World Autism Acceptance Week
Today marks the start of World Autism Acceptance Week 2023. Ambitious about Autism has partnered with Vanish to nurture a conversation that celebrates autistic girls, breaks down myths and broadens public understanding. There is a big imbalance between the number of men and boys diagnosed as autistic and the number of women and girls. The exact rate is unclear but the most recent estimate suggests girls are three times less likely to be diagnosed as autistic. Our new Me, My Autism & I campaign with Vanish and autism advocate Christine McGuinness aims to help autistic girls be seen, heard and supported.
Me, My Autism & I
Young people from our Ambitious Youth Network have played a key role in developing this campaign. Check out our new webpage to read articles from them and to find out more about the campaign. Together with Vanish, we have published new research highlighting the gender gap in autism diagnosis – you might spot news stories about this research this week! Our study revealed that it takes 1 in 4 girls over two years to get an autism diagnosis. For 14% of girls it takes over four years to get an autism diagnosis.
New free exhibition
Our campaign also focuses on the important part clothing can play in helping autistic people feel supported. For 75% of autistic people, keeping the look, smell and feel of clothes the same is important. We are taking part in a new free exhibition which opens at gallery@oxo near the Southbank in London from Wednesday 27 March - Sunday 2 April. The exhibition showcases the stories of 12 young autistic girls and the clothing items that help make the world more comfortable. Please do go and check out this free exhibition if you can!
New short film on Channel 4
Me, My Autism & I launches after Ambitious about Autism and Vanish won the Channel 4 Diversity in Advertising award. As part of the campaign a new short film directed by Oscar award winning director, Tom Hooper, will premiere on Channel 4 during Gogglebox at 9pm on Friday 31 March. Please do look out for it this Friday.
Get involved
Please check out our social media channels throughout this week for more content about the campaign and to hear the views and experiences of autistic girls and non-binary people. Follow the hashtag #MeMyAutismAndI.
