Funding went to large organisations with token autistic voices, Anita Aherne said

Anita Aherne said she had watched it happen and was frustrated by it. A lot of grants and money, she told the panel on autistic led programs at the Autistic Pride Day Symposium in Sydney on 9 June 2024, was going to large organisations “who are appointing autistic voices just as a token gesture to get the funding.” She also objected to what the money was for. The funders, she said, had their own perceived idea of what autistic programs should be and their own idea of the outcomes. “And the outcomes are trying to make the autistic person more like a neurotypical person.”

The exchange began when Kyriakos Gold, who hosted the session, put it to the panel that running an autistic led program probably costs more than not running one, because consultation costs money, and asked whether any support existed. A panellist said it was limited. “I haven’t been able to come across any sort of monetary support.” The panellist credited the autistic community with great generosity in kind, through advice and guidance, which they called incredible. Money was another matter. Earlier in the session Rebecca McCash, founder of the social enterprise FutureTech, had named funding and grant applications as among the largest barriers FutureTech faced, saying the applications were often written in a way that did not ask the right questions. She also pointed to the networking and socialising that comes with being an entrepreneur, which can be hard for autistic founders.