The Purpose of FAE
	For Autistic Empowerment, or FAE (rhymes with pay) for short, is a student organization at UTD by Autistic people, for Autistic people. We seek to create a community where we, actual autistic folks, can be ourselves and meet people like us, through organizing activities such as social groups and big events like this one—The Autistic Culture Rally.
	There are a few things that define what FAE is, and some that define what FAE is not. First off, we are an Autistic-lead organization, and so while we love the time and effort put in by allies, we work to ensure that the message put out reflects Autistic voices first; never someone else’s opinions about us. As a saying in the disability community goes, we want “nothing about us without us.”
	In line with this, FAE is not a “parent”, “caregiver”, or “professional” organization—unless those parents, caregivers or professionals are Autistic themselves. This ensures that we get a chance to speak for ourselves, an opportunity rarely afforded to Autistic people.
	FAE is also an acceptance and empowerment organization. We want to celebrate Autism, celebrate Autistic people, and celebrate Neurodiversity, which is the idea that brains comes in all kinds and that all kinds are valid. We reject the notion that Autism is an inherently bad thing to be.
	On that note, we are not for Awareness. Awareness makes people know that a thing exists, makes them “Aware” of the thing, but does not tell them anything about that thing. I like to say that Awareness without Education just leads to fear, and alas most awareness is indeed without education. On that note, most Autistic people take issue with puzzle piece motifs that are classically associated with Autism.