30 Days of Autism Acceptance 2021
Rules: Answer the prompt of the day on your own separate post. You can answer as many or as few of these as you like. Answer with as much or as little detail as you wish. Some questions this year have an alternative option that you can do if you prefer. You can answer just one or both of them. And make sure to tag it as #30daysofautismacceptance and #2021. And feel free to do this on any other social media platform that you want as well. Please help me spread this before the start of April!
Note: This year for the prompts I collaborated with my friend @lesmiserabby to make them. Half of the prompts were made by her and the other half were made by me.
April 1st: Introduce yourself. Talk about who you are as a person. Your age, hobbies, special interests, family, etc. Anything you feel comfortable sharing.
April 2nd: Post your redinstead photos today. Alternatively, you could talk about what autistic pride/autism acceptance month means to you.
April 3rd: How do you feel about dating/romantic relationships? Have you dated in the past/are you currently in a relationship/do you eventually want one? Do you feel that your experience of autism/stereotypes around autism and relationships impacts this?
April 4th: Are there any topics regarding autism that you feel don’t get discussed enough?
April 5th: What was school like for you, or what is it currently like for you if you are still in school? Elementary, high school, post-secondary?
April 6th: Are you able to drive? If so, was it difficult to learn? What was difficult about it? If not, do you use any alternatives?
April 7th: How are you with sarcasm and/or metaphors/figures of speech? Do you interpret things very literally?
April 8th: Talk about friendship. How important are friends to you? Do you find it hard to make and maintain friendships? Are your friends generally supportive? Is there anything about having friends that confuses you?
April 9th: How has the pandemic impacted you? Has it changed routines? Do you like or dislike masks? What do you wish allistics and neurotypicals knew/understood about how the pandemic is impacting autistic people?
April 10th: How important is representation to you? Is the representation that is out there generally good or bad? What is your favorite piece of representation? What you like to see more of in autism representation? What would you like to see less of?
April 11th: What are your thoughts/feelings about masking (a term for when autistic people hide their autistic traits)? Do you mask?
April 12th: Is there anything you find hard to do because of being autistic? Is there anything that you find easy?
April 13th: How much preparation and planning do you need before doing new things, or even for familiar things? Do you need to be totally prepared ahead of time or are you more comfortable with being spontaneous/just going for it? Does it vary for you depending on the thing or the day?
April 14th: What do you like about being autistic?
April 15th: Do you work? If so, what is that like for you? Are you open about being autistic at work? Alternatively, how open are you about being autistic? Do you tell a lot of people? Or just a select few? How do people normally react when you tell them? If you don’t tell people, then why?
April 16th: What did it feel like when you interacted with other autistic people for the first time? What does the autistic community mean to you? How important is it?
April 17th: How do you feel about terms like “special needs”?
April 18th: Talk about identity. Is being autistic an important part of your identity? What does being autistic mean to you? Which do you prefer: identity first or person first language and why?
April 19th: Do you enjoy music, or do you find it overstimulating? If you do like music, what kind of music do you prefer?
April 20th: What are some things that allistic people do that you find confusing?
April 21st: Do you stim? If so, what are your favourite ways of stimming? What does stimming feel like for you?
April 22nd: What are some things allistic people can do to better support/accommodate autistic people?
April 23rd: How specific is your routine? Does it vary slightly from day to day? Do things have to be at the exact same time, or does just the order matter? How important is having a routine to you?
April 24th: Are there things that seemed to come naturally to others that you had to try to learn over time?
April 25th: Do you experience executive dysfunction? If so, how often? What is it like for you? What do you wish neurotypicals understood about it?
April 26th: Talk about special interests. Do you have special interests? If not do you wish you did? What do your special interests mean to you? What are your current special interests? What are your past special interests?
April 27th: What is your favourite form of media? For example, do you enjoy books? What format do you prefer for books (physical, e-book, audiobook)? Did you love reading as a kid but find it challenging as you got older? How about movies, tv, or video games? Do you have a favourite series?
April 28th: If you could give advice to someone who just found out that they are autistic, what advice would you give?
April 29th: How do you feel about shoes? Are they good sensory? Bad sensory? Are there certain types of shoes that you find more or less comfortable? Do you struggle with replacing shoes when they’re worn out?
April 30th: What would you like your overall message for autism acceptance month to be?