As someone with autism, I would like to love Autism Awareness Month — but I can’t
Mathieu Vaillancourt
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As the first full month of spring, April is usually seen as the start of the baseball season and the beginning of playoffs in both the NHL and the NBA, but it’s also Autism Awareness Month.
It’s great that public figures are all now for ‘‘celebrating’’ autism; it’s seen as something cool and unique. As someone with autism, I should be happy that famous people and politicians are interested in giving more money and time to the cause.
IS AUTISM THE ENGINE OF HISTORY?
When I was diagnosed with autism in 2002, there were virtually zero resources except a couple of books on the subject at the children’s hospital library. I suffered a lot because of this; I felt alone and distressed with limited help for my parents and me. Few people among my relatives understood my condition, and many did not understand it well. One of the only pop culture references people had at the time was the movie Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman’s character, who was an autistic man who counted cards in a casino. This is indeed a far cry from the situation today, when celebrities and high-ranking politicians want to be seen doing something regarding autism.
It’s worth mentioning that some celebrities (such as Tommy Hilfiger or Sylvester Stallone) are influencers in this field because their own children are on the autistic spectrum, and I am certain these celebrities put a lot of effort into their own initiatives because it’s affecting their own family. However, in a lot of cases, autism is reduced to a political talking point for one day of the year, like it was for President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in precedent years.
Sadly, as with most cases of activism, the problem comes when activism veers too much into “slacktivism.” Like with many other days, weeks, or months that are dedicated to a given subject, with all the buzz at the beginning, it’s worth wondering what constructive things are actually done at the end. Everything is fueled by instant, easy social media instant activism, but all this buzz is a double-edged sword if it puts World Autism Awareness Day on par with National Hot Dog Day or Hug a Friend Day in an all-you-can-eat buffet of seasonal insta-celebrations.
People with autism have important challenges, as recent studies have shown: They are more likely to die early than the general population, and they also have a dire unemployment rate. The vast majority of people with autism have other mental health problems, and many of them, especially those with ‘’high-functioning’’ autism, don’t have good mental health because they know what their weaknesses are.
If you really want to help someone you know with autism, instead of bragging about autism awareness on social media, perhaps it’s more worthwhile to help this person have a better life by giving him support or trying to help him find things such as employment, mentoring, or better opportunities.
Autistic college graduates have an 85% unemployment rate. Job creators need to step up to provide jobs outside “autistic” work, such as in informatics or programming, in other domains related to the skills and interests of autistic people.
Another thing to do if you know someone on the autistic spectrum is to engage with their special interests and be aware of their challenges, their limitations, and the fact that every person on the spectrum is unique.
Talk is perhaps cheap, but helping someone with autism in need could really change that person’s life for the better — much more than saying that you care about the cause.
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Mathieu Vaillancourt is a writer with a degree in international development and globalization from the University of Ottawa.