Non Speaking Not Silent wrote "The actual Autism crisis" at Non-Speaking Not Silent: AAC Apps and Service Dogs

TW all the trigger warnings an.iesm, death abuse, and pretty much everything 

           There is a very real and serious Autism crisis

Yes we do have and Autism crisis and it seems t be an invasive epidemic world wide! But it's not what you think! 

The crisis isn't about "the rise in autism rates," something that is largely do to more awareness and understanding about Autism 

No the crisis  is invasive, frightening and dangerous 

The Autism crisis is....

Am invasive lack of presumption of competence especially when we do not have or use verbal communication or when our verbal communication is deemed poor

It's the assumption that those who do use verbal speech need few or even no supports at all,  and the reality their needs are often over looked, ignored and rarely accommodated

autistic communication rights are ignored, before we can have access to a full comprehensive AAC system we are often told to "prove it low tech first," when we don't use AAC 100 percent perfect right off that bay we are said to be in interested, many alternative communication methods are viewed as "con traversal and even when we are clearly typing on our own either the authenticity of out words or that of our diagnosis are called into question

The communication support needs of autistics with decent to excellent verbal skills is overlooked and ignored entirely

The fact that communication and verbal skills are seen as binary concepts

The fact that access to communication AIDS and a variety of methods of non speech based communication methods isn't seen as a basic human right for us,

The fact that people assume we don't communicate if we can't use or don't use verbal speech or an AAC 

The fact we have to remind people behavior is communication 

That children are expected to spend 40 plus hours a week in therapies designed to try to make us  indistinguishable from our peers or as normal as possible while also getting other therapies and being expected to also go to school, childhoods stolen in hopes of making us seem normal 

A growing number of dangerous and experimental treatments and abusiveAnd therapies in hopes of curing us, many of which would be considered child abuse with a non autistic child, prominent example is mms (mini ale mineral solution aka bleach fed to children and administered though enimmas  

The fact that autistic friendly therapies are not seen as a priority and learning to pass as normal is even at the detriment of the autistic individual

The fact RPM isn't more widely available and I'm not sure if insurance will even cover it

The fact that stim suppression is considered a training goal even though stimming is critical for many of us

The fact that essentially dog training techniques are used as therapies on us to train us to act normal.

The fact there are therapy goals at teaching us to play "the right way" (aka the non Autstic way)

The fact it's seen as acceptable to talk about us like we aren't Ben there when we are next to you!

The. Fact that proper clump comorbidy in with being part of autism and don't look at them separately as additional things we have to deal with,

The fact that organizations that claim to represent while ignoring us when we say something is harmful and they will try to silence us and claim to speak for us while shutting us out, spreading fear and stigma. 

It's the attitudes that murdering us is some how mercy, while our killers often parents and care givers  are painted as victims and us the undo burden who they had to endure,  our support needs and challenges are used to justify our murders,  that when we are murdered the reports aren't about how it is an unspeakable act of cold blooded murder but rather about the struggles of our killers, 

The fact society seems to send them message we and our loved ones are better off if we were never born or if we are dead

The fact that we have to fight for our basic human rights and those are often ignored.

The fact that parents showing videos of us at our worst  to "educate" by posting about how hard and horrible autism makes their lives is seen as acceptable and our dignity and privacy not being valued especially in the face of parents talking about their suffering

The fact parents suffering matters more then the Barrie's that we face due to ableism and a societies attitudes about us

The pervasive use of functioning labels that paint an inaccurate picture about an autistic individual and our needs, capabilities and assets, 

The using of functioning labels to silence and function shame autistics 

The fact that being able to type is used against us to invalidate out voices especially if we type well (spoiler how well we type tells you nothing about what challenges, daily struggle S or impairments we have)

The fact that any small success or having certain life skills even if they are not as important as ones we struggle with is s used against  us to silence us 

The fact that functioning shaming is a thing 

The voices of Parents " professionals and organizations being valued over those of actually Autistic people 

The mere fact an autistic person can disagree with something or say "wow that's harmful," or "how would you feel if that was up you," to things like meltdowns p or personal care things being put out on the Internet for the world to see and 100 parents will jump in and attack or harass the autistic person, really all an autistic person needs do is disagree with the something posted by a parent, org or a non autistic and they get attacked.
The fact that there are amazing parents and family members out there who work to lift up Autistic voice, support neurodiversity fight for presumtion of comptenence fight agaisnst all the issues on this list to better the lives of their children and loved ones only to also be dismissed and told they have it easy and clearly don't know what "real autism is,'
this whole "this is real autism," thing often used by people who feel autism isn't being portrayed right often used as an attack on what they see as ?to happy a depiction" and ignoring the fact that autism is complex.

