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!

[Not single-page] A young man with developmental problems develops post-traumatic-stress disorder after receiving 31 shocks at the Judge Rotenberg Center, shedding light on the school’s controversial behavior-modification program:

“31 Shocks Later.” — Jennifer Gonnerman, New York magazine

More Gonnerman

It is interesting to note that Israel is a student of B. F. Skinner, who developed "Radical" behaviouralism.  According to wiki, at least, "Radical behaviorism is the philosophy of the science of behavior. It seeks to understand behavior as a function of environmental histories of reinforcing consequences. Such a functional analysis makes it capable of producing technologies of behavior (see Applied Behavior Analysis)." 

It strikes me how alike Israel's GEDs and traditional ABA, especially given that Skinner's classification system of behavior analysis is used in ABA.  

ChipIn for School iPad

I’m raising funds for an educational iPad. It’ll help me take notes, work on assignments, and keep track of my special needs while I’m in my intensive sessions at school.

I chose an iPad because it’s lightweight, it has the apps I need, the assistive software I use is available on it, and it offers the screen size I need for my dexterity.   It also has enough memory that I don’t have to worry about putting my sensory songs on it.

Only problem is price.  As a disabled student on social assistance, I can’t afford this, not even with my job.  So I’m asking for help.  Please help me to go to school.  Please donate, whatever you can.

More information and donations here on my blog No Stereotypes Here.

For those whom the widget doesn't work, I also have a page on the ChipIn site.  Every little bit helps, whether it's a donation or a signal boost!

A student died after being set alight with self-tanning spray at his 18th birthday party. Steven Simpson, who was autistic, suffered horrific burns at the party held at his flat. After he ran screaming from his home, neighbours rushed to his aid and doused the flames, but he suffered ‘significant’ burns and died in hospital. The teenager had recently moved home to escape bullies who had been tormenting him because of his autism. Locals said a gang of youths at his former address had made his life a misery, calling him names and throwing paint over him. Detectives from South Yorkshire police have launched a murder inquiry and arrested six people, including three teenagers. They are probing whether the bullying was a factor in his death. Another theory is that he and his friends had been drinking and messing about with the spray, which is highly flammable, before he suffered the fatal burns. Last night Mr Simpson’s devastated family paid tribute to the teenager. They said: ‘Steven had just turned 18 and was just starting out in life. Kevin and Jackie, Steven’s father and stepmother, and Bernadette his mother cannot describe the loss they all feel at this time. ‘Steven was a very caring and lovely young man and will be missed by everyone who knows him.’ Emergency services were called to the party at Mr Simpson’s flat, in Cudworth, near Barnsley, at 2.20am last Saturday. Neighbour Sean Banner rushed to Mr Simpson’s aid after seeing him screaming in agony on the balcony. He extinguished the flames, burning himself in the process.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2166327/Autistic-teenager-Steven-Simpson-dies-burn-injuries-tanning-oil-prank-went-wrong.html#ixzz1zQIJ0SpI

“Scarred” - Kate, at The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism (via goldenheartedrose)

Shannon didn’t write that. Kate (last name unprinted) did. And it’s beautiful.

(via sherlocksflataffect)

Oops, going back and editing.

(via goldenheartedrose)

When people tag posts to do with Autism/Autistic people with "cure"

This is even more annoying when they’re talking about something that isn’t a horrible aspect of Autism…

1) Autism needs no cure. You know what does need a cure, though? Ignorance. Ignorance causes all the problems in this world, if people are more educated about Autism then perhaps we wouldn’t be in a situation where common characteristics of Autism are believed to be negative when in reality, they’re just different.

2) You’re talking about something nice the person has done… so why are you tagging it with cure?

THIS.  This is what needs to be said to all the “my son/brother/cousin/friend is such an inspiration but he needs a cure!” posts that exist in the autism tag.

[image description: grey text on a yellow background, reads "I am proud of who I am and autism is part of who I am.  In fact, you can't separate the autism from what I do, think or am."]

Andrew Wakefield/MMR Vaccine/Autism.

