It is World Autism Acceptance Month, and Autism South Africa is raising awareness about some of the issues the community faces in SA.
South Africa (04 April 2022) – April is World Autism Acceptance Month, and this year, Autism South Africa (ASA) has an activity booklet for the public to use as means of learning more about autism.
One of the main goals of ASA is to raise awareness and to help people understand Autism. As many as 1 in 68 children born today are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Nobody knows the exact cause of ASD. No two cases of ASD are the same but understanding the disorder as a whole helps one adapt their understanding of individual cases.
Autistic people experience the world in a completely different way than people not on the spectrum. It is called a spectrum because no case is the same, and each person will have a different reaction to the world and stimulants around them.
The Autism Awareness booklet is filled with helpful information for people wanting to learn more about Autism in South Africa. It also has messages from people who are on the spectrum, and this year, the messages give a voice to non-speaking teens.
The teens were asked, “What would you like to see from South Africans for autism awareness and acceptance month?”. They gave some profound answers, but the most prominent feeling is the desire to be seen beyond their lack of speech. The team at ASA are raising awareness about the terminology for non-speaking people as well as the harmful terminology used to classify people on the spectrum.
“We urge every single South African who is involved in the autism community to please stop using functioning labels in autism. High functioning and low functioning labels are harmful to the autistic community. High functioning does not give a true idea of the supports an individual might require, often individuals who are labelled as high functioning are expected to cope regardless of the situation – this can have disastrous effects on that person. We see masking and eventual autistic burnout.
Low functioning is just as damaging. We are learning from individuals who were classified as low functioning that they are in fact highly intelligent! This label harms this population, as they are underestimated and often placed in facilities that do not presume they are competent.”
Society is changing, and there is more understanding for the autism community thanks to ongoing campaigns like this one. By raising awareness, things can change. The booklet is available for free and is filled with useful information to help better engage with the public.
You can get your hands on the digital copy of the 2022 booklet here.
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