Autstic adults and children are constantly exposed to hearing terms like "burden," "crisis" "Broken," "lost," damaged and "trapped" in reference to us and being autistic and this is seen as ok while "valued," "competent," "life worth living," "being seen as a whole person," and any discussion of acceptance and understanding is seen as"glorifying autism," controversial and radical 

The fact that people take offense to the Neurodiversity movement that basically say different neurology and disability is part of human experience, disabled people and people with different neurologist have a right to our basic rights, understanding  supports we need and acceptance for who we are and it's ok to have different neurological make up and to have disabilities what ever they may be it doesn't take away from our value as a person

The insistence one use of mental age

The idea IQ test accurately determine anything really.

The fact that most of the funding for autism goes into studies about causes, prevention and prenatal testing instead of into studies on what services and community supports are most beneficial to autistics, to adult services and community support or to services for adults
The fact that April is often a traumatic time for Autistics as we are looded with harmful awareness adds that stigmatize us, stories of our peers treating us as humans and being praised for it and inspiration porn, and of coarse lets not forget the light it up blue which is a giant add for autism speaks that  the autistic community has addressed as harmful and is the center of a massive boycott,
The fact that the autistic run and founded events in April for acceptance and understanding such red instead, the blog challenge, and a variety of alternatives to light it up blue are generally ignored drowned out by the things lifted above

The fact that services and supports for autistic adults especially in community supports are rare and hard to find 

The fact most services cut off at 22
The fact most organizations providing service dogs for Autistics will not train them for adults and many are either scam or well intentioned but promoting and using practices/tasks such as tethering that are highly dangerous to both dog and he autistic individual. Even though there are a variety of tasks  that guide and hearing dogs perform that can really help mitigate and manage sensory processing issues.

The fact that poor families, families of color and minorities and females are less likely to receive an autism diagnosis and the gender and cultural biases in the diagnostics and the autism field

The fact most people think of autism they depict a white male child often sad looking

The fact that even though every other disability community has pretty much realized  negative awareness techniques and using pitty to get funds was wrong and damaging so they did away with it like in the 60s or 70s (it's 2 am I don't have the exact date more the spoons to look it up) up yet this is the main way fundraising is done in the autism community 

The fact that electro shock is seen as a reasonable way to treat autism and is just reaching the fear in hopes of having it banned as I humane in the year 2016! Please FDA ban aversive shock therapy!

The fact sensory issues are rarely taken seriously 

The fact that non autistics are praised for treating us like people

The fact we have to fight to be seen as humans 

The fact that passing means our diagnosis is devalued and not means we are denied  out autonomy 

The fact that our sexuality is ignored
the fact that we spend hours in compliance training
the fact that having emotions such as anger, frustration and being upset while normal for everyone else is seen as being defiant and uncooperative,

The fact that autistic is used as an insult now by some

The fact that use of autistic is ignored and even painted are therapy 

The fact that when autistic choose to use identity first non autistic people correct us and tell us how to talk about ourselves and insist we use person first.

The fact we are often given little to no autonomy 

The rampant infantalization of autistics

The fact doctors still tell parents if we don't do X by age 5 we never will 

The fact that the entire focus is to make us normal and not to accommodate us and help us grow with our strengths
The fact you can be denied an organ transplant because you are Autistic
the practice of forcing eye contact

The fact that the world tells us it's better we pass and burn ourselves out completely then we seem even a bit Autistic

The fact that our accommodations and needs aren't taken seriously and are often treated as not real or a burden

The fact that we are seen as tragedies not people 

The fact it's 2-3:30 am  and I can rattle these off the top of my head despite being half awake!

I know I am missing so many more!

