This post is a must read for every person that has ANY connection to autism at all. I think it’s especially important for professionals involved in treatment disciplines, fundraising, education, etc. The internet has given us an important gift – access to the thoughts, feelings and experiences of autistic people of all ages, walks of life, abilities. We need to listen.
To Autism Speaks and its supporters, for Autism Acceptance Day~
There’s a conversation that plays out over and over again, in the wake of the release of a PSA, press release, blog post, or video, painting autism in conventionally negative and dehumanizing terms.
Autistic people object that those descriptions do not fairly reflect the realities or value of our lives. That while, yes, often it is hard, that’s not all our lives are. That characterizations of “epidemic,” “tsunami,” or “national catastrophe” devalue our lives, and that we suffer when attacks on “autism” fall on us. Which they do, always, because autism is not separable from us. That we might wish some things were easier, but those issues need to be addressed with the complexity and nuance that they truly require to understand.
And invariably, someone will make the excuse that such rhetoric is necessary to raise awareness, to…
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