Here’s my impromptu, unplanned speech on “Why Autistic Pride Matters” at MANCHESTER AUTISTIC PRIDE 2018. Thank you so much Mercy Charpentier for organizing an Autistic Pride by Autistics, for Autistics. You and everyone else who we spoke to there were an absolute pleasure to meet. “We are stronger together. It’s why Pride matters. It’s what unites us in the face of shame, stigma, bullying, discrimination and abuse. Pride offers an alternative. So I choose Pride. Not fear.