This is the real Autism crisis

 The real Autism crisis is how society treats us the Autism crisis is Ableism!

this is a crisis we must address and needs to be dealt with!

this is the Autism crisis Autistics face everydaay!

Image description white Germany Shepard wrappers in 2 blankets laying on a brown leather couch with head  on a white pillow dangling back over the side of the couch

ASDay Post

Kathryn Bjornstad-Kelly writes "ASDay Post" at Katy Doesn't Live In Smithton.


I don't even want to think about how long it's been since I've posted here.
And I didn't want to think about how long it had been since I'd been involved with Autistics Speaking Day, or any sort of activism, when I talked to Corina again.  I mean, it was no secret that I had stopped doing pretty much everything that I used to do.  I had helped popularize ASDay, but now I had started avoiding it every year, as it arrived and on the actual date and as it passed.  Too much depression and anxiety.  Too much self-loathing.  Too much doubt.  Too much panic that welled up inside me anytime I tried to do anything that made me feel like maybe I was a person.  Too many voices telling me, "You'll never be good enough."
But that wasn't who I wanted to be anymore.  On new medication, I was doing a lot better, and starting to enjoy life again.  I had been spending time through the past few months fixing all of the problems that I used to spend hours worrying about, and it was making life better for me.  And I was not going to be afraid of Autistics Speaking Day forever when it could be fixed, and I could have what I wanted and I was capable of doing the job.  So ignoring the tangled pit of fear and doubt in my stomach, I sent Corina an IM.


Read the rest here!

If You Value Autistics, Return Our Voices

Riki wrote "If You Value Autistics, Return Our Voices" at ZebraRiki.


(Note: I started this on Monday, but then I was too exhausted to finish it, so I’m posting it a day late)
Today is Autistic Speaking Day.

It’s Autistic Speaking day, and my friend and colleague is in Ottawa at a National Youth Forum discussing what an accessible Canada would look like.

It’s Autistic Speaking day and just yesterday I rolled into a theatre, saw my name on a sign as the guest speaker, and reflected on the collaboration we had we done with the theater company and the amazing work that has been done this past year.

I’ve spoken at the United Nations in Geneva, made UN submissions as an autistic person representing autistics, been involved in National Campaigns,

and you know what?

this morning my phone broke even more, and I cried.

I pressed the non-responsive buttons repeatedly as if they some how held the answers I desperately needed.

I stared at that broken phone in disbelief and all the exhaustion came rushing back.

I’m so tired.

Last night was amazing.  It was amazing and I was preparing to write a very different post for today.  I still want to write that post.

But this one, this is something I have been putting off for so long.

A few weeks ago when  I spoke at the consultation for the Canada Accessibility Act, I first spoke on the barriers I was facing as I was working to be involved in advocacy (and other things).  How having a disability, especially multiple disabilities, impacts how you are able to deal with your disability.  How being poor, not living in acccessible housing, and not having access to necessary medical supplies has left me with constant health problems in addition to what I normally deal with.  How I struggle to fill out forms so much that it is often easier for me to simply go without, how this means I miss out on constant opportunities.  Everything I accomplish takes so much out of me that I return exhausted, with less energy complete necessary functions others consider simple.  With increased damage to my body.

I have failed disability studies courses 5 separate times.

That’s a different post, but it’s important because I so often see amazing disabled people pushed out of the field, their experiences enriching their non-disabled classmates, who go on to graduate and find jobs in the field,

while our expertise is overlooked and miscredited, and if we are lucky enough to get paid (we usually are not), we are frequently underpaid.  Our involvement is not considered serious, or work, or something worth paying for.

This needs to change.

I love what I do, and yes, the stress, the tears, all of it is worth it.

But here is the problem.

I don’t constantly cry about money just because it would be easier for me and others,

I do so because I have been barely able to hang on for several months now.

I have some of the most amazing people in my life, and their support, their love, hope, optimism, that allows me to keep mine.  Because my life is filled with such amazing people, I’ve spent the past few months trying to drag myself through this, knowing that there can be something in the future.

With all the talk that everyone does about Autism, how much money raised goes to support Autistics?  And actually support them, not just fund questionable therapies.  How much money goes to us, the Autistics working so hard for this.  We don’t do it for praise, we often get dragged through the mud by so many people for this work.  We put our reputations, our sanity, ourselves, on the line for this because we know they never  mattered in the first place.

