Coming off a tumultuous month in the autism community, the leader of a statewide advocacy organization is doubling down on inclusion.
In April, just as the Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM) was holding its annual conference with hundreds of attendees, new data released by the Minnesota-Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network (MN-ADDM) at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration showed that 1 in 28 (3.6%) 8-year-old children in the state has autism.
The rising prevalence nationwide sparked comments from federal officials about causes of autism and triggered heated debate about how public resources should be used to respond to the increase. April is also Autism Acceptance Month, a designated time for recognizing the experiences and identities of individuals with autism.
“Each year, April is an undertaking because of how much attention there is on the autism community,” said Ellie Wilson (MNLEND 2010-11), AuSM’s executive director. “It sometimes comes with a side effect of misinformation, but this year the additional volume of really problematic rhetoric was unfortunate.”
Divisive statements about autism’s cause and about autistic people with the most significant support needs do nothing to help those families, Wilson said.
“When we’re talking about an increase in prevalence for whatever reason and in the same breath slashing Medicaid, the Department of Education, the Administration for Community Living, and University Centers of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, there is no person in the world who should be comforted by that paradox.”
The moment did, however, create a platform to acknowledge the diverse viewpoints within the autism community and to move forward together, she said.
“People were paying attention in a way that rose above our insular spaces and into the zeitgeist,” she said.
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