There are a lot of different ways to be autistic.
No way is better than any other way.
Some autistic people talk.
Some autistic people don’t talk.
Some autistic people only need a little help.
Some autistic people need help all the time.
Some autistic people also have intellectual disabilitiesDisabilities that affect how you learn and think. People with intellectual disabilities might learn more slowly..
Some autistic people don’t.
This is all okay!
All of these autistic people belong in the autistic community.

But, societyA big group of communities. A society usually has rules and people in charge. tells us it is not okay to need help.
Society tells us it is not okay to have an intellectual disability.
Society tells us it’s not okay to be non-speakingPeople who don’t talk with their mouths..

Some autistic people believe these things.
So, they think it’s bad to have intellectual disabilities.
They think it’s bad to be non-speaking.
They think it’s bad to need a lot of help.
They look down on autistic people who have intellectual disabilities.
They look down on autistic people who are non-speaking.
They look down on autistic people who need a lot of help.
They might treat these people badly.
They might not let them into their group.

Sometimes, people don’t say these ideas out loud.
They show them with their actions.
They might say that anyone can come to their group.
But then they get mad if someone needs extra help.
They might say they care about all autistic people.
But then they make fun of people who can’t use big words.

Autistic groups should include all autistic people.
All autistic people are important.
All autistic people deserve rights and respect.

Lots of different kinds of people are autistic.
Some autistic people are also:

• People of colorPeople who are not white. For example, black people are people of color.
• Women
• Trans
• Non-binaryWhen someone isn’t just a boy or a girl.
• Gay
• Muslim
• Jewish
• Lots of other things!

SocietyA big group of communities. A society usually has rules and people in charge. discriminates against lots of different kinds of people.
Autistic people are a part of society.
That means autistic people can also discriminate.
Sometimes, autistic people discriminate against other autistic people.
An autistic man might discriminate against an autistic woman.
A white autistic person might discriminate against an autistic person of color.
For example:

• Yolanda is an autistic woman of color. She goes to an autism group, and talks about a time that someone was racist to her. The other people at the group tell her to talk about something else. They say her story isn’t important because it isn’t about autism. They make Yolanda feel bad about being a person of color, so she leaves the group and does not come back.

DiscriminationTreating people badly because of who they are. keeps people out of groups.
If your group discriminates, people might feel left out.
They might stop coming.
If you want your group to include everyone, don’t discriminate.

There are lots of ways to leave people out of the autistic community.
You might be doing some of those things.
Don’t worry! You can stop doing them.
Here are some things you can try.

1: Pay attention to what you think.
Pay attention to what you do.
Pay attention to how you treat other autistic people.
You might be doing things that leave people out.
You might not mean to do them!
You might have never realized you were doing them.
That is normal.
Now that you know, you can stop doing them.

2: Look at your autistic communities.
Ask yourself who is missing.
Is everyone you follow on twitter white?
Does your group only have men in it?
Who are you missing?
Figure out who is missing.
Think about why and how they got left out.
Then, you should try to fix those things.

3: Learn about ways to help everyone feel like they belong.
Talk to different kinds of people.
Learn what makes them feel like they belong.
Ask them where you can learn more.
You can also learn more online.
Lots of people are trying to learn more about these things.
There is always more to learn.
It’s important to keep learning.

• Autism On Television Needs More Diverse Representation – by Alaina Leary – https://www.teenvogue.com/story/autism-on-television-diverse-representation
• Intersectionality 101 – by Teaching Tolerance – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6dnj2IyYjE
• How to Make Your Social Justice Events AccessibleWhen disabled people can easily use something. We can easily get around somewhere. We feel like we belong there. to the Disability Community: A Checklist – by s.e. Smith – https://rootedinrights.org/how-to-make-your-social-justice-events-accessible-to-the-disability-community-a-checklist/

An ally is someone who helps autistic people.
They aren’t autistic.
They listen to autistic people.
They help us get what we need.

This chapter will cover the basics of being an ally.
This chapter is for non-autistic people who want to be alliesNon-autistic people who want to help autistic people. All sorts of people can be allies..
You might be our family.
You might be our friends.
You might just be interested!
Autistic people might be interested in this chapter, too.
Every autistic person has different needs.
We can all learn how to be better allies to each other.

