Autistic Pride

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Autistic Pride Day (June 18) is coming. So, I'd like to ask, what does autistic pride mean to you?


The first thing that pops into my mind is that autistic pride is stimming happily, openly, and unapologetically. This is just a small part of pride, but it's something that I definitely have trouble with.

I think autistic pride means accepting yourself and the brain you were born with because it's who you are.

I was thinking about the movie 'Autism in Love'. The part were Lenny says "Other people are higher than me, They're up there and I'm down here."
That resonated with me because it's a feeling I have had all my life. I never expressed it that way but that's exactly how I have always felt. A way I have described it is feeling like a child in a world of adults.

But I like being in my own little universe. I guess that's something like pride.

The thing is:

We autistic people are not "lower" than anybody else.

There is no shame in being autistic.

We should take pride in our accomplishments--despite, or because, of autism.

I have a hard time understanding "pride" related to Autism. Maybe anger. I've had so much trouble all of my life connecting with people. I desire normal social interaction, to say the right thing, to be able to show my girlfriend that I love her. I've tried everything but it is impossible. I should avoid all human contact. I'm like that green creature at the top of this website. I've left a trail of x-girlfrends who didn't deserve me, they want someone who understands them. How could I ever be proud of this. I know that we should be proud of who we are, but we are severely impaired in ways that often make us look like bad people, when we are really the most honest, kind, and generous people ever.

I think our pride day is similar to like trans pride. Gender dysphoria causes a lot of pain and a lot of distress. So much so that many trans people commit suicide. But, they have a pride day to celebrate who they are and their own small subculture because it help morale, because a simple pride day could save a life.

The pride day is suppose to show to other people (and fellow autistic people) that there is no reason to hide yourself away or worse. It's suppose to increase the collective confidence of the community, so that social and political issues may progress. It's suppose to give hope to the hopeless and show love to those that society doesn't show enough love for.

Autism has a lot of bad things about it, but you can not change it. So, I feel that the next best thing is to embrace it, so that you may work with it to make it a positive entity in your life. Y'kno?

Autistic pride isn't the same as pride you feel about something you've accomplished....it just means refusing to be ashamed about being autistic/having autism -- believing that your impairments don't make you less of a person.

I agree.

Thank you for the clarification. I misunderstood the intent of the phrase and I agree with all of the above statements.

oh joy, that's just a day before my birthday.

i rarely think or speak about my autism so the term is not packed with much meaning for me. i was diagnosed way back in 2001 and i feel like if i were tested now, it would be a different story.

i've learned to cope with the handful of challenge it has given me, so i do not let myself get ashamed about having it. but i don't wave it around as a flag of individuality, if that makes sense.

i really do not feel autistics are lower than anyone else, and i especially do not feel we are higher than anyone else. i honestly roll my eyes whenever i see a thread on here relating to autistic supremacy, but thankfully those seem to be like a relic of a bygone era here.

still, if i were given the choice to keep my sperginess or "become NT", i'd not change myself.

Nothing whatsoever. I consider my autism to be hamper, would rather be neurotypical, and I think its prevalence should be mitigated. I can learn to cope with my autism, but it'll never be a source of pride.

I think people's reactions will probably be based on where they are at on the spectrum, tbh. Some might really struggle with their condition and see it as a burden, whereas others who have it less difficult may more easily relate to having pride.

This response really makes sense to me.

I'm gay and I'm autistic and I don't feel pride about either facet of my self. More often I feel troubled by them - it's like if life were a race then I would have ten extra miles to run before I can even get to the starting line and my legs don't work properly.

Rather than pride it helps me most to remember that everyone, on the spectrum or not, has difficulties to deal with in their lives - I just happen to know what mine are which helps.

I think I do feel ashamed, of being autistic and of being gay, but I can see that neither of these things are my fault. I didn't choose either one - it's just the way I was born. I think gay pride was originally started to try to turn around these kind of feelings of shame but I can't seem to engage with it. For me to get to place where I accept myself would be my next step - pride is along way off.

As a fellow gay I completely understand the struggle. I've been shamed and trodden on, picked on, bullied, attacked, etc. my entire life for liking the same gender. However, I can understand the point of gay pride. Gays are tired of being on the bottom rung and stepped on by heteros and religious acts.

There is turmoil and struggle in every facet of life--you are definitely right about that. It's not easy to overcome shame that's brought on by our difficulties. I've suffered for not just being gay, but also for not being neurotypical. It's hard, but pride days are a way of not saying "This is a 'good' thing." It's a way of saying, "Be proud of who you are. Accept that you have difficulties and don't let it bring you down. You're still an amazing human being."

I can not feel pride in something I was born with, but neither can I feel shame in bieng autistic for the very same reason.

I do feel pride in the accomplishments I achieved in spite of Autistic impairments and the profound disadvatages of bieng wired to do, think, express differently than 98 percent of the population.

I don't feel pride in my accomplishments any more than I feel pride in the way I was born. It seems all the same to me. They're connected and all part of me.
Maybe I just don't understand the concept of pride.
I mean if you are glad you have accomplished something, is it any different from being glad you are you.

So is my Birthday, Yes that means another month telling people their wrong.