And all I want is for someone else to not have to make the choices I’ve had to make.  To not have to try to balance a non-existent budget but then find out too late that when you don’t eat because you ran out of food, it’s impossible to work.

I don’t want people having to triage emergencies, because everything is urgent.

I don’t want people losing themselves because it’s hard when you don’t have time to process your own trauma and tragedy.  To deal with it.

It’s terrifying to make decisions that will be better for you and your community in the long run but right now, oh right now they hurt.  They hurt so much.  And yes, yes they are worth it.

But that doesn’t make them hurt less.

I do not regret my decisions.

But sometimes I have to take a moment and just acknowledge the weight of them.  It’s how I stop it from crushing me.

So I am writing this because the last year has been amazing but also terrifying.  I wouldn’t have made it without having such an amazing group of awesome supportive people in my life.

But I can’t keep running on empty.

I think I can because I’m so used to it.  But I can’t.

And this is relevant to you, to others, because I have a lot to give, a lot that I can do.  It’s not the same situation here in Canada.  I’ve tried to replace me before, but we’re not yet there.  (Trust me, there was a whole month long thing where I cried a lot and was willing to put myself in a very questionable position Patreonbecause we couldn’t find a replacement me for something yet).

So what I’m asking for, is help.

especially to non-Autistic people, stop donating to large non-Autistic orgs and consider donating to self advocates.

Stop stealing our voices

Give them back.

If you are able, (and I know, times are very hard right now, for us all), I’m setting up some fundraisers,

No obligation, No pressure, but if you are interested,

I have a YouCaring page, and also a Patreon

Authenticity

Mintythings wrote "Authenticity" on Some Open Space.

Mild trigger warning for discussion of being outcast.


The reason this business  caught my attention so strongly is because it relates to something I’ve felt in my own life for a long time– the pressure to be authentic and the impossibility of being authentic.

Authenticity is socially valued. Having a strong sense of your own identity and expressing it faithfully is supposed to make you a good person. Honesty and straightforwardness are supposed to make people refreshingly easy to deal with. People who are willing to defy social norms in pursuit of authenticity are supposed to be not just better company, but somehow also morally better, than people who are overly concerned with appearances and social conventions.

All this is true, if the things you express in defiance of social norms are the kind of things your audience likes to hear.

It’s circular logic. It’s a paradox. It’s a Catch-22. You’re supposed to express your authentic self in defiance of what’s normal, but only if your authentic self is normal enough to be acceptable.

If your authenticity is of a kind that contradicts what your audience thinks an honest, authentic person should be like– their ideas about human nature and what’s normal– or if your authentic self seems like an unpleasant person or even just a boring person to them, chances are you’ll receive a very similar negative reaction (if not a worse one) to what you’d have gotten for being “fake”.

Everyone sometimes has to weigh authenticity against social norms, choosing to either be honest at the cost of negative reactions, or to hide an authentic feeling or fake an inauthentic one in order to be accepted.

What do you do if it seems that you have to make that choice all the time? That your entire authentic self falls outside the bounds of what’s socially acceptable?

What do you do if trying with all your might to fake normalcy still leaves you outside the norm?

What do you do if you’re autistic, and

your body language

your tone of voice

the way you express emotions

the things you feel emotional about

the foods you like

your hobbies and interests

the things you aren’t interested in

 
are all somewhere on the continuum from “boring” to “deeply unpleasant” as far as your society is concerned?

Well, some of us become social outcasts.

Others put an incredible amount of effort into becoming more normal– often with encouragement from their doctors and teachers, who urge them to think of autism as something that can be practiced and trained away.

When they fail, their unintended authenticity is judged as boring, childish, obsessive, sloppy, robotic, oversensitive, passive, rude, inhuman. When they succeed, they have to live with the knowledge that they can never really succeed, because success is supposed to be authentic, and easy, not something you work for. Trying is failure– in your own eyes, even if other people don’t notice you’re trying too hard– but not trying is failure too. The only solution is to have been born someone else.

