Autism changes how we get around in the world.
It changes how we think, how we feel, and how we communicate.

A lot of autistic people need help in our daily lives.
We can have a hard time with some things.
We might have a hard time moving our bodies.
We might have a hard time talking to people.
We might have a hard time doing things that have a lot of steps.
For example, cooking can be very hard for us. It takes a lot of time and has a lot of steps.

But people have to do things like cooking every day.
It takes more energy for autistic people to do these things.
We may not be able to do everything we need to every day.
Or, we may not be able to do some of these things at all.

For example:
Cass is autistic.
They have work today.
They go to a long meeting at work.
When they get home, they don’t have the energy to cook.
They can’t figure out the steps to cook.
But they need to eat.
They can order food instead.
Or, they can get someone to help them cook.

Roland is autistic.
He can’t cook.
Figuring out all the steps is too hard for him.
He lives with a support person.
The support person cooks for him.
Roland helps around the house in other ways.

It is normal to need help in your daily life.
All people, autistic or not, need help to live.
Think about yourself and the people you know.
Let’s say someone can drive a car. They don’t need help driving.
But, can they fix their car by themselves?
Did they build the car by themselves?
Did they make all the parts for the car by themselves?
Did they build all the roads the car drives on by themselves?
You might know someone who does one or two of these things.
But no one does everything on their own. We all need help.

Autistic people might need more help.
We might go about our daily lives in a different way.
Here are a few examples:

• Someone who needs help being safe might live with a support person.
• Someone who has a hard time listening at school might have someone take notes for them.
• Someone who has a hard time shopping might get their groceries delivered instead.
• Someone who has a hard time remembering what to do might have a job coach at work.

It is okay to need help.
You should always get the help you need.
There is nothing wrong with asking for help.

Autistic people have have lots of things we’re good at.
We also have lots of things we need help with.
We are not like non-autistic people, and that’s okay.
We shouldn’t have to act like non-autistic people.
Non-autistic people should respect us as we are.

Only autistic people can say what autism means to us.
Only we get to decide how other people can help us.

• Everyone Communicates – the AACUsing something other than talking to communicate. Resource – http://www.everyonecommunicates.org/
• In My Language – by Mel Baggs – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnylM1hI2jc
• Why We Should Stop StimMoving in the same way over and over again. Everyone stims, but autistic people stim more than other people. Suppression – by Cassandra Crosman – https://intheloopaboutneurodiversity.wordpress.com/2019/09/17/why-we-should-stop-stim-suppression/

The way people talk about autism has changed a lot.

We used to call autism a lot of different things. Some people still use these words.

Some of these words are:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• Autistic Disorder
• Asperger’s Syndrome
• Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
• Pervasive Developmental Disability Not Otherwise Specialized (PDD-NOS)
• Atypical Autism

Today, we mostly just call it autism.

People with other disabilities can also be autistic.
Autistic people can have more than one disability.
Sometimes, these other disabilities are part of being autistic.
Sometimes, they aren’t part of being autistic.
Autism is a developmental disabilityA type of disability that begins when someone is very young. Autism is a developmental disability. So is cerebral palsy..

Many people with developmental disabilities have more than one disability.
That’s normal.

Here are some other disabilities autistic people sometimes have:

Learning disabilities (called “learning difficulties” in the United Kingdom):

• Dyslexia
• Dyspraxia
• Dysgraphia
• Dyscalculia
• Nonverbal Learning Disability

Mental health disabilities:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Bipolar disorder
• PTSD
• Schizophrenia
• Eating Disorders
• OCD
• Tourette’s Syndrome

Disabilities that affect your body:

• Connective tissue disorders, like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and Marfan syndrome
• Sleep disorders, like insomnia or sleep apnea
• Digestion disorders, like GERD and peptic ulcer disease
• Epilepsy
• Tuberous Sclerosis

Other developmental disabilities:

• Intellectual disabilitiesDisabilities that affect how you learn and think. People with intellectual disabilities might learn more slowly.
• Disabilities that affect how you learn and think. People with intellectual disabilities might learn more slowly.
  (called “learning disabilities” in the United Kingdom)
• ADHD
• Rett’s Syndrome
• Angelman’s Syndrome
• Down Syndrome
• Cerebral Palsy

Some disabilities happen more in autistic people.
Sometimes, people say that means autism is a bad thing.
But that doesn’t make sense.

Think of it like this:

People with red hair sunburn more easily.
Sunburns hurt and can cause skin cancer.
But we don’t say that red hair is bad.
We don’t try to cure red hair.
We don’t tell people with red hair to dye their hair.
That wouldn’t help with their sunburns.
Instead, we make sure people wear sunblock.

It’s the same with autism.
Autistic people should get more support for all of our disabilities.
We don’t need people to try and fix us!

Sometimes, autistic people don’t get an autism diagnosisWhen a doctor says you are autistic..
We might get diagnosed with other disabilities instead.
Sometimes, we also have these disabilities.
Other times, doctors are just confused.
They might not realize we are autistic.

