Light It Up Gold for Autism Acceptance

The Light It Up Gold movement stems from Âû, which many autistics use to identify themselves as autistics.

The movement was established in 2012 by Elinor Broadbent Âû and La Lione Âû who run the Facebook group Âutistic ûnion along with Xandra Black and Maqqi Mucoi Amolngatti. Emma Dalmayne

So traditionally, April 2nd has been known as Autism Awareness Day with jigsaw piece symbols and the color blue. The autistic community does not believe in autism awareness as it’s a passive notion. You can be aware of anything, and it does not have meaning.

Autistic people want acceptance because it means accepting autism as a natural part of the human experience. People are different. Everyone can be aware, but this doesn’t lead to acceptance in school, in employment, and in the community.

Many autistic pupils and autistic teachers/professionals are scared to be different. So many times, ‘awareness’ means that someone has met ‘one of them’ or had ‘training’ on autism. We just want to be accepted as a part of humankind as much as anybody else.

Autsiam acceptance, not awareness, is key to tackling the loneliness and isolation often felt by autistic pupils and adults. There are groups of autistic professionals out there who are scared to be ‘outed’ as this might be detrimental to their careers. By showing who we are, and what obstacles we have faced or continue to face, will help children and young people to have a voice. 

We are not saying we are better than anyone else, but we are different. 

Gold as a color for today is preferred as it is based on the chemical symbol for gold being ‘Au’, the first two letters of autism, but also because, throughout history, gold has been something that is strived for and of immense value – often missing from the lives of autistic people. 

Autistic people are often empathic, sensitive, and caring people, but dominant narratives would suggest otherwise, and because of that, we can spend our lives not being accepted and often not being valued for who we are. 

Autism Acceptance was first organized by Paula Durbin Westby, in 2011, as a response to the traditional ‘Autism Awareness’ campaigns, which the Autistic community found distasteful and unhelpful. These campaigns were often about raising money for organizations rather than educating, and many were not led by autistic voices.

The infinity symbol is used across the world by the autistic and neurodivergent community as it represents the spectrum of neurodiversity and possibilities that, even now, are still being discovered. 

So on this Autism Acceptance Day, Light It Up Gold! And remember, it is Autism Acceptance, not Awareness.

Light It Up Gold for Autism Acceptance is adapted from Why ‘Going Gold’ is important on Autism Acceptance Day – 2nd April by Jane Green and is republished from Bringing EPs Together under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Gold for Autism