Wibbly-Wobbly Ramblings

hey I’m writing an article on the anti-vaccination movement !! if you feel that this movement has impacted you personally, whether it be as a person on the autism spectrum, as a person who has gotten sick as a result of the anti-vax movement, or anything else, pls message me!! I really want to talk to you and gain a more informed perspective

Signal boosting. I hope this will help bring awareness to how dangerous antivaxxers are.

signal booooooooooosting

Protect nonverbal autistic children.

Protect nonverbal  autistic teenagers.

Protect nonverbal autistic adults.

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO READ THIS

Dr. Dan Edmunds is a psychotherapist in Pennsylvania whose work focuses, among a few other things, on the autism spectrum. He is highly praised for his approach to dealing with autistic patients, which involves a “drug-free, relational approach.”

What you see here is the same Dan Edmunds inserting himself, unwelcome, into a facebook group known as Autistico, which is intended to be a safe, autistics-only space. While many of us are trying to have him swiftly removed from the group, the fact remains that Edmunds has blatantly disrespected and disregarded the feelings of the people he claims to support. Many of his posts come off as condescending, inappropriate, or occasionally fetishistic- especially when he speaks praise of himself for helping a non-verbal boy learn to speak to him.

In a world where it is already often so difficult to find a good therapist, I shudder to think of the damage a man who is praised and well-known for his practices could do when he is so clearly uncaring about the actual feelings of his patients. If you think this guy is a gross as I do, please spread this shit like wildfire so we can try to bring some attention to this guy’s horrible behavior. 

EDIT: There isn’t a screenshot unfortunately, but apparently the situation escalated on one of the posts and he said something to the effect that we’re “all a bunch of [R-slur]’s who need to learn their place” 

Some of my colleagues in FB groups have had many many many interactions with him. There have been even times when he has plagiarized autistic people, and then become harassing when called out on it.

What people think the autism spectrum is:

What the autism spectrum actually is:

Autism is not a spectrum from autistic to not autistic. Autism is a spectrum in that every autistic person has their own unique set of skills and challenges. Rather than being more or less autistic, we are each our own shade of autistic, each our on color on the color wheel. 

What people think the autism spectrum is:

What the autism spectrum actually is:

Autism is not a spectrum from autistic to not autistic. Autism is a spectrum in that every autistic person has their own unique set of skills and challenges. Rather than being more or less autistic, we are each our own shade of autistic, each our on color on the color wheel. 

What people think of when you say ‘the autism spectrum’:

What the spectrum actually looks like:

The black and white dots represent a random autistic person’s particular combination of abilities on any given day. Everything is really convoluted and blurred because all of those major groups I put on there kind of bleed into one another at times. And none of these points are necessarily negative.

Point is, the spectrum is not a line on which a person is born onto and remains at a certain position. It is a complex group of abilities and issues which change for every autistic person, every day, multiple times per day, depending on the situation they’re in. There is no such thing as ‘mild autism’ or ‘high-functioning’ autism, and those labels are actually inherently ableist.

(Also please note that all instances of ‘normal/correct/incorrect’ are to be taken with a grain of salt as what neurotypicals consider to be ‘normal’ is often a very narrow amount of what they consider to be ‘acceptable’ interactions or behaviours)

[Image 1: A simple, linear line drawn in red, with a cross bar at the beginning and end of the line. The beginning cross bar is labeled “mild autism” and the end cross bar is labeled “severe autism”.]

[Image 2: A circular representation of the colour spectrum, similar to the wheel colour picker in Photoshop. The different colour sections on the wheel are labeled, but each colour also bleeds into the next. The red portion is labeled “speech”, the yellow “social ability”, the green “stimming”, and the blue “executive functioning”.

A legend to the left indicates that black dots are “yesterday” and the white dots are “today”. Within each colour section, the dots may be closer to the center or closer to the edge, indicating the severity of impairment.

Speech ranges from verbal to using AAC/PECS/typing to verbal with communication aids to non-verbal and/or noncommunicative.

Social ability ranges from holding normal conversation to using an incorrect word/tone, to unable to leave house.

Stimming ranges from no visible stims, to stimming with toys, to self-harming stims.

Executive functioning ranges from remembering everything and finishing a project to where do I start? to forgetting steps in routine. 

The yesterday dots indicate that the autistic person was verbal, stimming with toys, and forgetting steps in their routine. The today dots indicate that the autistic person is verbal with communication aids, unable to leave their house, and that they don’t know where to start when it comes to their routine or completing tasks.]

What people think of when you say ‘the autism spectrum’:

What the spectrum actually looks like:

The black and white dots represent a random autistic person’s particular combination of abilities on any given day. Everything is really convoluted and blurred because all of those major groups I put on there kind of bleed into one another at times. And none of these points are necessarily negative.

