About the Conference

The question “What is autism” has concerned everybody who has come across an autistic person. Researchers have been trying to answer this affirmatively, for many decades now. But these descriptions are based on external observations and many a time; do not completely match the lived experiences of Autistic people. Yet, we seldom have public discussions about autism from the point of view of an Autistic person.

To celebrate autism awareness month in April 2021, we are organising: This is my autism: a one of its kind conference in India. It will feature only Autistic presenters, who will educate us about how autism looks like from the inside. We hope that these stories and ideas will lead us to better understand Autism and support our loved ones who are Autistic.

Prices

This conference is available for free to all who want to participate.

We will be advertising for businesses run by Autistic people. Through this, we hope to support and encourage Autistic people’s ideas, talents and livelihood without charging them for advertising.

However, we are incurring expenses to organise this event. Therefore, we encourage you to donate as per your financial ability.

Profile of Presenter

• Identity – The Presenter must identify as an Autistic
• Status of diagnosis- Self-diagnosed individuals are also welcome
• Nationality – Autistic people from all around the world are welcome.
• Marginalised groups – We particularly welcome non-speakers and those from other marginalised groups within the Autistic community to present.
• Age – We acknowledge that Autistic people of all ages must be heard and may have amazing insights to present. However, due to certain constraints, we are only able to allow adults: ages 18+ to present this time.
• Gender – we acknowledge that many Autistic people identify as non-binary gender. Therefore, we welcome people of any gender.

SUBMISSIONS FOR PRESENTATIONS HAVE BEEN CLOSED

Inappropriate Topics

The following topics may not be appropriate to the theme and vision of the conference, and therefore will not be encouraged.

1. Cure for or prevention of Autism
2. Causes for Autism
3. Benefits of particular therapies (unless from an advocacy perspective)
4. How helpful particular therapists or organisations have been (unless from an advocacy perspective)

Audience

We expect the following categories of people to attend this conference.

• Autistic people
• Parents of Autistic people
• Other loved ones of Autistic people: siblings/ friends/ colleagues/ relatives
• Professionals working with Autistic people
• Disability rights advocates
• Students of sociology, education, psychology and disability studies

Questions and Answer Session

Audience will be allowed to type in their questions throughout the session. One of the organisers from the TruHap team will make a list of all the questions. The Question and Answer session will be scheduled after every three presentations.

Timelines

Please note the following

1. Many of our presenters have no prior experience in giving presentations to the audience. All we want is to give them a platform to voice their opinions.
2. We request you to accept our presenters if they are unable to follow the social norms of self presentation and encourage our presenters to not feel embarassed when they stim, forget and ask for help.

Schedule for Day 1: 18th April 2021

Schedule for Day 2: 25th April 2021