Roles

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Autistic Adults

At INTEGRAL, autistic adults play both of the most important roles: the role

of people who need support, and the role of people with life experience of

autism. Many autistic adults have insights about autism that no one else

has—insights about strengths, challenges, emotions, psychology, society, lifestyle, values, and so much more. In fact, the autistic adult community

has often known about aspects of autism for decades before these were

officially recognized in the sciences, and the limited research on autistic

adults means that autism experts still have a lot to learn from those adults

themselves. Further, parents who are raising autistic children stand to learn

a lot from the experiences and attitudes of autistic adults.

At INTEGRAL, we hope that autistic adults in our audience will engage with

each other and with non-autistic parents and professionals in attendance.

Many autistic adults have first-hand experience with learning how to

communicate with non-autistic people, facing anti-autism stigmas, the joys

of autistic interests and relationships, and countless other major and minor

details of autistic life. Most of these details, especially the subtle ones, are

not yet widely known or recognized by non-autistic people, and even many

autism specialists have not been exposed to first-hand accounts of life by

autistic adults.

Autistic adults at INTEGRAL can therefore help fill the gaps that service

providers, clinicians, researchers, and others need in order to build up an

accurate, thorough picture of the true diversity, complexity, and insights of

autistic adults.

Parents of Autistic People

At INTEGRAL, parents—both autistic and non-autistic—play several

important roles. First, they are usually the primary caregivers for autistic

people from birth through young adulthood, and often well into the later

adult years—with all of the trials and challenges this entails. This also means that autistic people are shaped in childhood by the attitudes of their

parents (or other caregivers) more than by any other source.

Second, parents of autistic people have and will play key roles in shaping

public attitudes, organizational standards, and legislative policies regarding

autistic people. Third, parents of autistic people have important insights

into the challenges of raising and supporting autistic people from

childhood, from feeding to communication to education to social stigmas,

and, therefore, where supports may be most needed.

Despite these important roles and the impact that non-autistic parents

have on the lives of autistic adults, these two groups have never formed a

single natural community. In fact, misunderstandings and hostility between

these groups, in both directions, has tended to divide rather than develop

strong, sustained links between them.

Since each group plays such a huge role in the life of the other, INTEGRAL

hopes to bring them closer together. Non-autistic parents at INTEGRAL are

therefore invited and encouraged to listen and connect with autistic adults,

as well as to share perspectives that only parents will ever have, all in the

spirit of working together to improve autistic lives across our society.

Autism Professionals

At INTEGRAL, professionals—both autistic and non-autistic—play a number

of key roles. In fact, the sheer number of professional roles in the lives of

autistic adults makes it hard to generalize about them. From professional

caregivers and social workers to scientists and social-justice advocates,

from healthcare workers to educators and from community leaders to

politicians, a wide range of professionals have serious impacts on the lives

of autistic adults.

What they all have in common is their unique power to both provide

support and advocate in favor of the needs, rights, and dignity of autistic

adults. Professionals bring professional credibility to the public image of

autism, and, for better or worse, stand as gatekeepers for autistic adults

who need help from our society.

At INTEGRAL, we want professionals with a stake in autism to learn directly

from autistic adults in an open-ended, non-clinical space where autistic

adults have the power to present their own narratives on their own terms.

We also want professionals, wherever appropriate, to describe and own

their roles in both supporting autistic people and advocating for social

change.

Both groups have much to teach the other: Professionals can learn details

of adult autism they are unlikely to encounter in “official” sources, while

they can also orient autistic adults to the political and logistical challenges

that must be tackled in terms of advocacy. In either direction, autism

professionals are a vital part of improving society’s understanding and

acceptance of autistic people.