This year, the National Autistic Society is encouraging families, individuals, schools and offices to get involved in World Autism Awareness Week from 27 March to 2 April 2017.
Over 1 in 100 people are on the autism spectrum, that’s 700,000 people in the UK. While most people have now heard of autism, very few really understand what it means to be autistic, the difficulties that autistic people and their families can face, and the strengths that autistic people have.
Last year, we launched our Too Much Information campaign during World Autism Awareness Week because we found that autistic people and their families are being socially isolated due to a lack of public understanding about autism.
In a survey of over 7,000 autistic people, their families, friends, carers and professionals, we found that over 50% of autistic people and their families sometimes or often didn’t go out because they were worried about how people would react to their autism. Many families told us that when they went out in public, often they would be met with judgmental stares or tuts, and sometimes even hurtful comments.
We know that people don’t want to be judgmental towards autistic people, but often they just can’t ‘see’ the autism. This is why World Autism Awareness Week is so important, because it’s a chance to help the public understand, and think twice when they might see a child having a ‘tantrum’ or someone acting ‘weird’, when actually it could be someone on the autism spectrum who is overwhelmed by loud noises or bright lights around them, or feeling anxious because of an unexpected change.
World Autism Awareness Week last year was a huge success, with people up and down the country getting their local communities involved in raising money and learning more about autism. This year we want to do even more, and get people running, quizzing, baking and donning their Onesies once more, to get everyone understanding a bit more about autism and improving the lives of the 700,000 autistic people in the UK.
How to get involved in World Autism Awareness Week
This year, there are so many ways to get involved in fundraising and increasing public understanding. All the World Autism Awareness Week favourites will be back, such as our Night Walks, taking place in London, Manchester and Bristol.
Whether you want to fundraise or help raise awareness on your own, with your family or community, at school or at work, we’ve got resources to help you think of exciting and fun ideas to get everyone involved.
Autism is complex and autistic people and their families don’t expect or want people to be experts. But a basic understanding from everyone could be transformative.
To find out more, visit our website: http://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/world-autism-awareness-week.aspx