Women and people of colorPeople who are not white. For example, black people are people of color. get the wrong diagnosis the most.
They might be diagnosed with other disabilities instead.
Some of these other disabilities are:

• Deafness
• Schizophrenia
• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Avoidant Personality Disorder
• Schizotypal Personality Disorder
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder
• Social (Pragmatic) CommunicationHow we show others what we want and need. Everybody communicates! Disorder
• Nonverbal Learning Disorder
• Sensory ProcessingHow you think about and understand your senses. Disorder
• Depression
• Bipolar Disorder
• Anxiety
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Intellectual Disability

Autistic people can have disabilities besides autism.
But some doctors don’t know a lot about autism.
They might say we have these disabilities instead of autism.
Doctors can be wrong.

Anyone can be autistic.
Girls and women can be autistic.
TransgenderWhen your gender is different than people thought when you were born. people and non-binaryWhen someone isn’t just a boy or a girl. people can be autistic.
People of color can be autistic.
Teenagers, adults, and older people can be autistic.
People with other disabilities can also be autistic.

Girls and women get diagnosed with autism less than boys.
Lots of people think of autism as a “boy’s thing”.
Girls might get diagnosed with other disabilities instead.
They might be told they’re just shy or mean.

But that is wrong!
Girls can be autistic, too.
Autistic girls might not always look like autistic boys.
Girls and boys might act differently.
Girls might feel more pressure to fit in than boys do.
This can make it harder to tell if girls are autistic.

Studies about autism mostly focus on autistic boys.
This means that we know very little about autistic girls.
That makes it even harder for girls to get diagnosed.

There are lots of different genders.
But some people think there are only 2.
When people are born, the doctor usually says “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!”
The doctor says this based on what someone’s body looks like.
But sometimes the doctor is wrong.
You don’t have to be a boy or girl just because of what your body looks like.

Sometimes, a person who was told she was a boy is actually a girl.
TransgenderWhen your gender is different than people thought when you were born. means your gender is different than people thought when you were born.
CisgenderWhen your gender is the same as people thought when you were born. means your gender is the same as people thought when you were born.

For example:

Billy is transgender.
When Billy was born, everyone thought he was a girl.
But Billy knew he was a boy.
Billy told people that he was a boy.
Now, he lives his life as a man.

There are lots of different genders.
Sometimes, a person is not a boy or a girl.
Sometimes, a person does not have a gender.
Sometimes, a person feels like different genders at different times.
Non-binaryWhen someone isn’t just a boy or a girl. means that someone isn’t just a boy or a girl.

A lot of autistic people are transgender or non-binary.
We do not know why this happens.
That is okay!
It is okay to be autistic.
It is okay to be transgender or non-binary.
It is okay to be both!

Some people say that autistic people cannot understand ourselves.
They might just say that we are confused about our gender.
Those people are wrong!
Autistic people get to decide what our genders are, no matter what.

People of colorPeople who are not white. For example, black people are people of color. are people who are not white.
Black people are people of color.
Asian people are people of color.
Latinx people are people of color.
Anyone who isn’t white is a person of color.

White people get diagnosed with autism more than people of color.
But people of color are just as likely to be autistic.
Doctors aren’t very good at diagnosing autistic people of color.
Racism can make it harder for autistic people of color to get diagnosed.
They might get diagnosed with a different disability instead.

We need to work hard to support autistic people of color.
Everyone should be able to find out if they are autistic.

Anyone can be autistic.
It doesn’t matter how old you are.
You can’t ‘grow out’ of autism!

Remember: autism is a developmental disabilityA type of disability that begins when someone is very young. Autism is a developmental disability. So is cerebral palsy..
If a person is autistic, they never stop being autistic.
This means that people of all ages can be autistic.

Sometimes, people get diagnosed with autism when they are an adult.
They didn’t have a chance to get diagnosed as a kid.
Or, their doctor made a mistake.
That doesn’t mean someone wasn’t autistic as a kid.
They were still autistic before they got a diagnosisWhen a doctor says you are autistic..
They were autistic the whole time.

Any type of person can be autistic.
Autistic people are all kinds of people!

• Autism Self-DiagnosisWhen you figure out that you are autistic. is not Special Snowflake Syndrome – by Sara Luterman – http://nosmag.org/autism-self-diagnosis-is-not-special-snowflake-syndrome/
• Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network – https://awnnetwork.org/
• Adult Misdiagnosis – The Default Path to an Autistic Identity – by Autistic Science Lady – https://autisticsciencelady.wordpress.com/2019/06/15/adult-misdiagnosis-the-default-path-to-an-autistic-identity/
• Why It’s So Difficult to Diagnose Autism in Girls – by Somer Bishop https://slate.com/technology/2015/10/autism-in-girls-and-women-is-difficult-to-diagnose.html
• Autism’s Race Problem – by Pacific Standard – https://psmag.com/news/autisms-race-problem