At the beginning of 2018, we started contact with Eric, founder of the Autistan Diplomatic Organization. Eric came to our website to get volunteers(the) that would help him in the various tasks that the organization had. At that moment, We have not been able to achieve a project itself, but in 2019 The idea arose to mobilize people to build the first international event entirely planned by autistic people and with the support of people allied to the cause.

On the day 31/03/2019, the Autistan Diplomatic Organization held the "Autistan Day" to raise awareness of the cause of autistic people. The entire event was organized by autistic people from different states of Brazil and by international members. The idea of the event was to address different topics that permeate the daily lives of autistic people. Through a virtual conversation circle, Autistan Day allowed several autistic people to tell the world how they feel in their personal and interpersonal relationships. You can check out the entire event here.

Below I highlighted some excerpts from the opening text of the event that was written by Eric:

What is Autistan?

Eric: The word "Autistan" (translated into Autistan in Portuguese) It's simply a name, invented by our French autistic friend Josef Schovanec, in 2014. This name literally means "the country of autistics".

A "country of autistic people" or a "world of autistic people" is a metaphor for talking about things specific to autistic people: Different views on the world, The ways of thinking, the sensibilities and special qualities, as well as the original creations of autistic people.

Each autistic person has their own piece of "Autistan", usually without knowing it. When you enter the world of an autistic person, You will move in a "mental frame" very different from your usual frame of reference, that of the "standard normal world". Like this, After this experience, you will have the impression of having taken "a trip to Autistan". This happens, for instance, When an autistic person explains their thoughts, Passions, works or until when, not to mention, Your inner peace or innocence is shared.

Use the name "Autistan", as a kind of "virtual country", It allows more things than with just the word "autism". That's because "Autistan" gives a sense of place, And this is very interesting for autistic people, because, in a lifetime, We have an impression of always being foreigners, with no "place of their own", the impression that in every social place, in every social situation, You're going to have a problem or a discomfort. Which is very close to reality, unfortunately.

The fundamental importance of understanding the difference between autism and so-called "disorders"

Eric: Autism and "disorders" (or the related difficulties) They are two different things. Autism is the specific nature of autistic people, who is "protected" from what I call "non-autistic disorders".

The autistic, As much as he is "authentically autistic", less adapted or altered by social conventions, will be living mentally in a kind of "natural reference", with a personality of its own, More original and in harmony with nature, Order, Justice and Truth. He is more sensitive, and at the same time has a kind of "self-protection" against the absurd and social vices, of which non-autistic people are victims, unfortunately, living in an artificial social system disconnected from nature.

Autistic people who do things other than that, such as, for instance, lie, they simply do things that are not representative of autism, because the most authentic autistic people don't even have the idea of lying or doing things to feel superior, to manipulate, to try to imagine what others think of them. What forms most of the concerns of non-autistic people, unfortunately, That I don't blame, because they are victims of this social system.

There are also "disorders" that are very subjective such as, for instance, The fact that they prefer to be isolated without communicating much is seen as a "disorder" only because of the current social system that is based on a kind of fashion of hyper-communication where everything is "social", But in reality the natural preference for solitude is not a disorder, but only a way of being, which is worth no less than wasting your time in gossip and constant social strife.

I'm not saying that autistic people prefer solitude in general, but to prefer to leave the solitude, to get closer to the "social mess", This system of society has a lot to do to make it seem attractive to us.

Once we understand that finally the so-called "autism" is just a "non-autistic concept", and that the "normal" system has many defects and should not dictate our lives, We can start to overcome and live better, with the acceptance of autism, not as a disease or a disorder, But as our nature differs, which is neither worth more nor less than the other differences. Only the current social system is wrong, Not the people.

Recognize that each autistic person lives more or less in their own world, or your own reference or value system, is simply acknowledging the truth, And there's nothing wrong with that; But that doesn't mean autistic people want or should live just like that, Isolated, 'Cause how we have the right to difference (Like any living being), We also have the right to inclusion, to a life without more suffering than others, to a happy life.

And what is the Autistan Diplomatic Organization?

Eric: Autistan is just a name, but to do concrete and useful things, we have the Autistan Diplomatic Organization, that tries to do everything possible to explain these things and to improve relations between all groups or bodies that want to help autistic people to have a better and dignified life.

As our organization is not involved in the internal conflicts of each country, We can propose our visions, Our Tools, our support when possible, in a complementary way to what already exists, When this is useful, and with a global approach that can help public authorities better understand the importance of the requests of national activist groups.

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With this text, Eric tried to summarize the essentials to understand about Autistan Day. The Autistan Diplomatic Organization was at the Good Deeds Day in Rio de Janeiro and exposed the concept of Autistan to the public present.
See here the clip they prepared on the occasion:

Interested? To learn more about Autistan contact their profile at Our Platform and access the Official website of the organization. If you want to support this cause, visit the website of Shop.

*Text written by Eric, founder of the Autistan Diplomatic Organization, and by Cássia Souza, project analyst at Atados.