

Thank you Paul and all the others who work hard for Autism acceptance and not just Autism awareness.

They call it "the invisible wheelchair".

Just imagine that it is first of April all year long and everyone participates but you. This is what it feels like.

I love the infinity symbol whether multicoloured or sparkly gold (love the sparkles). I feel it represents our unlimited potential and is much better than a puzzle piece

Thank you for being so very well spoken, accepting and kind, Paul, these videos are like oxygen. In my 80's now and just unveiling daily my true nature to myself after all the years of silent suffering and loss. Bless you, Paul.

It’s complicated for me. I don’t like it because I want it to be a year long focus instead a week long focus. But at the same time I do everything I can to contribute to this week for people to focus on it better

Thanks, Paul, for being the positive reassurance self-diagnosed individuals need when no one around them is equipped to go through the journey while they begin to understand their own masking, stimming, sensory thresholds, depression, anxiety, etc., throughout their entire lives. Having a hard time finding anyone who will take me seriously (counselors included).

Paul's smile is contagious; many times I've caught myself smiling back at him when he smiles at any point during his videos. Also, I love learning with Paul. I have a 4 y.o. nephew whom I haven't met yet. We think he is in the spectrum (access to professional help and diagnosis aren't easy to get back in my homeland, Venezuela). I want to be as well informed as possible for when I finally get to meet my adorable nephew.

I’m proud of you for speaking out for the rest of us💜🙏🙌💯🌹

Everything your saying about taking the opportunity to teach others about our kind I do and have made it my life’s purpose to educate humanity through my trauma and stories of my life being and autistic female and being exploited for my innocence 🤓🤔😞😎

I've spent the last 24 hours scanning the British press looking for just a mention of our day

World Autism Day might be better. I think sometimes that the bias in literature towards informing parents and professionals can exclude the experience of adults with autism. For a long time Autism was treated as an enigma of parenthood and the tone of information was almost Zoological. I believe things are improving. I was diagnosed with A.S. and I wear an autism badge because my memory problems can cause me to be confused in the street. There is more awareness of Autism these days than of memory gaps and given that I can get mocked for my confusion I find a Autism badge has helped me to deflect the negative attentions of others. I think any public recognition of the positive contributions of autistic people now and throughout History leads to improvements in lifestyles in everyday contexts.

To me it just seems like the neurotypical people are too arrogant to come up with this idea, talking about autism from above without actually seeing us. It would be so great that more people could really know what autism actually is and could understand and accept us

I only discovered you last week after my first serious suspicion that I may be autistic at the age 56. So thank you so so so much for making these videos. In such a very short time they have been tremendously helpful to me in understanding myself. I now have much more patience and empathy for myself. With much appreciation

I had no clue... it’s on my birthday!!

I figure I'm probably in the minority here but speaking for myself, (late diagnosed, deep into discovery and recovery from a lifetime of trauma) I don't really want to draw that much attention to my condition. I don't talk about it with people. I expect no validation. There are precious few I have spoken with on the subject and only for specific reasons. There is no autistic community in my area to connect with and I feel it is unrealistic to expect typicals to appreciation my differences. At this stage I just want to better understand myself, heal from a lifetime of wounds and confusion, take greater advantage of my gifts, better manage my deficits and learn to better interact with others. That's a lot and at my age, time is running out.

I wasn't aware of it even being on Facebook pages for ASD individuals. So I figure Autism awareness Day is for neurotypical parents suffering with autistic children.