Fight for Your Rights: Advocacy and the Autism Rights Movement

The Autism Rights Movement: When Self-Advocacy Just Isn't Enough

The rainbow-colored infinity symbol represents the diversity of the autism spectrum as well as the greater neurodiversity movement.

Sometimes, no matter how hard we fight for our children's rights to an education, it isn't enough to overcome the existing prejudices of some school administrators and educators. But as the Autism Awareness/Acceptance movement has grown over the last decade or so, so has the fight to gain those rights.

According to a Wikipedia article, "The Autism Rights Movement (ARM), also known as the autistic culture movement, is a social movement within the neurodiversity and disability rights movements that encourages autistic people, their caregivers and society to adopt a position of neurodiversity, accepting autism as a variation in functioning rather than a disorder to be cured. The ARM advocates a variety of goals including a greater acceptance of autistic behaviors; therapies that teach autistic individuals coping skills rather than therapies focused on imitating behaviors of neurotypical peers; the creation of social networks and events that allow autistic people to socialize on their own terms; and the recognition of the autistic community as a minority group."

The article goes on to state, "Autism rights or neurodiversity advocates believe that the autism spectrum is genetic and should be accepted as a natural expression of the human genome. This perspective is distinct from two other likewise distinct views: the mainstream perspective, that autism is caused by a genetic defect and should be addressed by targeting the autism gene(s), and the fringe theory that autism is caused by environmental factors like vaccines and pollution and could be cured by addressing environmental causes."

For more information, read the Wikipedia article, "Autism Rights Movement".