Our Language & History

Since our inception, AANE has been informed by the voices of our community. Our community is diverse, and includes individuals, families and professionals from varied, intersecting identities, and different lived experiences. Each individual we connect with is unique, and uses individualized, specific language that most resonates with them. 

Language used to understand your own identity and communicate who you are to others, is deeply personal. AANE respects the language each individual uses to understand themselves and their loved one. After thoughtful and deep listening sessions with our community about language use, we found that the name Asperger/Autism Network no longer aligned with how the majority of people we serve, and intend to serve, refer to themselves and their loved ones. In response to these findings we felt it was important to find a new name for the organization that reflects our current and future community, the breadth of our services, and our inclusive values. In addition, AANE has made the decision to utilize the term Autistic to refer to our community, and to use identity-first language. These changes and decisions were made to ensure we are informed by our community, and maintains a neurodiversity-affirming lens to guide our services and supports.

No, our new name communicates that we continue to serve the autism community, and we do this through a neurodiversity-affirming lens.

We welcome any Neurodivergent individual to check out our services and programs for Autistic and similarly Neurodivergent individuals–they might find something useful even if they do not identify as Autistic.

Our new name, The Association for Autism and Neurodiversity, is both a reflection of who we serve and how we provide support. We made the decision to retain the term autism to communicate who we serve, and included the term neurodiversity to highlight the lens through which we provide support and services.

Neurodiversity is the lens through which we offer services and supports. The term neurodiversity is used to communicate that brains are different, and no one type of brain is better than another. In fact, this type of diversity enriches our community. The autism community is who we serve, and we do this through a neurodiversity-affirming lens. 

Since our inception AANE has been informed by our community. Though there is not 100% consensus within our community on terminology, AANE aims to reflect the language that is used by most of our community. 

AANE embraces the capitalization of Autistic and Neurodivergent to emphasize Autistic culture and establish these terms as descriptors of an individual’s identity.

AANE serves an expansive and varied community of individuals, families, and professionals across the country and around the globe. The language folks use to talk about themselves and their loved ones varies. We respect each individual’s choice of language, and the majority of our community members use identity-first language to talk about themselves and their loved ones. If you do not use identity-first language, we encourage you to identify in the way that resonates with you. You may see this reflected in the first-person content on our website—for example, an author may choose to refer to themselves with language that is not identity-first.

Yes! Although our name has changed, our mission and who we serve has not. We welcome individuals and families who use language other than “autism” and “Autistic” to describe themselves and their loved ones. As always, a diagnosis is not required to be a part of our community or take part in our programs or services.

We will always respect everyone’s choice to use the language that is right for them. If you identify as an individual with autism or Asperger’s, or “on the spectrum,” or as an Aspie, or anything else—you are welcome here.

Please email us at [email protected]. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!