"Now, this rising generation of autistic adults is joining others in the movement to change autism discussions that, they say, have historically been 'about us, without us.'"

"More and more, they are influencing policies, leading protests against misleading anti-vaccine messages and the marketing of quack treatments, pushing for fair representation in media coverage, movies and TV shows, such as 'Sesame Street,' and helping to reshape language and outdated opinions about what autism really means. (For example, many self-advocates ask to be called 'autistic people' rather than 'people with autism' because the latter implies a disability.) More and more autistic people, such as 16-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg, are taking pride in their identities. This month, she called autism her 'superpower.'... [Self-advocates object to teaching] autistic people to mimic neurotypical behaviors that are not natural to them. [Jillian Parramore, an autistic person in California] said providers would come into her preschool class to teach her how to 'walk and talk and breathe like a human — one that they understood to be human.' Parramore, who did not fully speak until she was 10, said trainers would also force her to practice facial expressions in the mirror to convey emotions, saying, 'show me happy, show me sad, show me angry.' 'To this day, I get really freaked out when I see a mirror in public because I immediately want to go through the facial expressions,' she said. 'I’ve even learned to put on lipstick without a mirror because it’s too much for me.'"

From "How a ‘Sesame Street’ Muppet became embroiled in a controversy over autism/Autistic self-advocates are changing discussions that, they say, have historically been 'about us, without us'" (WaPo). Despite the headline, the article is not mostly about "Sesame Street." The comments at the link are fantastic, with some very articulate autistic people dominating. Example:

It is wrong to put a child through conversion therapy which drives them to PTSD just so they can appear neurotypical in ways that do not disable them at all. Cosmetic behaviors like stimming are not corrected for a child's benefit, but rather for the benefit of an ignorant public.

And (from another comment by the same person):

I feel it is rational to assert that society as a whole could benefit if more people with autism could be understood and provided with a better opportunity to contribute. I feel fewer people with autism would end up in institutions, jails, and unemployment lines, and I feel that more savants would be able to step up and make the one-to-species contributions that we are known for.

It isn't a matter of entitlement. The question is: What choices are good for both a minority that needs to be protected and for our society as a whole? The answers come out the same. Encourage understanding, not cruelty, in the general population. Offer *reasonable* accommodations. Don't try to force us to be like everyone else.