Making their lives easier
Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit
Autistic Pride Day was celebrated today. The day is observed on June 18 each year. Autistic pride recognises the importance of pride for autistic people and its role in bringing about positive changes in the broader society.
This is celebrated to raise awareness about the people who suffer from a disorder called Autism Spectrum Disorder. It is a developmental condition that many have because of which it is difficult for them to interact with people in a social setting. It is a day where we celebrate neurodiversity, where we applause for a different ability, where we thank people with Autism for lighting up our world.
Autism Pride Day was first celebrated by Aspies for Freedom in 2005. This is a community created specifically for Autistic people and led by them. Along with them, their families also join in the celebrations.
Autistic Pride Day has been a community event and not a day for other organizations to promote themselves by stifling autistic people. It is now a global celebration that takes place predominantly online. One of the key aspects of the day is that autistic people participate in the events on the day and families share their great success stories.
Autism Pride Day is largely a community event with all stakeholders and friends joining the celebrations. Though there are many difficulties that they face are because of their neurodiversity, another factor is issues in society like example, society’s attitude towards autism is often one of pity or a belief that it is a condition requiring treatment. Autistic Pride Day aims to make sure of such children who are treated normally.
People with autism are often subject to human rights violations, discrimination and stigma. According to the WHO, one in 160 children has Autism Spectrum Disorder. The WHO encourages families to have an environment, which supports children with autism. According to doctors, very few people suffering from autism exhibit savant syndrome.
A person starts to exhibit extraordinary skills and abilities in a specific field, like, calculating complicated sums at a very high speed, reading two books simultaneously, memorizing things quickly, etc. There is no such proven treatment for curing autism, but proper therapies and strategies can manage mental health issues.
Autistic people often face difficulties in maintaining, developing, or understanding relationships. They exhibit poorly integrative verbal or non-verbal communications and abnormalities in making eye-contacts and body language. It hurts so much when parents of Autistic kids are pushing for a “cure” for Autism and say that “Autism” stole their child.
When people with autism (or any difference) are confronted with unfortunate myths about their condition, they may naturally tend to feel less valid. What we need is better emphasizes for inclusion for people of all abilities, with opportunities for education, employment, accessible housing, affordable health care and comprehensive long-term services.
Let us engage with them and play or do other activities together like cooking, reading, drawing and even regular chores like cleaning to make them happy.
(The author is based at Jodhpur Tekra Ahmedabad)
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