When I was a teenager, I went pretty far in the direction of becoming an opinion-less, personality-less void, in pursuit of not being weird. It was actually hard for me to remember that I had an authentic self I was hiding, I worked so hard for so long to hide all my unacceptableness. Other people didn’t like me, because I was boring at best, and I didn’t like myself, either.

I knew I wasn’t a real person, an authentic person. I hated myself for lying. I hated my reflexive fear of expressing any opinion about anything. I hated my choice between being a useless, lowly thing that made sense to the social order, or a wrong thing that didn’t.

Before I could start to learn how to speak– how to have different types of conversations, how to use social scripts, how to respond to overtures of friendship and how to reach out to others– I first had to remember that I had an authentic self somewhere inside me, and I had to believe that I deserved the chance to show it to other people without ridicule.

The fear of being fake does still follow me, even when I’m not trying to fake anything, because some things that are authentic to me look like fakes. When it takes me time to process my emotions, and more time to explain them– or even when it takes me time to jsut answer a mundane question– I feel like my lack of spontaneity makes me inauthentic, calculated, robotic.

But it doesn’t. That slowness is authentic to me. Those nebulous emotions are my authentic emotions.

Those words that take time for me to think and write are the only kind of words I have. If they’re calculated, they’re calculated to be honest, and clear, and mine. I can’t become a person whose authenticity would be authentically normal. But I can do my best to discover what I am, and express it as clearly and carefully as I can.

The problem is less that autistic people aren't speaking, and more that non-autistic people won't stop

Amythest Schaber writes "The problem is less that autistic people aren't speaking, and more that non-autistic people won't stop" at Neurowonderful.

Today is Autistics Speaking Day. I have something to say to non-autistic people. Can you listen?

---

Marvin and I went out to eat after protesting the 2014 Autism Speaks walk with ASAN Vancouver. From the moment we entered the restaurant, a patron sitting and eating with her family was openly staring at me and my wheelchair.

It seemed like this person really had a problem with me when I got out of my wheelchair to fold it up and sit at the only place we could-  the table right next to her and her family. The staring got really obvious then. When Marvin brought over our food and McStaringson saw that we were going to stay and eat there, she got very uncomfortable.

I was tired, 110% finished with non-autistics, hungry, and overloaded in all of my senses. In that moment I cared a sub-zero amount about looking non-autistic, or less obviously disabled. I just did my thing and ignored McStaringson. I made no eye contact with anyone. I didn’t force any facial expressions. I was rocking in my seat, and I very likely flapped my hands when I saw our food coming.

When she couldn’t take it anymore (and she didn’t last long) McStaringson leaned over and pointed me out to her family. From the table immediately next to us. She was upset. I could hear her very clearly, but I’m sure she wanted me to. She actually managed to convince her teenage kids and spouse to get up and leave their food, which none of them had finished, so that she could get away from me as fast as possible.

I never went back to that restaurant. It took a little time and a lot of gritting my teeth to be able to eat in public again.

---

I have tried to talk about this three times in the presence of non-autistic people. All three times I was met with disbelief, justification, or correction- as if I were wrong about the thing that happened to me. Perhaps you’re feeling bristly and defensive yourself. Perhaps you’re already composing a #NotAllAllistics response like the ones I have heard in real space.

“It couldn’t have been that bad.”

“I’m sure you misunderstood.”

“Maybe she was leaving for some other reason.”

“Well, don’t autistic people struggle with understanding facial expressions…?”

They spoke for me, over me. They were so unwilling to hear what I was saying or believe that ableism is a widespread problem to which everyone is owed some responsibility, that they denied reality and my experiences.

And yet, this is the same kind of person who expresses dismayed surprise when they are finally confronted with an act of violent ableism or obvious oppression that they can’t deny. The denial of our daily lived experiences is the foundation for more obvious forms of oppression, but they can’t see the link. That link needs to be pointed out and the silencing needs to stop.

It’s not so much that autistic people aren’t speaking. We are speaking. It’s that so few are listening, and the rest of you won’t stop speaking over us. Our voices get drowned out. Often this is intentional. Sometimes it is the result of a true ignorance about autistic people and our lives, or the wrong belief that autistic people need someone to speak for them. But allies can help fight this ignorance and slay that insidious lie.

