In the past two decades, our societies have become more fluent in the language of mental health. Public campaigns  encourage people to...

It’s easy to get caught up in the search for new symbols, new slogans, new ways to “reframe” autism. But the risk is that these abstract concepts become so polished, so removed from the daily lived reality of many autistic individuals, that they stop representing them at all. Not everything has to be shiny or new. Not everything has to be metaphorical or aspirational. Sometimes, the most powerful way to accept autism is not through symbols—but through sustained, patient, and