You belong.

Welcome to Autistic Studies

Lesson #1

  1. Information about autism should always be sourced from the Autistic community—we are the experts on us. Allistics do not have our permission to speak for (or over) us.

  2. Surprise! We like who we are and how our brains work! We don’t want a “cure”—we want acceptance and accommodations.

  3. We’re a diverse, dynamic, and vibrant community with a shared culture.

  4. We are an oppressed minority group with shared struggles navigating a world that was not designed for us, and from which we are often denied access and opportunities.

Neurodiversity:

“Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one "right" way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits.”

  • Nicole Baumer MD, MEd (Harvard Health Publishing, 2021)

Quotes from famous Autistics

  • "We can no longer let the people in power decide what hope is. Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah, blah, blah. Hope is telling the truth. Hope is taking action. And hope always comes from the people.”

    — Greta Thunberg, Youth4Climate summit in Milan, Italy, (2021)

  • “And even though people like to furrow their brow like they suspect you're not being honest about yourself, the truth is that they worry that you're not serving their idea of you.”

    ― Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove (2015)

  • “For most autistics existing in a world not built for them, anxiety is the baseline and constant background hum that their daily life has to play over.”

    ― Fern Brady, Strong Female Character (2023)

  • "Why are we then determined to change the child, rather than the world around them? Why do we validate the wrong just because it’s normalised, and ostracise the right just because it’s not?"

    ― Chloé Hayden, “Different, Not Less” (2022)

  • "You may or may not be ready to hear this information, but I'll tell you, because knowledge is power, ignorance is a cage and feelings can be dealt with."

    — Hannah Gadsby, “Douglas” (2020)

  • “Maybe it’s just in America, but it seems that if you’re passionate about something, it freaks people out. You’re considered bizarre or eccentric. To me, it just means you know who you are.”

    — Tim Burton

  • "My philosophy is it's none of my business what people say of me and think of me. I am what I am, and I do what I do."

    — Anthony Hopkins