Editing Autism rights movement (section)

==History==

=== 1980s–1990s: Autistic-run organizations, newsletters, and conferences ===
[[Jim Sinclair (activist)|Jim Sinclair]] is credited as the first person to communicate the autism rights perspective.<ref name="Solomon" /> In the early 1990s, Sinclair frequently participated in autism conferences led by parent-centric organizations but found them "overwhelmingly hostile from both sensory and emotional standpoints".<ref name="Dinh">{{Cite book |last=Dinh |first=Ann |title = Don't Mourn for Us: The Autistic Life of Jim Sinclair and an Extraordinary Story of Neurodiversity |date=2024 |publisher=Independently published |asin=B0DG6T67TD}}{{pn|date=December 2024}}{{self-published inline|date=December 2024}}</ref> In 1992, Sinclair co-founded the [[Autism Network International]] (ANI) with [[Donna Williams]] and [[Kathy Grant]], an organization that publishes newsletters "written by and for autistic people."

The ANI newsletter, ''Our Voice'', had its first issue distributed online in November 1992 to an audience of primarily neurotypical professionals and parents of young autistic children. The number of autistic people in the organization increased over the years, and ANI eventually became a communication network for like-minded autistic people.<ref name="ANIHist">
{{cite web |url=http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/History_of_ANI.html |title=Autism Network International: The Development of a Community and its Culture |author=[[Jim Sinclair (activist)|Sinclair, Jim]]. |date=January 2005|publisher=Jim Sinclair's personal website |access-date=2007-11-07 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090126110607/http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/History_of_ANI.html |archive-date=2009-01-26}}{{self-published inline|date=December 2024}}</ref> Sinclair wrote the essay "Don't Mourn for Us" (1993) in the ANI newsletter (Volume 1, Number 3) with an anti-cure perspective on autism.<ref name="2DontMourn">{{cite web |url=http://www.autreat.com/dont_mourn.html |title=Don't mourn for us |publisher=Autreat
|last=Sinclair |first=Jim |year=1993 |access-date=2014-08-11 |archive-date=11 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711013136/https://www.autreat.com/dont_mourn.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Some{{Like whom?|date=September 2024}} have considered the essay a touchstone for the autism rights movement, and it has been mentioned in ''[[The New York Times]]''<ref name="Harmon" /> and ''[[New York Magazine]]''.<ref name="2Solomon">{{cite magazine |last=Solomon |first=Andrew |title=The Autism Rights Movement |date=2008-05-25 |magazine=New York Magazine |url=https://www.nymag.com/news/features/47225/ |access-date=2008-06-28 |archive-date=4 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704174810/https://nymag.com/news/features/47225/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

ANI established the yearly retreat "[[Autreat]]" in 1996. Autreat was a retreat and conference held in the [[United States]] specifically for autistic people<ref>[[Jim Sinclair (activist)|Sinclair, Jim]]. [http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/History_of_ANI.html History of ANI] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126110607/http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/History_of_ANI.html |date=26 January 2009 }}. Retrieved 12 November 2005.{{self-published inline|date=December 2024}}</ref> and was held every year from 1996 to 2013, except in 2001. The theme of the first conference in 1996 was "Celebrating Autistic Culture", and it had close to 60 participants. It was hosted at Camp Bristol Hills in [[Canandaigua (city), New York|Canandaigua, New York]].<ref name="ValuablePart">{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/technology/2015/09/the-neurodiversity-movement-autism-is-a-minority-group-neurotribes-excerpt.html|title=Autism Is a Valuable Part of Humanity's Genetic Legacy|last=Silberman|first=Steve|date=2015-09-23|website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |access-date=2019-08-03|archive-date=14 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214112226/http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/09/the_neurodiversity_movement_autism_is_a_minority_group_neurotribes_excerpt.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The success of Autreat later inspired similar retreats, such as the [[Association for Autistic Community]]'s conference, [[Autspace]], in the United States;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://autisticcommunity.org/faqs/|title=FAQs – Association for Autistic Community|website=Association for Autistic Community|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-03|archive-date=3 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803190500/http://autisticcommunity.org/faqs/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Autscape]] in the [[United Kingdom]];<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.autscape.org/about/concept|title=Concept|website=Autscape|access-date=2019-08-03|archive-date=3 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803190502/http://www.autscape.org/about/concept|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Projekt Empowerment]] in [[Sweden]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bertilsdotter Rosqvist |first1=Hanna |last2=Brownlow |first2=Charlotte |last3=O’Dell |first3=Lindsay |title=Mapping the social geographies of autism – online and off-line narratives of neuro-shared and separate spaces |journal=Disability & Society |date=April 2013 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=367–379 |doi=10.1080/09687599.2012.714257 |url=https://oro.open.ac.uk/35175/2/AB8F664.pdf}}</ref>

