We’re Not Ready for Acceptance. Here’s Why.

It’s April. Autism Awareness Month. You’re gonna see a lot of blue lights, hashtags, and well-meaning graphics saying things like “Choose Kindness” or “Celebrate Differences.” And while that all sounds nice, I need to be honest:

We are not ready for acceptance. Not yet.

Acceptance implies we’ve already done the work of understanding. Of listening. Of fixing systems and showing up for autistic kids in real ways—not just in April.

But let me ask you something:

• If a school district offers hundreds of extracurriculars and still says “sorry, we don’t have anything for your child”…

• If we can’t get a 1:1 aide for a summer camp, a modified schedule, or even a basic “yes”…

• If most people still don’t know what AAC means, or how to support non-speaking students beyond putting a giant board in a playground that would have no meaning to a child who actually uses an AAC…

Are we really in “acceptance” territory?

We’re not. We’re still fighting to be seen, to be heard, to be included. And as Mark Kendall, former journalist, father of a young adult with severe autism AND California chair for the National Council on Severe Autism just wrote in Newsweek: “Autism awareness still has a long way to go.”

So this month, we’re not skipping ahead.

We’re staying in the hard conversations.

We’re naming the gaps.

We’re honoring the real stories.

And we’re building something better.

Because it can’t be zero.

Not now. Not ever again.

Let’s get to work.

#AutismAwarenessMonth #ItCantBeZero #WeStillNeedAwareness #TruthBeforeTrend