Today we celebrate World Autism Awareness day

Today we celebrate World Autism Awareness day

The United Nations declared April 2nd as a world Autism Awareness day to increase awareness about autistic people. This year, the focus is on the contribution of autistic people at home, at work, in the arts and in policymaking.

In recent years, major progress has been made in increasing awareness and acceptance of autism, not least thanks to the many amazing autistic advocates who have worked tirelessly to bring the lived experience of autistic people to the wider world. Additionally, medical professionals, researchers and academics in many countries are now incorporating the neurodiversity paradigm, coined by sociologist Judy Singer in the late 1990s, in their work.

Contributions at home, at work, in the arts and in policymaking

We are moving away from the narrative of curing or converting autistic people and instead focusing on accepting, supporting and including autistic people, and advocating for their rights. This is a major transformation for all autistic people, their allies, the wider neurodiversity community and the world at large. It enables autistic people to claim their dignity and self-esteem, and to become fully integrated as valued members of their families and societies.

It also makes it possible to focus attention on the contributions that autistic people make to the world, as this year’s World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) observance will do, focusing in particular on their contributions in the home, at work, in the arts and in policymaking.

Autistic people do, nevertheless, still face discrimination and other challenges. As with all populations, autistic people have a wide range of talents and challenges that are often not recognized by the world they are born into. In addition, the levels of awareness and acceptance vary dramatically from country to country. We must also recognize that autistic people are especially vulnerable to the major upheavals to routines and daily lives that we witness all around us, such as pandemics, wars and natural disasters.

EFDN Programmes

Special Champions League

The EFDN Special Champions League is a new project of EFDN that provides a safe, inclusive, and active environment where young people over 15 years old with an intellectual disability can come together and play football at a level they are all comfortable with. EFDN organizes 2 to 4 European Football Festivals per year that are hosted by different EFDN members throughout the year. The tournaments are non-competitive and a way to promote greater social inclusion and acceptance of disability football within European Football clubs and the wider European population.

Through football, EFDN want to get more young people with intellectual disabilities physically and socially active in their communities and increase integration and inclusion within society. The EFDN Special Champions League has been shaped in line with the Special Olympics philosophy, and it will provide opportunities for participants to improve their physical health, increase their confidence, meet new people, learn about others, and establish social bonds. The Special Champions League is co-funded by Erasmus+.

EFDN Members

Some of the EFDN Members honoured the day through posts in order to increase the attention towards autistic people.

Neftçi PFK from Azerbaijan highlighted World Autism Day as part of their contribution to the #Morethanfootball Campaign.