Anyone brave enough to comment here? →
This discussion is frustrating the hell out of me, but I’m wary of actually entering it myself.
Input from autistic parents of autistic children would be especially welcome, I think, given the general unless-you’re-a-parent-you-don’t-understand attitude.
Too busy/not enough spoons to comment here at the moment. But UGH. My favorite quote from the comments section is something like “My friends with low-functioning kids definitely don’t need their kids to be marginalized by those who just advocate accommodation and acceptance.”
OH NO accommodation and acceptance! How marginalizing! Gee, I have to say, nothing makes me feel quite so marginalized as when people try to reduce discrimination against me. /sarcasm
I commented on Rob Rummel-Hudson’s link to it on Facebook and said:
“I understand where she is coming from, but I feel like she over-simplifies the problem a little bit. The very title of the post - The Parents vs. The Autistics seems to suggest that the two categories are mutually exclusive and that an Autistic can never be a parent. I’m sure that was not her intention, but that’s how it came off. Also, I’m very wary of her repeated use of “high functioning Autistics”. The divide between “high functioning” and “low functioning” is such a murky one and changes rapidly depending on the situation and the person doing the labeling. I think the use of functioning labels is really unnecessary most of the time and that we should focus on each individual Autistic person and not make generalizations about functional ability, because those can lead to wrongful assumptions. I have been the target of those assumptions many times, because I have Cerebral Palsy. When people call me “mild” - equivalent to “high functioning” - it dismisses my needs and makes me feel like I don’t need or deserve supports for my disability and that I am just being “lazy” if I show outward signs of disability such as using a mobility aid. At the same time “low functioning” or “severe” seems to suggest that there is no hope and that no expectations of any kind, or very low expectations, should be set upon that person. It creates divides within the community itself as well, as many people labelled “high functioning” or “mild” tend to assume a superior air and distance themselves from the rest of the disability community in an effort to appear “normal”. Autistics are Autistics, CPers are CPers, simple as that. We all have different needs and different concerns due to our disabilities.
(Also, just as a side note, Neurodiversity encompasses a wide range of conditions where your brain does not work in the typical way. I consider myself neurodiverse because I have brain damage, leading to the CP, as well as depression and anxiety. The proper term for someone who is strictly not Autistic, but may be neurodiverse in other ways, is Allistic.)”
Help make a video for The Loud Hands Project!
Okay guys, this is the oddest thing I’ve ever asked for.
The request is pretty simple: if you identify as autistic—or if you have an ASD dx but maybe identify more generally as disabled, bad brains, etc.—I need you to take several 10-second videos that consist of you flipping over a sign containing one of the following phrases and holding it while looking at the camera, tonight, and then send them to me at juststimming@gmail.com.
The phrases I need to be on these signs are:
-Autistic children grow up.
-I am an Autistic adult.
-I am Autistic and I can speak for myself.
-I’m ok.
-You’re ok.
-We’re ok.
-I can talk without my voice.
-I can say things without words.
-Talk with your hands.
-I am proud of my brain.
-My brain is beautiful.
-My existence is rich and meaningful.
-Autism has been here all along.
-Disability is a natural part of the human experience.
-I am not a tragedy.
-Autistic and badass.
-My silence is not an absence.
-I know my brain better than anyone else.
-Listen to me.
-Listen.
-It’s my turn.
If you are willing, I also need these less pleasant ones:
-People hurt me.
-They held my hands down.
-They made me take my clothes off.
-They called me retarded.
-They hit me.
-I was ignored.
-They said I was broken.
-They never stopped trying to “fix” me.
-My parents wanted a normal kid.
-My parents wished I’d never been born.
-My parents wish I had cancer.
Okay, so: why do I need these?
I am making a quick promotional video for The Loud Hands Project, the kickstarter campaign of which will launch on Monday. You can learn more details about The Loud Hands Project at the doc here, but it is essentially a way to amplify the voices of Autistic youth, young adults, and self-advocates as we speak out against anti-autistic bullying and abuse and speak up for autistic worth, resilience, and culture. The project has a lot of different facets and a huge potential, but we need some money to fund all of its aspects. So we’re doing a fundraiser on kickstarter, and part of that is a video.
The video has several parts, and I don’t have the space to describe them all here. The signs are a small but important part of it, and it will be more powerful if I can use clips of multiple different autistic people holding different signs, rather than only me. I would be thrilled and honored if you would be willing to help me with this.
If you can help, here’s what to do:
1: Make sure you are using a video camera or a recording feature which doesn’t flip or mirror the image. The audience will need to be able to read your sign.
2: You can pick any of the phrases you want! Don’t worry about duplication—I’m hoping that multiple people will record signs for the same phrases, actually. You could do one or two that speak to you or are true of you, a related set—several of the phrases go in groups of three or four around a related idea—or the whole list.
3: You don’t have to say anything. In fact, any sound recorded will not be used.
4: If you’re like me, you worry about your face when you’re being filmed. Don’t. The important part here is that the viewer is able to read what your sign says—big letters, decent light, hold it still. You can smile, if you think it’s appropriate. You can look away from the camera if you need to. You can hold the sign over your face. You can stim or twitch or rock if you need to. which brings me to the next bit…
5: If you can also make a ten-second video or two of you stimming, however you do, I will love you for forever.
6: Email them to me, tonight or tomorrow morning, at juststimming@gmail.com. There is a deadline. This is a limited-time opportunity, etc.
7: If you can’t make a video, that’s fine. Would be willing to pass this on to people who might be able to?
Thank you so, so much for your help. I’m really excited to be able to unveil the project, and the video to promote it, on Monday…but we need to make it the video, first!
signal booooooooooostiiiiiingg!!!
Today is Autistics Speaking Day
too tired to write anything substantial at the moment. go over to autisticspeakingday.blogspot.com and listen to some actual autistic people, please.
