In a couple of weeks I will be attending the Milestones Autism Conference here in Cleveland. Another one of my Autistic friends is going with me. I imagine we are going to be quite annoyed and pissed off most of the time, just from what I have read of some of the panel content. But unless more Autistics start going to these things, they are not going to change. They are going to keep talking about us without us there.
I am planning on wearing my “I’m an Autistic Event Planner” shirt one of the days. And possibly my “Autistic Faerie” one the second day, though that may change. Going to be bringing my small backpack filled with stim toys and my ear defenders. Also will have my business cards for this blog to hand out. AND a new thing I just made today and sent to print. I decided I should make up a “Pocket Guide for Autism Acceptance”, which has various information on stimming, echolalia, functioning labels, identity first language, and executive functioning in a short easy to read format. So I will be handing those out as well since an Autistic perspective is very needed at these sorts of events.
I hope I can make a good impact on some of the people I will be interacting with at this conference. And help change some minds on any outdated or false information that some people may have on Autism in general.