[[Martijn Dekker]], an autistic computer programmer from the [[Netherlands]], launched an e-mail list called "Independent Living on the Autism Spectrum", or "InLv", in 1996. The list also welcomed those with similar conditions, such as [[Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder|ADHD]], [[dyslexia]], and [[dyscalculia]].<ref name="ValuablePart" /> American writer [[Harvey Blume]] was a member of the list<ref name="ValuablePart" /> and described it as embracing "neurological pluralism" in a 1997 article in ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref name="BlumeNYT">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/30/business/autistics-freed-from-face-to-face-encounters-are-communicating-in-cyberspace.html |title=Autistics, freed from face-to-face encounters, are communicating in cyberspace |last=Blume |first=Harvey |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=30 June 1997 |access-date=8 November 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080126085905/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E7DC1F31F933A05755C0A961958260 |archive-date=26 January 2008}}</ref> Blume discussed the concept of neurological diversity with [[Australia]]n sociologist [[Judy Singer]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.myspectrumsuite.com/meet-judy-singer/|title=Meet Judy Singer, Neurodiversity Pioneer |last=Craft |first=Samantha |website=My Spectrum Suite |language=en |access-date=2019-08-03 |archive-date=6 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606235437/http://www.myspectrumsuite.com/meet-judy-singer/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The term "[[neurodiversity]]" was first published in Judy Singer's 1998 Honours thesis<ref name="OddPeopleIn">{{cite thesis |last=Singer |first=Judy |title=Odd People In: The Birth of Community Amongst People on the Autistic Spectrum: A personal exploration of a New Social Movement based on Neurological Diversity |degree=Bachelor of Arts Social Science (Honours) |place=Sydney |year=1998 |publisher=Faculty of Humanities and Social Science University of Technology |url=https://www.academia.edu/27033194 |access-date=29 October 2022 |archive-date=15 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115023408/https://www.academia.edu/27033194 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{sfn|Singer|2017|p={{pn|date=December 2024}}}} and in Harvey Blume's 1998 article in ''[[The Atlantic]]''.<ref name="auto2">Blume, Harvey (1998). [https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1998/09/neurodiversity/305909 Neurodiversity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604091348/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1998/09/neurodiversity/305909/ |date=4 June 2019 }}. On the neurological underpinnings of geekdom. The Atlantic, September 1998.</ref>

=== 2000s–2010s: The rise of self-advocacy ===
[[Aspies For Freedom]] (AFF) was founded in 2004. They established June 18 as [[Autistic Pride Day]] starting in 2005. AFF member Joe Mele initiated a protest against the [[National Alliance for Autism Research]] in 2004.<ref name="Harmon" /> AFF also initiated protests against [[Cure Autism Now]] and the [[Judge Rotenberg Center]].{{Source?|date=September 2024}}

In 2004, Canadian autism researcher [[Michelle Dawson]] challenged [[applied behavior analysis]] (ABA), a common behavioral intervention for people with autism, on ethical grounds. She testified in ''[[Auton (Guardian ad litem of) v. British Columbia (Attorney General)|Auton v. British Columbia]]'' against the lack of required government funding for ABA.<ref name=RogerCollier>Collier, Roger. [http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/observer/story.html?id=71fae5dc-7eb5-48fd-8f60-78deebee9879&p=1 "Autism".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226143403/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/observer/story.html?id=71fae5dc-7eb5-48fd-8f60-78deebee9879&p=1 |date=26 February 2008 }} ''The Ottawa Citizen'' (1 December 2007). Retrieved 2008-02-17.</ref> That same year, ''The New York Times'' covered the autism rights perspective by publishing journalist [[Amy Harmon]]'s article, "How About Not Curing Us, Some Autistics Are Pleading".<ref name="Harmon">{{cite news|last=Harmon |first=Amy |title=How About Not 'Curing' Us, Some Autistics Are Pleading |date=2004-12-20 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/20/health/20autism.html |access-date=2007-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202073041/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/20/health/20autism.html |archive-date=2 December 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2006, [[Autism Acceptance Project|The Autism Acceptance Project]] (TAAP) was founded by Estée Klar, the mother of an autistic child, with help from an autistic advisory and board.<ref name="TAA" /> The project is affiliated with the [[Autistic Self Advocacy Network]] (ASAN) and other activist groups in North America.