When an autistic person shares their lived experiences, believe and support them. When we have something to say, listen. Value our knowledge. Share our words so they fly farther. Amplify our voices, no matter how we communicate. I would say that the Autistics Speaking Day hashtags are an excellent place to start.

 #AutisticsSpeakingDay #ASDay

The Journey From Self-Loathing to Self-Acceptance and the Forging of Identity

Cassie writes "Autistics Speaking Day 2016: The Journey From Self-Loathing to Self-Acceptance and the Forging of Identity" on Queertism, Gaytism, Aspqerqueer, Aspergay, Asperdyke: They All Mean the Same Thing, Really




Before I go into intricate details for what I want to say for my first ever contribution to the annual Autistics Speaking Day, I want to apologize for not posting the once throughout the month of October.  I wanted to do a post about the intersection of autism in particular or disability in general and queerness, but I not only could not allocate as many resources as I had hoped to find, I also had a great deal occurring in my personal life that prevented me from a regular update of this blog.  I apologize for that.

My post for Autistics Speaking Day is almost, in some manner, a continuation or an elaboration of the first post that I have ever made on this blog of mine, which was my take on person-first as opposed to identity-first language (which you can find here).  In said post, I made the remark upon how I had received the official diagnosis of "Asperger's syndrome" at nine years of age, something incredible being a female, yet in many ways not surprising due to race privilege as well as relative privilege of class.

I will admit: it was not until earlier this year, around February or March or so, that I had began to learn about neurodiversity, the neurodiversity paradigm, the neurodiversity movement, and about the social model of disability.  Every single day, I am still learning something, be it entirely new content, or reviewing what I had already read, analyzing it, and pondering upon how I could apply it to both my own life and to the work that I could do in my community to further the message of neurodiversity and of acceptance of those who are autistic and have other neurological differences, because the message must be spread to those who may not know that such an alternative to the dominant conversation about autism or about disability in general actually exists.  


Read more here!

That One Time I Had to Strike Against the IWW

Michael Scott Monje Jr. send us "That One Time I Had to Strike Against the IWW" on Shaping Clay

Trigger Warning for discussion of abuse

So last year I didn't get the chance to do one of these posts properly. I was too swamped, between teaching 21 credits, doing freelance copywriting, and pushing myself to publish 6 books I was editorially responsible for in 6 months, two of which I wrote. I'd already maxed out my labor investment in Autonomous Press, and I was just hauling ass to try to get the titles off the ground so they could be marketed and soled. So that we could get profitable and get paid.

I essentially silenced my own voice in the name of the collective, and in return I got... eight thousand dollars of short-term debt. I haven't realized profits from the press yet, and it's in no small part because my books did not receive the kind of basic book marketing I'd even been able to sustain for myself as a self-publisher. The press was going at a breakneck speed, but when I inquired about issues like a Goodreads presence or investing in trade shows (or even specific academic conferences), I was alternately told that I was making things too much about myself, that I was being too demanding, or that the press was "too focused on autistic books."

Excuse me?!

Read More Here

I'm just going to be me

NonSpeakingNonSilent writes "I'm just going to be me" at Non-Speaking Not Silent: AAC Apps and Service Dogs.



  
 growing up I spent years learning very hard how to blend in, and yeah I largely failed at it, it seems  but still there are parts of me I blocked up and away  to try to blend, like shimming, I stim, a fair bit less than I did when I was little (though I am told I still stim a lot) adapting my communication and other things,

But 

Blending in is not my goal 

I just want to be me 

I'm tired of trying to fit into everyone's boxes of how they think I /should be,  

Everyone has these expectation 

Either I must be or try to seem non disabled and I must be this (fill in chain of behaviors social skills, likes and dislikes, ways of communicating subjects of interest leaguer activities and interacting here) way to fit in to blend (said way burns out all spoons and is not achievable at all even with my best effort put forward )

Or

I need to be autistic and disabled in exactly /this/ way (fill in arbitrary random expectation of what people expect me to be like and my life line to have looked like as a white autistic CIs disabled female) to have my current needs communication needs/style validated 

If your a certain age you can't like xyz 

If your disabled you can't like (fill in arbitrary things here)

I'm tired of having things that I have learned, skills I have gained relationships in my life and other things used as ways to invalidate my disabilities,

