Intolerance is Intolerable, and Ignorance is Not to be Ignored

Intolerance is Intolerable, and Ignorance is Not to be Ignored by The Autistic Dude on The Autistic Dude in a Neurotypical World


First up, Happy Autistics Speaking Day to everyone. I guess this is the autistic community’s answer to the so-called Communication Shutdown (which I considered to qualify as the “Three Little Pigs”: Pretentious, Pompous, and Presumptuous), and while I’ve heard about this celebration of the community speaking up for themselves, it has just been recently that I am able to be part of it.

It’s almost a year when I started my self-advocacy engagement, when I gradually accepted my identity as an autistic. As I’ve read the news on autism-related issues, attended seminars and activities for persons with autism and other special needs, and went around the world of social media, I had a taste of how autism is perceived by the world at large.

While some see the value and significance on how autism can be both a blessing and a challenge (as anything else in this world is), I have read and seen scenarios of intolerance and ignorance of other people and groups on what autism is, and how to deal those with the condition. It is appalling to see the bigotry some people manifest, such as the use the word “autistic” and other disability labels as slurs, the perception of autism as something like a dreadful disease that needs to be eradicated (along with those with said condition), and notwithstanding the fraud and deception some groups are doing to take advantage of the situation at hand just to fill their bloated pockets and their huge egos.

But what insults the autistic community is the hypocrisy and the audacity of such individuals and groups to claim to speak for the autistic community, when they are the proponents of intolerance and ignorance among the general public, no thanks to their misinformation and scaremongering campaigns to vilify and violate every autistic person living in this world.

What, then, can we do to combat intolerance and ignorance? Rather than tsk-tsking over them, we autistics can do something about it. The key is to stand up and speak out. Start with yourself. Do you really deserve how they treat you? From there, know more about what’s going on in the autism sphere, and go out to the community. Inspire other autistics to follow suit. That way, we all stand united.

After all, intolerance is intolerable, and ignorance is not to be ignored.

Happy Autistics Speaking Day, everyone.

The Autistic Dude in a Neurotypical World is a compendium of adventures, musings, and insights of a young male autistic Filipino adult, who grew up living in a neurotypical fashion in a neurotypical world. Here, you can find opinion, testimonies, and stories of the author, as he lives as a lone ranger, surrounded by people who have yet to understand the ways of autism and how it affects one as an adult.