World Autism Awareness Month is celebrated in April every year and World Autism Day every April 2 to raise awareness about Autism and the challenges that the people living with Autism Spectrum Disorder face every day.
According to the United Nations, this is a celebration to “highlight the need to help improve the quality of life of those with autism so they can lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society”. It is also a time to celebrate the unique talents of those with autism.
Above video is a series of interviews conducted by The Autism Society last year with neuro-typical people to learn how much they knew about autism.
For this year’s World Autism Day celebration, the theme is ‘Inclusion in the Workplace: Challenges and Opportunities in a Post-Pandemic World’. The COVID-19 pandemic has created huge changes across the world and it exposed glaring inequalities that persons with autism have long faced. Before the pandemic, some companies have launched inclusive employment programmes which accommodate people with diagnoses of autism and related conditions, such as ADHD, OCD, etc., often referred to as neurodivergent persons. However, the pandemic affected the efforts of these companies to adopt a more inclusive workplace because the world economy is experiencing an economic recession, with the loss of hundreds of millions of jobs.
These issues were addressed through a virtual event organised by the United Nations on April 8 in observance of the 2021 World Autism Awareness Day. It included moderated panel discussions with individuals on the autism spectrum who personally experienced the challenges and seen these new opportunities in the employment market.
Another virtual campaign launched in celebration of World Autism Day is the ‘Wear Blue’ campaign on which people were encouraged to wear items of Blue clothing on April 2 while pledging support to Autism charities. Pictures of people wearing blue are posted on social media, using the hashtag #LightItUpBlue.
Aside from raising awareness and recognising the efforts of persons living with autism, events like Autism Awareness Month help increase financial support for charities. These financial supports directly led to advances in Autism research, with progression in diagnoses. In Australia alone, an estimated 164,000 people have Autism Spectrum Disorder. Those people have had better access to support options thanks to financial aid from events like Autism Awareness Month.