From 2005 to 2007, TAAP organized arts-based events.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 7, 2019 |title=What was: The Autism Acceptance Project (TAAProject) |url=https://au-ti.com/2019/04/07/what-was-the-autism-acceptance-project-taaproject/ |website=AU-TI}}</ref> TAAP also sponsored the Joy of Autism: Redefining Ability and Quality of Life events and lectures in [[Toronto]], featuring dozens of autistic artists and speakers such as [[Jim Sinclair (activist)|Jim Sinclair]], [[Michelle Dawson]], [[Phil Schwartz]], [[Morton Ann Gernsbacher]], and [[Larry Bissonnette]].

In 2007, an ASAN initiative helped halt the New York Child Study Campaign. The advertising campaign launched in 2007 depicted conditions like autism and ADHD as kidnappers holding children for ransom.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ne’eman |first=Ari |date=December 8, 2007 |title=An Urgent Call to Action: Tell NYU Child Study Center to Abandon Stereotypes Against People With Disabilities |url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/2007/12/tell-nyu-child-study-center-to-abandon-stereotypes/ |access-date=September 19, 2024 |website=[[Autistic Self Advocacy Network]]}}</ref> The campaign was canceled two weeks after its launch when the center's director had received an estimated 3000 e-mails and phone calls, most of them "expressing anger and hurt".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaufman |first=Joanne |date=December 4, 2007 |title=Ransom-Note Ads About Children's Health Are Canceled |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/business/media/20child.html |url-access=limited |work=The New York Times}}</ref> ASAN halted another advertising campaign in 2008 where [[PETA]] had implied a link between autism and [[gluten-free, casein-free diet|casein]] in milk.<ref name="peta.org">{{Cite web |date=2009-10-30 |title=Learn About the Link Between Dairy Products and the Disorder |url=https://www.peta.org/features/got-autism-learn-link-dairy-products-disease/ |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821084550/https://www.peta.org/features/got-autism-learn-link-dairy-products-disease/ |archive-date=21 August 2019 |access-date=2019-08-21 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref> Phone calls, letters, and petitions organized by ASAN contributed to the removal of the advertisements.<ref name="PETA Billboard Removal">Ne'eman, Ari. (October 2008) [http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=35 PETA Billboard Removal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216034223/http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=35 |date=2012-02-16 }}. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network.</ref>

The internet has provided a space for members of the autism movement to organize and communicate independently without relying on non-autistic people, such as family members, healthcare workers, or events hosted by non-autistic individuals, especially considering the geographical distance and communication and speech patterns of autistic individuals.<ref name="ANIHist"/>

=== 2020–present ===
The [[COVID-19 pandemic]] caused a drop-off in physical events in the summer of 2020, including [[Autistic Pride Day|autism pride]] events. Much of autism awareness and campaigning was driven by social media, including the notable growth of [[TikTok]] and the emergence of autistic advocates like [[Chloé Hayden]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-05-23 |title='It's a superpower': an autistic young woman takes her message of inclusion to TikTok |url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/23/its-a-superpower-an-autistic-young-woman-takes-her-message-of-inclusion-to-tiktok |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=The Guardian|language=en |archive-date=8 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208024933/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/23/its-a-superpower-an-autistic-young-woman-takes-her-message-of-inclusion-to-tiktok |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Paige Layle]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Emanuel |first=Daniella |title=A Girl on TikTok With Autism Is Going Viral For Talking About How Autism Is Different in Women |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/daniellaemanuel/girl-tiktok-autism |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=BuzzFeed |date=11 March 2020 |language=en |archive-date=28 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528191101/https://www.buzzfeed.com/daniellaemanuel/girl-tiktok-autism |url-status=live }}</ref>