Point is, the spectrum is not a line on which a person is born onto and remains at a certain position. It is a complex group of abilities and issues which change for every autistic person, every day, multiple times per day, depending on the situation they’re in. There is no such thing as ‘mild autism’ or ‘high-functioning’ autism, and those labels are actually inherently ableist.

(Also please note that all instances of ‘normal/correct/incorrect’ are to be taken with a grain of salt as what neurotypicals consider to be ‘normal’ is often a very narrow amount of what they consider to be ‘acceptable’ interactions or behaviours)

[Image 1: A simple, linear line drawn in red, with a cross bar at the beginning and end of the line. The beginning cross bar is labeled “mild autism” and the end cross bar is labeled “severe autism”.]

[Image 2: A circular representation of the colour spectrum, similar to the wheel colour picker in Photoshop. The different colour sections on the wheel are labeled, but each colour also bleeds into the next. The red portion is labeled “speech”, the yellow “social ability”, the green “stimming”, and the blue “executive functioning”.

A legend to the left indicates that black dots are “yesterday” and the white dots are “today”. Within each colour section, the dots may be closer to the center or closer to the edge, indicating the severity of impairment.

Speech ranges from verbal to using AAC/PECS/typing to verbal with communication aids to non-verbal and/or noncommunicative.

Social ability ranges from holding normal conversation to using an incorrect word/tone, to unable to leave house.

Stimming ranges from no visible stims, to stimming with toys, to self-harming stims.

Executive functioning ranges from remembering everything and finishing a project to where do I start? to forgetting steps in routine. 

The yesterday dots indicate that the autistic person was verbal, stimming with toys, and forgetting steps in their routine. The today dots indicate that the autistic person is verbal with communication aids, unable to leave their house, and that they don’t know where to start when it comes to their routine or completing tasks.]

I’m editing this awesome new project in partnership with the Autism Women’s Network, and I hope folks will consider donating if they can to help make this a reality. 

Stay tuned in the next few days, because we’ll be releasing the formal call for submissions then! Until the official thing goes out, questions can be emailed to [email protected]. Thanks everyone!

Leaving Evidence

I am a proud autistic of color working with the Autism Women’s Network to create the first ever anthology of writings by autistics of color about our lives, our experiences, our histories, our communities, our struggles, our passions, and our resilience. Our stories deserve to be told both for us and for future generations that will come after us. They are stories of segregation in education, police brutality, families of birth, adoption, and choosing, ableism connected to racism, finding community, making home, survival, and resilience.  They are stories of being autistic in a neurotypical world and stories of being racialized in a white-dominant world. 

Disabled, queer, and racialized activist Mia Mingus urges us to leave evidence that we existed so that our stories and our lives will not be erased or forgotten. The Autism Women’s Network is committed to supporting projects that connect disability rights to other struggles and movements. This anthology will help us explore new ground for autistic communities of color whose stories need to be told. 

As an autistic person of color, it’s not uncommon for me to go to autistic community events and find myself to be the only non-white person there or sometimes one of only a few. Yet it is impossible to separate my experiences as autistic from my experiences as a transracial East Asian adoptee. Here’s the important part — I’m not the only one. We are everywhere. Indigenous and native, mixed-race and multiracial, Black, Brown, South Asian, East Asian, of color, racialized — and autistic. Our lives and our stories matter. 

We invite you to support us in amplifying our voices. 

What We Need

We are raising money to cover the costs of printing and publication, which include print and alternate formats, ISBNs so we can place copies in libraries, and small stipends for the project leads. 

Additional funds raised will go toward increasing availability of alternative formats, including online access. Any further additional funds will go to the Autism Women’s Network to support other projects empowering autistic women.  

Risks & Challenges

Because we are soliciting contributions from people who may have multiple disabilities, chronic pain or other illnesses, and language and communication impairments, it is possible we will fall behind schedule. We aim to finish publishing the anthology in 2015, but may need to be flexible about deadlines. 

Who We Are

My name is Lydia Brown (though you might know me better as Autistic Hoya). I’m an activist and writer focusing on violence against multiply-marginalized disabled people, including hate crimes, policy brutality, and prisoner abuse. At present, I am serving on the board of the Autism Women’s Network. I am also president and co-founder of the Washington Metro Disabled Students Collective. I have worked with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s national office, and am a past Patricia Morrissey Disability Policy Fellow at the Institute for Educational Leadership. In 2013, I was honored by the White House as a Champion of Change for disability rights. 

The mission of the Autism Women’s Network (AWN) is to provide effective supports to Autistic women and girls of all ages through a sense of community, advocacy and resources. AWN is committed to recognizing and celebrating diversity and the many intersectional experiences of Autistic women.  AWN welcomes all women, supporters of women, those who have at one time identified as women and non binary gender variant individuals.  AWN recognizes and affirms the gender identity of each individual.  AWN also welcomes the support and community of those who do not and have not identified as women as allies to support us in our work.

