Rather than focusing on “‘fixing”’ spoken communication, @drstevenkapp.bsky.social & Juliette Gudknecht argue for approaches that build on autistic strengths (including language in other forms where possible). This means creating ND assessments and supports: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

"He doesn’t need a DSM differentiated “profound autism” label. He needs Medicaid. And so does your kid. "

It’s very weird to me that some people think that changing the nature of diagnosis in the DSM will magically address the fact that that the United States (and many other counties) are ableist and don’t support their disabled citizens. We don’t support disabled ppl enough. The DSM won’t fix that.

We don't need a #ProfoundAutism diagnosis. Instead, "go find the people in your state fighting for Medicaid. Those are your ppl. The DSM is not going to save your child or make your life more functional. Medicaid funded HCBS will." TY, Neuromess. www.facebook.com/Neuromess.bl... #autism #disability

Neurodiversity movement: autism is difference *&*disability. 1st Autism Acceptance Day for this paper showing strengths eg enhanced auditory perception can contribute to challenges eg speech divergence. *Holistic classification* needed for assessment, support. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

“The breaking point came when I was instructed to withhold food & drink from my toddler until she produced specific verbal responses. I ended services that same day. Henny Kupferstein, on her pursuit of truth and fight for patient-led accountability re: Medicaid: tinyurl.com/AutisticPatientUprising

"People in power have talked a lot about autism over the last year. But they have not talked about autistic people’s rights at all." Folks, this is what happens when people are talked about, instead of listened to. #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #AutismAcceptanceMonth

"More ppl are being diagnosed autistic every year because: -We keep learning more about autism & this makes doctors better at noticing when someone is autistic. -The rules doctors use to diagnose autism have changed. These changes helped more ppl get diagnosed." autisticadvocacy.org/2026/04/the-...

"People in power have talked a lot about autism over the last year. But they have not talked about autistic people’s rights at all. Talking about our rights is an important part of making life better for autistic ppl. Let’s talk about what we need–& our rights": autisticadvocacy.org/2026/04/the-...

"Autism is a normal part of life. There have always been autistic people, and autistic people are part of every community. Autism is not caused by any vaccine or medicine. Autism is genetic. That means people are born autistic." TY @autisticadvocacy.org: autisticadvocacy.org/2026/04/the-... #autism

It’s Autism Acceptance Month! Want to participate? Excellent. The best choice is to listen, learn—and lean back to make space for autistic people & autistic-informed resources. We have advice about good (and bad) autism orgs: tinyurl.com/UsefulAutismOrgs #AutismAcceptanceMonth #neurodiversity

An Autistic Patient Uprising Is Happening Now: How one autistic mother’s pursuit of truth is part of a broader shift toward patient-led accountability, ethics, and reform. By Henny Kupferstein, at TPGA: thinkingautismguide.com/2026/03/an-a... #Autism #Medicaid #Neurodiversity

Listen is a wonderful short film, if you haven't seen it yet. Because there is no #AutismAcceptanceMonth without autistic AAC users—including those who need, but don't currently have or use, AAC. Thank you @communicationfirst.bsky.social & film cast for your messages. communicationfirst.org/LISTEN/

Happy Autism Acceptance Month! And happy 20th anniversary to the The Autistic Self Advocacy Network! #AutismAcceptanceMonth

“The breaking point came when I was instructed to withhold food & drink from my toddler until she produced specific verbal responses. I ended services that same day. Henny Kupferstein, on her pursuit of truth and fight for patient-led accountability re: Medicaid: tinyurl.com/AutisticPatientUprising

"People in power have talked a lot about autism over the last year. But they have not talked about autistic people’s rights at all. Talking about our rights is an important part of making life better for autistic ppl. Let’s talk about what we need–& our rights": autisticadvocacy.org/2026/04/the-...

"You can’t persistently mislead children about social expectations and then punish them for believing you. "Only, when it comes to autistic kids, obviously you can." @epballou.bsky.social on Autistic Social Experience & the Sally-Anne Test: chavisory.wordpress.com/2023/04/07/a... #neurodiversity

“Every calibration carries context-dependent trade-offs. This is not a limitation of autistic systems; it is a fundamental feature of all biological optimization under constraint.” —Lori Hogenkamp, Dhwani Sanghavi, Heini Natri, 2026 stimpunks.org/glossary/spi...

Intensive Interaction isn’t about “fixing” or prompting communication. It’s about meeting someone where they are—through connection & attunement. A neuro-affirming, relational framing to support those with PMLD, co-authored with @jo3grace.bsky.social autisticrealms.com/intensive-in...

It’s Autistic People’s Month! & we need to #StopTheShock !! For over ten years the Judge Rotenberg Center in MA has housed Autistic people & utilizes wearable electric shock devices to control dangerous behaviors Children are zapped for things like swearing It’s the stuff nightmares are made of

Autistic people don't need research into ways to be more "social." What they need is to be accepted, and to socialize on their own terms. When "you apply the needs of neurotypical pupils to children with autism, […] that can do more harm than good." www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2026... #autism

"I make sure anyone meeting me knows that I don’t f**ing care whether anyone Speaks. Honestly, I don’t care if ppl even use representational language. In fact, I wouldn’t even care if someone, somehow, never communicated at all—if they were happy with that." thinkingautismguide.com/2026/03/the-...

