Recognizing Ableist Language in the Autism and Autistic Communities

Lydia Brown autistichoya.blogspot.com It’s everywhere. “Autism isn’t mental illness. We’re not like those people.” “It wasn’t an autistic person who would commit mass murder. Only people with actual mental illness, like psychopaths or schizophrenics do that kind of thing.” “Those ideas are insane!” “Autism Speaks’s idea of representing Autistic people is absolutely crazy.” “People who want to give their kids bleach enemas are just nuts. Their ideas are nuts.” It comes not merely from Autistics and non-Autistic parents and professionals and researchers but also from Autistics and non-Autistic parents and professionals and researchers who are disability rights advocates and activists. Take the humble pill, recognize your own strands of ableism, and stop using the ableist language. It is not okay to refer to ideas and people with whom you disagree as ‘insane’ or ‘crazy’ or ‘nuts’ or ‘loony,’ because those are hateful and hurtful words just as much as the…

On Not Passing, Failing to Pass, and Social Skills

Michael Scott Monje Jr. mmonjejr.blogspot.com Think Inclusive had a very interesting guest blog about passing, the pressure to do so, and the choice not to last week. I loved it. It was exactly as confrontational as it needed to be, refusing to pull punches about important issues. Around the same time I found that, I also ran across Stuart Duncan’s post, where he talks about the issues revolving around “getting fixed” by therapists. As I considered the points being made in both posts, something started to eat at me, and I didn’t quite know what my problem was, at least not until I found this article over on Brenda Rothman’s Mama Be Good on how the autism narrative gets framed. Then it all fell into place. Rather than rehashing her argument, I’d like you to just go read it. Go ahead. It doesn’t take long. Okay. Now, here’s the thing:…

The Various Ways of Being Excluded

Estée Klar www.esteeklar.com My son Adam has been in “therapy” since he was 20 months of age. I have reams of notes and binders used to create his programs, track his progress, develop his plans with other professionals who use ABA, RDI, Floortime and other methods. I have a decade of experience with autism education and various therapies, many of the approaches dubious. I’ve witnessed improvements in the field, and I continue to have a watchful eye. I predicted Adam would be forced into an ABA program, and here we are, in an segregated school for autistic children. Not that it’s a “bad” thing. I am actually grateful to be in a system that is set up more for him rather than completely disregards him. Adam, for now, is happy there and he is learning, but it’s a fact that it’s still exclusion which we mitigate with other inclusive programs.…

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Autism, Siblings, and Fairness

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.Squidalicious.com www.ThinkingAutismGuide.com Update: I now know there is such a thing as competing access needs, and that this article is not entirely fair to Leo’s siblings. Please see our 2018 article Understanding Competing Accessibility Needs for more context. -SR Photo © Shannon Des Roches Rosa [image: Young white teen girl whispering into her brother’s ear. They are seated on a picnic table in a park, surrounded by family reunion attendees all wearing light blue t-shirts.] Thirteen-year-old Iz is a wonderful big sister to Leo, who is just 21 months her junior. This photo is of the two of them at a family reunion earlier this month; she’s letting Leo know that the group photos won’t take that long, explaining that if he can just sit for one more minute, then he can go back to the playground, and that he’s being particularly awesome and patient (which…

IMFAR 2012: Toward Better Psychopharmacological Management of Anxiety In ASD

This is one of four talks from the IMFAR 2012 symposium Anxiety in Autism Spectrum Disorders: From Biology to Treatment. The overall session theme: It’s clear that anxiety is a major problem for kids and adults on the autism spectrum, now we need to figure out how to treat it. This summary is not intended nor should be taken as medical advice. Please consult a medical doctor for any decisions regarding psychopharmaceuticals.  Any errors or omissions in the edited-down transcription below are on me. Dr. Scahill also presented data and slides from several studies, that information has either been summarized or omitted. INSAR members can download the full audio file of Dr. Scahill’s talk. -SR —- Lawrence Scahill School of Medicine, Yale University There are so few data on this topic that he actually had to change the talk. The story starts in 2002, with a study in the New…

