15155593064_5893793be2_n-4199946

The Effects of Stigmatizing Language on Suicidal Autistics

M. Kelter theinvisiblestrings.com Photo by Boudewijn Berends, used under a Creative Commons license [image: head and shoulders of a person wearing glasses backlit by partially-lighted fog and clouds.] When it comes to online discussions about autism issues, I regularly interact with two realms. The first realm is one we’re all familiar with: the day-to-day articles and conversations and debates that take place regarding a wide range of spectrum issues. Causation, research, personal stories, opinions … just the usual autism topics that you come across as you scroll around blogs, and Twitter, and Facebook. The second realm consists of an invisible community. It’s made up of people who are absorbing every discussion, every debate, every article … yet they are not participating, not sharing their own ideas. They’re just there, quietly and attentively taking it all in. This second group is made up of suicidal autistics. This is not just an…

13770339_173971493016833_7637653138201986823_n-jpg253foh253d510d5bec851e7721c9eb5e5350115f192526oe253d5831b737-4461480

#BlackDisabledLivesMatter vs #AllDisabledLivesMatter

Pharaoh Inkabuss blackautist.tumblr.com   [Photo: Black person at outdoors demonstration holding two signs. One says, “Black, Autistic, Proud” with the Black Power flag and power fist. The other says “Black Disabled Lives Matter.”] Each July, hundreds of people participate in the Chicago Disability Pride Parade, where Chicagoans see the living history of the contributions the disability community made in Chicago. It’s also where participants can enjoy meeting fellow members of the disability community, and display their pride in their community. July 23rd of this year was my second Disability Pride Parade; I marched on behalf of the Chicagoland Chapter of Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN). My co-chapter leader, Amanda, made a few signs for the parade; one of them had a message on each side. On one of the sides, it reads: “Black Disabled Lives Matter.” I marveled at the sign and I carried it with my right hand. I also…

charles-kinsey-shooting-x750-3082752

The Shooting of Arnaldo Rios’s Caregiver Charles Kinsey: What You Need to Know

Shannon Des Roches Rosa Senior Editor Behaviorist Charles Kinsey trying to comply with police while protecting and reassuring his autistic charge Arnaldo Rios photo via The Advocate [image: Black man lying on his back with his hands in the air, in the middle of the street, next to a seated Latino man.] Here is what we are hearing right now, in the wake of Black autistic caregiver Charles Kinsey being shot by a North Miami police officer while trying to protect and support Arnaldo Rios, a Latino autistic man who had wandered from the group home where Kinsey worked: Black people are not safe. Latino people are not safe. People of color are not safe. Autistic people are not safe. People with Disabilities are not safe. And heaven help you if you fall into more than one of those categories, or are also LGBTQ+ or otherwise a member of a…

owen2bon2bbed-5336400

Life, Animated: The TPGA Film Review

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.squidalicious.com We don’t have enough good movies about autism. This is a fact. And by “good” I don’t mean “struggles pluckily and inspires non-disabled people to be grateful for their own lives” or “overcomes their disabilities thereby inspiring non-disabled people to try harder in their own lives.” I mean we don’t have enough honest, rich, complicated stories of autistic people living their own lives on their own terms. But now, we have Life, Animated, which opens in theaters throughout the U.S. and Canada over the next two months. It’s not a perfect movie, but it is a movie that centers Owen Suskind, its autistic protagonist, to a degree rarely shown in autism stories. Centers him not only in his own documentary, but amidst his family’s love and support, and during his journey towards independence. Owen Suskind. Photo courtesy The Orchard [image: a smiling white man with…