Growing up I went through a phase where I worked hard to blend because I was told and I believed it was the right thing to do, that how I would be successful, happy so I gave it my alll and when this stage hit I sort of failed in horrid ways  it was a mess,  i also wasn't able to properly figure out where and how and that's way to much to write about the day after Samhain, I mostly just stood out a lot more and looked a lot weirder,.....and then I started a weird mix of trying to pass harder while not caring and embracing being the weird one,

I'm still the weird one, the strange one and I embrace that  but I no longer want to burn my spoons to try and pass, I just want to be me,  I'm now learning to accept myself, and my limitations,  and that it's ok to use support  and do things in ways that I prefer and that work better for me.

That doesn't mean I'm backsliding 

That doesn't mean I'm faking 

That doesn't mean I'm trying to be deceptive 

That doesn't mean I'm lazy 

It just means I want to find and do what's right for me 

I just want to be me 

I am going to do what works for me, when anyone else does that it's considered a life skill, many times people find tricks and short cuts that work for them and help them and they are seen as adaptive and unique and resourceful, and everyone is encouraged to embrace themselves and be who they are unless who you are is autistic, then you are encouraged to blend and those things that might help you or things that are useful to you that might be seen as creative in a non autistic and be famous on Pinterest, is now a seen as a nusaaunce accomidation and something you should adapt passed needing, and if you do  for a little while then  your expected to be able to all the time.But here is the thing that's not how our brains work, if we can sometimes manage with out a support that doesn't mean we no longer need or will benefit from it.

And I'm tired of it all

Everyone else is allowed to be themselves, and I just want to be me, and that's what I'm going to do, because I can't afford to burn spoons on pretending to not be me, 

So I'm going to stim 

I'm going to communicate in the way that works best for me (AAC)

I'm going to use visual supports

I'm going to rely on the services I need

I'm going to enjoy my souixie and the banshees, London after midnight, the cure, mission U.K., switch blade symphony,as well as non post punk bands and some metal 

I'm going to switch between black clothes with reds greens and purples and earphones 

I'm still going to carry my pikachu in my backpack 

I'm going to swim and hike and go play at the park and do things I like 

I'm going to study geailge (Irish) and build an Irish vocabulary in my AAC app 

I'm going to hopelfully onday again partner with and use a service dog 

I am Autistic 

I am neurodivergent 

I'm just going to be me and these things are parts of me.

I've never fit into anyone's boxes perfectly ever and I'm not going to 

I'm just going to be me

Writing the Brochure I Want to Read in the World

Nightengale writes "Writing the Brochure I Want to Read in the World" at NIGHTENGALESKND.




I want a brochure I can hand families of newly diagnosed autistic children. Something readable, 3-4 pages, giving accurate information and guiding parents on a starting pathway. I say all sorts of things about autism in my visits, but often parents don’t seem to hear much after the word “autism.” A handout would change that.

There are documents that already exist, of course, that claim to do just this.

I can’t use any of them.

I’ve started to write my own. I got about two pages in and then other, more time sensitive obligations swam into view. I need to go back and finish.

In the meantime I’m recommending “The Real Experts.” It was written by autistic adults for the parents of newly diagnosed children, I say.


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Autistics Speaking Day 2016: Being A Welcoming Community

R. Larkin Taylor-Parker writes "Autistics Speaking Day 2016: Being a Welcoming Community" at Autistic Future.

November 1, the anniversary of the successful disruption of a neurotypical-run day of silence -because no Autistic people communicate- by Neurodiversity activists. This is my fifth Autistics Speaking Day and this site’s first.

We are winning the existential struggle over the narrative of what autism is and what should be done about it. This has been true for at least a couple of years. People and organizations are realizing that they have to at least pay lip service to the idea of inclusion, rather than elimination, to stay relevant. Eugenics is one of those tenacious ideas that won’t go away overnight, but there isn’t momentum in that That makes me less inclined to write on one of the traditional themes of Autistics Speaking Day posts, i.e. anti-cure, stop harassing us when we form our own communities on the internet, the autistic life can be a pretty good one, etc. It looks more and more like we have a future, so I want to talk about that. What is our community going to be? How do we make it a good one?

 

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