To Young Autistic Males: You Are Awesome

Gen Eric I know you, but I don’t know you. I’m not you, but we have more in common than you may think. For one thing, we are both Autistic. For another, we’re both male; though you may identify as mostly male, or partly male, or a combination of male and female, or neither whatsoever and that’s awesome either way. Just like your autism, that’s part of what makes you you, and you are awesome. There’s something you need to understand from the outset. A lot of what’s happened in your life, a lot of difficulties you’ve encountered and things that others may have objected to, they aren’t your fault. All this time you were running on a radically different OS than your peers, and no one ever told you. You were expected to be just like the others and, when you couldn’t do that, you were told it was…

Person First: An Evolution in Thinking

Jess at Diary of a Mom www.adiaryofamom.wordpress.com If you were to sit down and read my blog Diary of a Mom from its inception back in 2008, I’m sure  you’d notice some pretty dramatic changes. Many of the words I use and the way I use them have changed. And the change in verbiage is reflective of a change — an evolution really — in my understanding of autism. When Brooke was first diagnosed, I bristled at the word ‘autistic’ when it was assigned to her in conversation. I actually found it offensive. “Person first!” I would shout in my head as I calmly responded, “my daughter HAS autism,” emphatically yet (theoretically) politely ‘correcting’ the perceived gaffe. And then, somewhere along the line, I read THIS: Jim Sinclair’s Why I Dislike ‘Person First’ Language. And something shifted. I had never considered the words nor what they represented from the inside…

Just Say Something

Jennifer Byde Myers jennyalice.com the cashier: Diapers eh? Expensive. I bet you can’t wait until they are out of those. me: Yes, we’ll be rich. Uh, I have a special needs kid, so it may take awhile. Oh, that’s hard. Yes, mostly for him. He gets frustrated. But he’s doing great. He’s a great kid. He goes to the Amazing Autism Wunderskool. Oh, autism.  Is he high or low functioning? Well, those terms really aren’t very accurate. Oh? No. For example, there are some autistics who will go to college, but may still have trouble putting their shoes on the correct foot. I have a friend like that. Does that make sense? Yes. I get it. My son has a lot of trouble with communication. He’s non-verbal, so that makes it more challenging for him to communicate his wants and needs. Huh. I have a neighbor. He’s about 30. He…

Disney and Autism Speaks: When Criticizing Corporations Is Necessary

Brenda Rothman mamabegood.blogspot.com In my recent post about my autistic son not being accommodated at Disney World, some people responded with a vehement defense of Disney. It’s almost as if they themselves felt attacked. The same thing happened in the comments of Lydia Brown’s post about Autism Speaks. Neither Disney nor Autism Speaks will suffer from our criticisms. People will still visit and enjoy Disney. People will still donate, work for, and receive services from Autism Speaks. But those corporations, their goals, employees, and supporters can harm others. The readers who respond defensively aren’t really defending the corporations. Maybe they’re defending the kind employees they’ve met, like the Disney cast member who went out of her way to help their child, to make him happier, more comfortable, make their experience easier. Or the Autism Speaks parent volunteer who has an adorable autistic child, who loves her child more than life,…

Advice to Young Autistics: Stick Around and Become Awesome

Nick Walker aikiarts.com walkersensei.com This post is part of our ongoing effort to reach out to young autistics in crisis. Future posts will include strategies for connecting with peers, mentors, and community — because they’re there, even if you haven’t found them yet. So you’re a young Autistic person, and maybe you think you’re broken; maybe you think you’re doomed to a life of misery. You’re in pain, maybe depressed, maybe angry. Maybe you’re even considering suicide. Sorry you’re going through that. I’ve been there myself, and it sucks. But I survived. And although it took some time and involved some major struggles, I eventually ended up becoming a very happy adult with an awesome life where I spend much of my time doing things that I love — a life full of good friendships, good community, and those simple moments of joy, grace, kindness, and connection that make a…