Other Ways You Can Help

You may not be able to donate money, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help:

Thank you so much for your support. Onward!

I’m editing this awesome new project in partnership with the Autism Women’s Network, and I hope folks will consider donating if they can to help make this a reality. 

Stay tuned in the next few days, because we’ll be releasing the formal call for submissions then! Until the official thing goes out, questions can be emailed to [email protected]. Thanks everyone!

Leaving Evidence

I am a proud autistic of color working with the Autism Women’s Network to create the first ever anthology of writings by autistics of color about our lives, our experiences, our histories, our communities, our struggles, our passions, and our resilience. Our stories deserve to be told both for us and for future generations that will come after us. They are stories of segregation in education, police brutality, families of birth, adoption, and choosing, ableism connected to racism, finding community, making home, survival, and resilience.  They are stories of being autistic in a neurotypical world and stories of being racialized in a white-dominant world. 

Disabled, queer, and racialized activist Mia Mingus urges us to leave evidence that we existed so that our stories and our lives will not be erased or forgotten. The Autism Women’s Network is committed to supporting projects that connect disability rights to other struggles and movements. This anthology will help us explore new ground for autistic communities of color whose stories need to be told. 

As an autistic person of color, it’s not uncommon for me to go to autistic community events and find myself to be the only non-white person there or sometimes one of only a few. Yet it is impossible to separate my experiences as autistic from my experiences as a transracial East Asian adoptee. Here’s the important part — I’m not the only one. We are everywhere. Indigenous and native, mixed-race and multiracial, Black, Brown, South Asian, East Asian, of color, racialized — and autistic. Our lives and our stories matter. 

We invite you to support us in amplifying our voices. 

What We Need

We are raising money to cover the costs of printing and publication, which include print and alternate formats, ISBNs so we can place copies in libraries, and small stipends for the project leads. 

Additional funds raised will go toward increasing availability of alternative formats, including online access. Any further additional funds will go to the Autism Women’s Network to support other projects empowering autistic women.  

Risks & Challenges

Because we are soliciting contributions from people who may have multiple disabilities, chronic pain or other illnesses, and language and communication impairments, it is possible we will fall behind schedule. We aim to finish publishing the anthology in 2015, but may need to be flexible about deadlines. 

Who We Are

My name is Lydia Brown (though you might know me better as Autistic Hoya). I’m an activist and writer focusing on violence against multiply-marginalized disabled people, including hate crimes, policy brutality, and prisoner abuse. At present, I am serving on the board of the Autism Women’s Network. I am also president and co-founder of the Washington Metro Disabled Students Collective. I have worked with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s national office, and am a past Patricia Morrissey Disability Policy Fellow at the Institute for Educational Leadership. In 2013, I was honored by the White House as a Champion of Change for disability rights. 

The mission of the Autism Women’s Network (AWN) is to provide effective supports to Autistic women and girls of all ages through a sense of community, advocacy and resources. AWN is committed to recognizing and celebrating diversity and the many intersectional experiences of Autistic women.  AWN welcomes all women, supporters of women, those who have at one time identified as women and non binary gender variant individuals.  AWN recognizes and affirms the gender identity of each individual.  AWN also welcomes the support and community of those who do not and have not identified as women as allies to support us in our work.

Other Ways You Can Help

You may not be able to donate money, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help:

Thank you so much for your support. Onward!

wheresmythief:

okay, what the fuck does doing one's "best first thing in the morning" have to do with empathy? or "[living] life for today rather than the future"? or enjoying discussing politics? or being too nervous to get on a roller coaster? Or wanting to be organized? Or pretty much HALF the questions on this thing? 

What do they have to do with EMPATHY?????  And how the heck is it supposed to relate to Autism?   Oh right, according to Simon Baron-Cohen, Autistic people are supposed to lack empathy, but a high sense of morals. 

Fuck you Simon Baron-Cohen, I'm Autistic, and I scored a 47.  Which, according to the test, is average, and is what most women score.  By the fact that there are Autistic people who score that yes, they do have empathy, it kinda demolishes your little idea that Autistic people lack empathy, because oh LOOK!!! it's not a consistent trait across the spectrum; therefore, it's not a part of AUTISM!!!!!!!

yellow-eyeballs:

that sounds awesome!!!!

theskinofourteeth:

Screams, Slaps & Love A surprising, shocking treatment helps far-gone mental cripples

This is ABA, and we will never forget, never EVER forget where it came from.  We will never forget what it does to children, teens and adults.  We will never forget, and we will not rest until ABA is merely a term in the history textbooks of abuses against autistic people.