Autism Acceptance Week 2025: The Grand Finale.

  

 

You never listened to a word that I said
You only seen me from the clothes that I wear
Or did the interest go so much deeper?
It must have been to the color of my hair

 

So it's the final day of Autism Acceptance Week 2025 (it allegedly continues for the whole month but let's be honest most folk get bored by the end of the first day) and time to give a round-up of the highs and lows of this years celebration of all things Autistic.

As expected  none of the major political parties posted a fucking thing about it, neither did the Prime Minister or the First Minister up here or any MPs/MSPs, none of the schools or colleges the kids attend mentioned it and aside from a few NAS volunteers at our local Morrisons it seemed to be largely forgotten as usual.

Tho' my AUTISTIC t-shirt seemed to make a few folk uncomfortable whilst I was out buying toilet roll so swings and roundabouts really. 

It wasn't all bad tho' as at least an animated sheep remembered.

Which is why we bloody love Shaun The Sheep (and Aardman).

Tho' saying that Feathers McGraw did nothing wrong.

 

But it was Darth Vader and a friendly Jawa from The Imperial Scottish Garrison that really made an impact for me (and especially Cassidy) this year with one of the most genuinely lovely interactions I've ever experienced and if I'm honest it was this event at The Riverside Museum that made me realise that yes, some people do actually give a damn.

Plus that small interaction was so much more impactful than the UN's plan of "Advancing Neurodiversity and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) whilst  highlights the intersection between Neurodiversity and global sustainability efforts".

Whatever the fuck that means.

But maybe I'm just too stupid (I do have a developmental disorder after all) to understand that "Showcasing how inclusive policies and practices can drive positive change for autistic individuals worldwide and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs" is way more important than basic human rights like access to education and simple support for families.

I'd ask a clever person to explain it to me but they're all busy elsewhere obviously, I mean those SDGs aren't gonna grow themselves.

 

 Oh, what you wanted was never made clear
Behind the image was ignorance and fear
You hide behind this public machine
You still follow same old scheme

 

So I can safely say that the biggest change I noticed during 2025s Autism Awareness Week was how normally advocating for my family (whilst trying to prove to the outside world that we exist) feels like screaming into the void, this year it felt like even the void had given up being there and had packed up and gone home.

Regular readers (are there any?) will have read my review of 2024 and the pressures that we - as an Autistic family - are under (and let's be honest, we wont be the only ones) and probably be shocked and outraged by the situation.

Well if that's the case take that shock and outrage and use it because nothing about any of the situations has changed and it would be nice to have a few more folk onside.

Not just for us but for all the Autistic families denied support and care.

Because we're not just for April.

And we have really good memories when it comes to bearing grudges.

Trust me.

 

 Public image, you got what you wanted
The public image belongs to me
It's my entrance, my own creation
My grand finale, my goodbye