Autism advocacy made progress within the traditional media, making its way into influential business publications such as [[Harvard Business Review]]<ref>Praslova, Ludmila N. (2021). [https://hbr.org/2021/12/autism-doesnt-hold-people-back-at-work-discrimination-does Autism Doesn't Hold People Back at Work. Discrimination Does.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805224346/https://hbr.org/2021/12/autism-doesnt-hold-people-back-at-work-discrimination-does |date=5 August 2022 }} Harvard Business Review, 13 December 2021, https://hbr.org/2021/12/autism-doesnt-hold-people-back-at-work-discrimination-does </ref><ref name="auto1">Praslova, Ludmila N. (2022). [https://hbr.org/2022/06/an-intersectional-approach-to-inclusion-at-work|An Intersectional Approach to Inclusion at Work] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924154627/https://hbr.org/2022/06/an-intersectional-approach-to-inclusion-at-work%7CAn |date=24 September 2022 }}. Harvard Business Review, 21 June 2022 https://hbr.org/2022/06/an-intersectional-approach-to-inclusion-at-work {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805214150/https://hbr.org/2022/06/an-intersectional-approach-to-inclusion-at-work |date=5 August 2022 }}.</ref> and [[Fast Company]].<ref name="auto">Praslova, Ludmila N.(2021).[https://www.fastcompany.com/90706149/neurodivergent-people-make-great-leaders-not-just-employees Neurodivergent people make great leaders, not just employees] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805214413/https://www.fastcompany.com/90706149/neurodivergent-people-make-great-leaders-not-just-employees |date=5 August 2022 }}. ''Fast Company'', 15 December 2021. https://www.fastcompany.com/90706149/neurodivergent-people-make-great-leaders-not-just-employees .</ref> A comprehensive approach to inclusion in the workplace, the Canary Code, was developed in 2022 by Ludmila Praslova, specifically focusing on autistic talent and other marginalized communities.<ref name="auto1"/><ref>Praslova, Ludmila N. (2022).[https://www.fastcompany.com/90730688/to-build-a-healthy-workplace-you-need-a-toxic-culture-alarm To build a healthy workplace, you need a toxic culture alarm.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412225745/https://www.fastcompany.com/90730688/to-build-a-healthy-workplace-you-need-a-toxic-culture-alarm |date=12 April 2023 }} ''Fast Company'', 14 March 2022.https://www.fastcompany.com/90730688/to-build-a-healthy-workplace-you-need-a-toxic-culture-alarm</ref>

===Neurodiversity and autistic self-advocacy movement===
{{main|Neurodiversity}}

Judy Singer coined the term ''neurodiversity'' in the late 1990s as a middle ground between the two dominating models of disability, the [[Medical model of disability|medical model]] and the [[Social model of disability|social model]], dismissing both of them as insufficiently capturing the solution for—and cause of—disability.<ref name=":2" />{{sfn|Singer|2017|p=10}}

Steve Silberman describes neurodiversity as seeing the virtue of different conditions while taking into consideration that the conditions also convey challenges.<ref name=".ca">{{Cite web |last1=Teitel |first1=Emma |last2=Silberman |first2=Steve |date=2015-08-25 |title=Steve Silberman on autism and 'neurodiversity' |url=https://www.macleans.ca/society/science/steve-silberman-on-autism-and-the-neurodiversity-movement/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803145501/https://www.macleans.ca/society/science/steve-silberman-on-autism-and-the-neurodiversity-movement/ |archive-date=3 August 2019 |access-date=2019-08-03 |website=Maclean's |publisher=Rogers Media |location=Toronto}}</ref> Autistics for Autistics, a self-advocacy group, describes neurodiversity this way: "Neurodiversity means that—like biodiversity—all of us have a role to play in society ...and we should be valued for who we are. Included in public life, such as school and employment. For nonverbal autistics, this also means equal and fair access to communication, such as AAC."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://a4aontario.com/2019/04/27/raising-the-neurodiversity-flag-at-toronto-city-hall/|title=Raising the Neurodiversity Flag at Toronto City Hall!|last=a4aontario|date=2019-04-27|website=A4A Ontario|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-16|archive-date=16 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116232330/https://a4aontario.com/2019/04/27/raising-the-neurodiversity-flag-at-toronto-city-hall/|url-status=live}}</ref> 