Happy Autism Acceptance Day! I came to UK partly as it seemed to be exceptionally accepting of autistic ppl, as research among explored countries supports: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... Autism acceptance relates to lower depression. Yet UK Government wants to strip ppl of diagnoses & benefits.

For #AutismAcceptanceDay and #AutismAcceptanceMonth, here is my favorite picture I've ever drawn this year. It depicts literal thinking. Yes, literal thinking can be more subtle than this, but this concept was too cute not to draw. (The imaginary pets are falling slowly and safely.) #AutisticArt

My autistic son is now an adult. I'd like to share some hard-earned wisdom with parents who are just starting out, so they can avoid some of the mistakes I made, and do right by their autistic kids. :) thinkingautismguide.com/2025/09/afte... #AutismAcceptanceMonth #autism #parenting

Today in "scientifically unvalidated, ethically impermissible": India's National Medical Commission (NMC) has "declared stem cell therapy illegal for the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), issuing a nationwide advisory." thesouthfirst.com/health/nmc-d... #autism #pseudoscience

Remember that ABA is abusive, so never support ABA practitioners. Here are some others to consider this April Autism Awareness Month.

It's World Autism Day/ Autism Awareness Day and April is Autism Awareness Month As an AuDHD mom raising AuDHD kids my hope is that you listen to autistic folks this month & challenge yourself to embrace neurodiversity Follow @autisticadvocacy.org & @thinkingautism.com to learn more

#ActuallyAutistic #ASD #AuDHD #AutismAcceptanceMonth #AutismAwarenssDay Professionals, parents, and other supporters: If you really want to help us, please read this before you make a referral, promote any particular approach, or donate anywhere. Thank you.

If someone asks you to donate to an autism charity (as tends to happen in April), this is an excellent list of which ones are good and which to avoid. 👇

"Tenemos el derecho de llevas nuestras propias vidas y tomar nuestras propias decisiones. Tenemos el derecho a conseguir ayuda en tomar decisiones si lo necesitamos. Pero aun así necesitamos ser los que tomemos las decisiones."

"What will happen to my child after I die?" is a worry for too many of our families. Grateful to @npr.org for practical advice: "Experts concur that making a plan, and revisiting it regularly, is the best way to ensure stability when the situation inevitably changes." www.npr.org/2026/03/28/n...

I'm tired of neurodiversity lite: companies thinking that a few language and symbol changes are all they need to understand autistic people. It's about more than that. It's about respect, inclusivity, and caring. If your post talks about us like we're broken, unwanted burdens, it's not acceptance.

"Autism is a normal part of life. There have always been autistic people, and autistic people are part of every community. Autism is not caused by any vaccine or medicine. Autism is genetic. That means people are born autistic." TY @autisticadvocacy.org: autisticadvocacy.org/2026/04/the-... #autism

Thanks for sharing this! A lot of it was written by Peg, who also admins the wiki, and has done some fantastic research to create neurodiversity-affirming articles. One big goal of the Autism Living Wiki is to create information to help autistic people at all levels of support needs.

Very little money donated to Autism Speaks goes toward helping autistic people and families. This #AutismAcceptanceMonth, considering supporting groups by and for autistic people! autisticadvocacy.org/considerthef...

Can you guess how anti-vaccine influencers observe Autism Acceptance Month? The misinformation, propaganda, and ableist messaging about autism that they spew every other month of the year gets even worse!

When you grow up undiagnosed and then you find out you're autistic and autism awareness month is the same month as your birthday.

It’s Autism Acceptance Month! Want to participate? Excellent. The best choice is to listen, learn—and lean back to make space for autistic people & autistic-informed resources. We have advice about good (and bad) autism orgs: tinyurl.com/UsefulAutismOrgs #AutismAcceptanceMonth #neurodiversity

“So many NT people take for granted that something is easy when, for ND people, it isn’t easy at all. Concerts, nightclubs, large dinner parties, and other “clangy” events, as my family calls them, are awful.” From Your Kid Belongs Here by @katiepryal.bsky.social: books.apple.com/us/book/your...

you should also follow @thinkingautism.com @slooterman.bsky.social @autisticadvocacy.org @awnnetwork.org for accurate information and just good stuff 🤙🏻

The death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Blind Rohingya refugee who was left on the freezing streets of Buffalo by Border Patrol officers, was ruled a homicide. New from me at @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

An excellent breakdown of why the label of "profound autism" is neither accurate nor science based and how to think about supporting autistic people with varying levels/areas of need. A thoughtful breakdown for anyone, but probably helpful for #Medsky too.

An Autistic Patient Uprising Is Happening Now: How one autistic mother’s pursuit of truth is part of a broader shift toward patient-led accountability, ethics, and reform. By Henny Kupferstein, at TPGA: thinkingautismguide.com/2026/03/an-a... #Autism #Medicaid #Neurodiversity

Please don’t prank autistic people for April Fool’s Day unless you already know they enjoy being pranked. (Many autistics HATE this day. HATE IT.) #autism #neurodiversity #AutismAcceptanceMonth

Not in the least because people making fools out of us isn't limited to this day

This is so important.

lies aren't funny, actually

"Well, autistic kids are already relentless taught, from a very young age, to distrust all of our own instincts and perceptions." "That noise doesn’t hurt, that dress doesn’t itch, that teacher doesn’t dislike you, there’s nothing to be afraid of."