Hi everyone & welcome to Hell–otherwise known as “Autism Awareness Month”. Every April, autistics & our families are subject to an onslaught of misinfo, mostly by charities seeking to profit off a tragedy/”epidemic” narrative that dehumanizes us–and perhaps should be called Autism BEwareness month. There’s a new spin on this tragedy story, as organizations now “infinity-wash” the old narratives with a sprinkling of neurodiversity. For example, this year’s post by the Canadian org Science Up First supports the MSSNG initiative, which seeks to discover an autism gene that would be used f ..read more

2023 was a year of education, advocacy and outreach for our team. It was also a year of rest, renewal and support. It’s been 7 years since we founded A4A and in the true tradition of a sabbath/sabbatical, we used 2023 to take things a little slower while still making big changes through education, community-building and advocacy. Here are some highlights from 2023. MEDIA COVERAGE As Canada’s autistic-led advocacy organization, we have become a go-to for media calls related to autistic human rights and the neurodiversity movement in Canada. Examples from 2023 include a Brampton Guardian story w ..read more

Accessibility should be for all On October 18, A4A rep Anne spoke before a committee preparing a review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2005). As the legislation stands, autistic people are not listed among the disabilities covered therein. We believe autistic should be included among the disabilities covered in the AODA. This is our statement. Intro Autistics for Autistics is Canada’s largest autistic-led advocacy group. We are an international affiliate of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the largest autistic-led advocacy group in the world. We consult governmen ..read more

Yesterday, a blue-check Twitter account (Erin Biba) noticed a tweet from our account criticizing conspiracy theories about the CDC along with other health disinformation. While our tweets were describing a real problem, Biba labeled A4A as “right wing” in a series of quote tweets where she encouraged A4A’s donors not to donate. She also shared our email address with her 65,000 followers. Within minutes, scores of Biba’s followers were swarming A4A’s account, as they’ve swarmed other accounts and relentlessly trolled individuals as a sort of group-bonding activity. (You can learn more about th ..read more

In March 2022, A4A member Anne Borden King delivered a speech before the Canadian Senate on the need for a paradigm shift in federal autism policy. Vivian Ly of Autistics United Canada also presented. Both speeches were followed by discussion with Senators. See/hear Anne’s speech here Read the transcript of the full hearing here (starts about 3 pages in) Anne says: “The Senators were so engaged, thoughtful and respectful of us both and the proceedings. I’m looking forward to seeing what may come of these hearings.” Speech Text Good afternoon, esteemed members of the Canadian Senate. It is an h ..read more

Image 1. Source: Chris Bonello, online survey of 11,000+, including 7,491 autistics, published 2022 From a leaked memo to candidates by the Ontario NDP, May 2022: “We fully support ABA and IBI therapies for people that choose that. We know there’s a small group that opposes them. We use person-first language and say ‘people with autism,’ we do not use the word ‘autistic.’ We know there are people who disagree with that; the majority of people with autism and their families prefer person-first language.” It is election season in Ontario–and according to the above memo and others, Ontario’s New ..read more

In March 2022, A4A member Anne Borden King delivered a speech before the Canadian Senate on the need for a paradigm shift in federal autism policy. Vivian Ly of Autistics United Canada also presented. Both speeches were followed by discussion with Senators. See/hear Anne’s speech here Read the transcript of the full hearing here (starts about 3 pages in) Anne says: “The Senators were so engaged, thoughtful and respectful of us both and the proceedings. I’m looking forward to seeing what may come of these hearings.” Speech Text Good afternoon, esteemed members of the Canadian Senate. It is an h ..read more

On March 30, a representative of A4A appeared before the Senate of Canada, on their invitation, to present about federal autism policy. As well, Vivian Ly from Autistics United presented. A video of the presentations, and question period, is here [transcripts coming soon] After the presentation, we also sent them some supporting documents, including this. An Opportunity to Reshape Canada’s Autism Policy Landscape To: The SOCI Committee Date: March 31, 2022 OverviewThe neurodiversity paradigm is an exciting development, where over the past few decades, autistic people have found each other and ..read more

On February 24, 2022, one of our members spoke to the accessibility-focused meeting of the City of Toronto’s Our Plan team–the City’s new 30-year plan for urban planning, sustainability and quality of life in the Six. Here is her statement: I’m Anne Borden King from Autistics for Autistics Ontario, the autistic-led advocacy group. We are not a parent group, we’re a group that’s led by and run completely by autistic people. We’re thankful to the city for recognizing the importance of neurodiversity and inclusion. I’m going to talk today about housing access, since segregated housing approaches ..read more

Image by Glacier Medical Associates Autistics for Autistics unequivocally condemns the antivaccine convoy rallies in Toronto, Ottawa and elsewhere in Canada. The convoys, organized by Canada’s white supremacy movement and largely funded by big money from outside of Canada, are designed to create chaos and spread hate. We have members who are Black, Indigenous and/or People of Colour who are targets of the racist terrorism that drives the rallies. Our members who live in downtown Ottawa and Toronto are afraid to leave their houses because they could be assaulted and harassed by racist ralliers ..read more