← Back to CalendarApril 18
Presuming Competence Day
A day within Autism Acceptance Month dedicated to the principle of presuming competence, assuming that every autistic person, regardless of communication or support needs, has the capacity to learn, communicate, and grow.
History
We mark April 18, within Autism Acceptance Month, as a day for presuming competence. The idea is usually traced to Anne Donnellan's 1984 criterion of the least dangerous assumption, and it was later championed by the disability rights movement as an alternative to judging people by IQ scores and speech ability.
How to Participate
- →Learn what 'presume competence' means in practice, how does it change your interactions?
- →Examine your assumptions about nonspeaking or minimally speaking autistic people
- →Advocate for communication access at every level, every autistic person deserves a way to communicate
- →Challenge the use of functioning labels that presume incompetence
- →Read or watch content by nonspeaking autistic people who are communicating in remarkable ways
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