About: World Autism Awareness Day

World Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognized day annually on 2 April, encouraging Member States of the United Nations to take measures to raise awareness about autistic individuals throughout the world. It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly resolution, passed in council on 1 November 2007, and adopted on 18 December 2007. It was proposed by Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned, the United Nations Representative from Qatar, and supported by all member states. This resolution was passed and adopted without a vote in the UN General Assembly, mainly as a supplement to previous UN initiatives to improve human rights. World Autism Day is one of only seven official health-specific UN Days. The terms "Autism Awareness Day" and "Autism Awareness Month" are sometimes contested by autism rights advocates, who claim that they feed into ableism against autistic people.