There are lots of ways to have a brain.
Some people are autistic.
Some people have other disabilities that change their brain.
Some people don’t have disabilities that change their brain.
That’s fine.
No brain is better than any other brain.

Autism is a disability.
Remember, disability is a normal part of being a human.
You can learn more about disability in Chapter 5.
That chapter can help you understand disability.
It can help you be a better allyNon-autistic people who want to help autistic people. All sorts of people can be allies..

Autistic people are part of the disability rights movementWhen disabled people fight back against ableism. We work to change society to be better for disabled people..
We have a right to be ourselves.
We have a right to be in the same world as everyone else.
Being an ally means helping us fight for our rights.

Here are some things everyone can do to be an ally to autistic people:

Autistic people know the most about autism.
We know what it is like to be autistic.
Non-autistic people will never know what it is like to be autistic.
So they should learn about autism by talking to us.
Ask autistic people first when you have questions about autism.

Here are some places where autistic people talk about autism:

• The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
• The Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network
• The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism
• #AskingAutistics on social mediaWebsites that people use to talk to each other..

People add #AskingAutistics to their posts to ask autistic people questions.

Autistic people have a right to privacy.
We should be able to choose what people know about us.
We should have control over what pictures are shared of us.
We should have control over what videos are shared of us.
We should have control over the stories people tell about us.
We should get to decide what things about us get shared.
We should get to decide what things about us are private.

A lot of parents take pictures of their kids.
This can be a good thing!
But some parents take pictures of their kids doing private things.
They may take pictures of their kid in the bath.
They may take pictures of their kid having a meltdown.
Then, they share the pictures with everyone on the internet.
Autistic people deserve privacy, even when we are kids.
We need even more privacy when we’re having a hard time.

Sometimes, autistic people will teach others about autism.
We might share private things about our lives to help people learn.
That doesn’t mean we want to share those things all the time.
It doesn’t mean we want to share these things with everyone.
So, don’t repeat private things an autistic person tells you.
Ask first if you want to share our story with someone else.

Autistic people also have a right not to share private things.
Autistic people talk about autism all the time.
Some people ask us private questions about our lives.
We have a right to not answer these questions.
We should still get to talk about autism.
We shouldn’t have to share when we were toilet trained
We should have to share whether or not we hurt ourselves.
We shouldn’t have to share when we were diagnosed.
We get to decide what we want to share.

Autistic people you are close to might tell you private things.
This is a normal part of being family or friends.
You shouldn’t tell other people about things we say in private.
It is the same thing as when a non-autistic person tells you a secret.
The rules are the same for us.

Autistic people have a right to control our own bodies.
A lot of times, people don’t respect this right.
They might touch us without asking.
They might try to change how we move.
They might do things to our bodies that we don’t like.
A big part of being an ally is respecting our rights.
That means making sure we are in charge of our bodies.

One way to respect our bodies is to let us stim.
If you don’t know what stimmingMoving in the same way over and over again. Everyone stims, but autistic people stim more than other people. is, go to Chapter 3.
All people stim, even non-autistic people.
But when autistic people stim, some people try to stop us.
This is wrong.
Stimming is a big part of our lives.
AlliesNon-autistic people who want to help autistic people. All sorts of people can be allies. should make sure we can keep stimming.

Everyone communicates in different ways.
AlliesNon-autistic people who want to help autistic people. All sorts of people can be allies. help us find ways to communicate.

Some autistic people talk.
Some autistic people don’t.
Some autistic people talk differently than non-autistic people.
Some of us use AACUsing something other than talking to communicate.. If you don’t know what AAC is, go to Chapter 3.

Some people use AAC all the time.
Some people go back and forth between AAC and talking.
Some people repeat things they’ve heard before.
Some people talk for a long time.
Some people use words that don’t seem to make sense.
Some people show what they think by how they act.

No matter how we communicate, we all have something to say.
Being an ally means listening to us.
Being an ally means taking what we say seriously.
It means making sure other people listen to us.