The autistic self-advocacy movement, made up of autistic individuals, works from a social model of disability perspective. For example, the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network describes its mandate as "to advance the principles of the disability rights movement with regard to autism".<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=26 May 2011 |title=About ASAN |url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809175020/http://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/ |archive-date=9 August 2019 |access-date=2019-11-16 |website=Autistic Self Advocacy Network |language=en-us}}</ref>

Autistic people are considered to have neurocognitive differences<ref name="Bloomsbury">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PV95DwAAQBAJ|title=The Bloomsbury Companion to Philosophy of Psychiatry|last=Chapman|first=Robert|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|year=2019|isbn=9781350024069|editor-last=Tekin|editor-first=Serife|pages=371–387|chapter=Neurodiversity Theory and Its Discontents: Autism, Schizophrenia, and the Social Model of Disability|editor-last2=Bluhm|editor-first2=Robyn|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PV95DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA371|access-date=5 August 2019|archive-date=28 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728095050/https://books.google.com/books?id=PV95DwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> that give them distinct strengths and weaknesses, and they are capable of succeeding when appropriately accommodated and supported.<ref name="Solomon" /><ref name="Different">{{Cite web |last=Silberman |first=Steve |date=2016-04-04 |title=Autistic people are not failed versions of "normal." They're different, not less |url=https://ideas.ted.com/autistic-people-are-not-failed-versions-of-normal-theyre-different-not-less/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803145504/https://ideas.ted.com/autistic-people-are-not-failed-versions-of-normal-theyre-different-not-less/ |archive-date=3 August 2019 |access-date=2019-08-03 |publisher=TED (conference) |language=en}}</ref> According to Ludmila Praslova, author of ''The Canary Code'', creating systems that support the [[employment of autistic people]] and their success through organizational transparency, justice, and flexibility benefits all employees.<ref name="auto1" />

There is no leader of the neurodiversity movement, and little academic research has been conducted on it as a social phenomenon. As such, proponents of the neurodiversity approach have heterogeneous beliefs<ref name="Bloomsbury" /> but are consistent in the view that autism cannot be separated from an autistic person.<ref name="Solomon" /> The movement opposes therapies that aim to make children "indistinguishable from their peers".<ref name="Solomon" /> Instead, they advocate for accommodations in schools and work environments<ref name="Future">{{Cite web|url=https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/does_neurodiversity_have_a_future|title=Does Neurodiversity Have a Future?|last=Nerenberg|first=Jenara|date=2016-11-21|website=[[Greater Good Science Center|Greater Good]] |access-date=2019-08-03|archive-date=3 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803145502/https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/does_neurodiversity_have_a_future|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Nothing About Us Without Us|including autistic people]] when making decisions that affect them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/position-statements/|title=Position Statements|website=Autistic Self Advocacy Network|date=28 May 2011|language=en|access-date=2019-08-03|archive-date=16 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416032240/http://autisticadvocacy.org/policy-advocacy/position-statements/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Neurodiversity advocates oppose researching a "cure" for autism, and instead support research that helps autistic people thrive as they are.<ref name="Solomon" />

An analysis of data from the [[United Kingdom|UK]] and [[Hungary]] in 2017 found evidence that autistic or intellectually disabled self-advocates are rarely involved in leadership or decision-making within organisations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Petri |first1=Gabor |last2=Beadle-Brown |first2=Julie |last3=Bradshaw |first3=Jill |title='More Honoured in the Breach than in the Observance'—Self-Advocacy and Human Rights |journal=Laws |date=16 November 2017 |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=26 |doi=10.3390/laws6040026 |doi-access=free }}</ref> It also showed that poverty, unpaid positions at disability organisations, and lack of support are significant barriers for most autistic people, including autistic people with an intellectual disability who wish to self-advocate.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Petri |first1=Gabor |last2=Beadle-Brown |first2=Julie |last3=Bradshaw |first3=Jill |title='Even a Self-Advocate Needs to Buy Milk' – Economic Barriers to Self-Advocacy in the Autism and Intellectual Disability Movement |journal=Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research |date=5 July 2021 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=180 |doi=10.16993/sjdr.738 |doi-access=free }}</ref>