Starting in 2024, Autism-Europe is running a multi-annual awareness-raising campaign under the motto “Not invisible”. This new theme has a double objective:
- It seeks to draw attention to the fact that autistic people’s needs are often made invisible in many areas. We want to raise awareness of the barriers and discrimination that autistic people face to advocate for their human rights to be upheld and supported in all areas of life, in line with the UN CRPD. We call for a society where autistic people are fully recognised and get the understanding, acceptance, and full enjoyment of their rights they deserve.
- It aims to highlight that while autism is often described as an “invisible” disability, autistic people, their representative organisations and their support networks should be empowered and visible in all spaces and matters that concern them. Nothing about autistic people should be done without autistic people.
In 2024, the campaign will have a special focus on autism visibility in the European elections (taking place in June), while spreading key messages covering a wide range of topics – from access to employment to the European Disability Card. Through these messages, we aim to raise awareness of autistic people’s struggles and strengths, which remain often invisible for most parts of our societies.
To engage with the media on the 2024 campaign you can use our press release – this document is designed to promote the campaign among your network and local media outlets. If you support our campaign, feel free to use it as a sample and adapt it for your organisation’s own needs.
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A pledge for candidates to the European elections
Elections for the European Parliament will take place in June 2024. It is therefore important to seize this opportunity to influence future EU decision-makers, and to encourage people to vote in the elections. As part of our campaign, we have drafted a pledge to encourage candidates to the European Parliament to uphold and promote the rights of autistic people.
We encourage you to reach out to your local candidates to the European Parliament and share the pledge with them. If they wish to support our campaign, ask them to take a photo signing the pledge, making the infinity gesture (see campaign’s toolkit, page 5) or holding our campaign poster.
Download the poster in English here
Download the pledge in English here
If you need guidance on how to approach your candidates, you will soon be able to access some advocacy tools, including links where to find candidates and template emails. This resource will be available in the coming weeks.
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Campaign toolkit
We have created a document that includes all the necessary information to spread the word about autism visibility and all the activities around the #AutismDay2024 and the “Not invisible” campaign.
Take a look at this toolkit to learn how you can participate in this year’s campaign and access valuable materials for download!
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Support the campaign activities online
This year, we encourage the autism community and its stakeholders to join us online to support the “Not Invisible” campaign throughout April and beyond.
- Photos with the infinity symbol gesture
We want to amplify the voice of autistic people to share their experiences and vision to continue building a society where autistic people are visible and empowered! We would particularly like to highlight the day-to-day experiences of autistic people and their families/support networks.
So, we invite the autism community to share their pictures and messages on social media photos throughout April 2024.
In these pictures, members and supporters could reproduce the infinity symbol using one’s hands, or for example, by forming the infinity sign with a group of people. There are multiple ways to recreate it in a creative and artistic manner!
The infinity symbol is a popular symbol among autistic people and autism rights advocates, symbolising a broad and varied spectrum of experiences. This symbol also represents the unity and strength of the autistic community.
This campaign gesture enhances the visibility of the campaign and encourages everyone to participate.
Please use the hashtag #AutismDay2024 and #AutismNotInvisible, and tag us in any post related to our campaign you’ll create.
Here’s the list of our social media handles:
- Twitter – @AutismEurope
- Facebook – @autismeurope.AE
- Instagram – @autismeurope
- LinkedIn – @Autism-Europe aisbl
If you don’t have time or resources to create your own social media posts, reshares from AE’s channels are always appreciated!