I don’t know much about Andrew Wakefield, M.D. or whatever he’s done that’s got the writer of the comment below so upset, but what I do know is that when people talk about autism not being linked to the MMR vaccine, it really bloody upsets me.

I have a cousin who is a year older than me. He was born a perfectly, healthy, normal baby boy. A few days after his MMR immunization, he stopped responding to his parents, he stopped laughing, he didn’t cry, and he wouldn’t make eye contact. They took him to the pediatrician, who sent them to specialist after specialist. The first thing they checked was his hearing. They figured that he had gone deaf since he wasn’t responding to his parent’s or older sister’s voices. When they discovered his hearing was fine, they went on to the next specialist and the next specialist and so on and so forth until he was diagnosed with autism.

This occurred days AFTER the MMR immunization had taken place. If it isn’t the MMR vaccine, then that’s an odd coincidence, not just for my aunt, uncle, and their once healthy son, but for other parents whose children had the exact same thing happen to them. I’m not sure if this still happens today or not, because vaccines have been improved over the years, (with the exception of the 1976 H1N1 vaccine, which caused more harm than good). Would anyone care to explain why this happened after the MMR vaccine? I find it a very far fetched coincidence that a bunch of children just happened to get autism at the very same age because the onset of autism can occur until the age of seven. Why did my cousin and so many others end up exhibiting symptoms just days after undergoing the MMR immunization? I think that’s a good question. I think my aunt and uncle and all of the other parents deserve an answer. 

I’m certainly not saying that children shouldn’t be vaccinated. Vaccinations are beneficial to the public for many reasons, and they have put some diseases of old to rest. I also believe if you’re not comfortable with vaccinating your children, you should discuss this topic with your pediatrician, who is the only qualified person to shed some light on the subject.

I’ve also heard stories about a gluten free/dairy free/etc. diet will reverse autism. I’m not so sure this is true. I haven’t done the research, nor have I spoken with anyone who has tried this and yielded good results. 

Andrew Wakefield may or may not be all sixes and sevens, but you can’t discount autism being linked to the MMR vaccine. Until other proof exists, I’m going to assume that the two things are indeed linked. I’m sure there are doctors out here on Tumblr who will assumed I’m all sixes and sevens, and that’s fine. But if they can’t discredit the information, then their opinion of me doesn’t matter, does it?

You know, there’s a saying that correlation does not equal causation and it’s absolutely true.  Do you realize that the MMR vaccine, which has been wrongly blamed for so many stories like this, tends to be administered around the same time that the first signs of autism are noticed (between 12 and 18 months)? If I were a total dickwad, I could sit here and blame my kids’ autism on their vaccines, too.  But that’s not the truth.  I am not someone who is easily swayed by information I obtained on a sketchy website.  Peer reviewed studies are what matter.  

I can’t discount the MMR vaccine being linked to autism? Um, yes, I can. Because there have been MANY studies proving the exact opposite.  To date, Wakefield is the ONLY person to have ever suggested there be a link, and yet he was discredited.  There are still people ignorant enough to believe him, even after his medical license was taken away, even after it was proven that he was going to benefit from a vaccine that split up the components of the MMR.  Seriously, if you believe that Wakefield is right, I seriously question your ability to think critically about any information that passes your way.  

As for gluten/dairy free, no, that is not correct.  It is not possible to “reverse” autism, no matter what high priced quacks tell you.  However, there tends to be a higher percentage of autistic people who do indeed have digestive issues that can be helped by a gluten and/or dairy free diet, and for some of us, the pain we feel when we ingest gluten and dairy can be significant enough that we lose some functioning capability.  We’re so focused on the pain because it is excruciating.  I am a person who does not suffer from autism, but I do suffer from a couple of disorders that affect what I can/cannot eat (hypothyroidism and celiac disease, not to mention the fact that I do not have a gallbladder anymore).  

I also take issue with your comment that “the onset of autism can occur anytime before age 7.”  Are you fucking kidding me? Show me proof of that one.  Because people are BORN with autism.  It doesn’t just happen.  Yes, clueless parents tend to not notice the signs until their child is about walking/talking age.  But they are there.  My daughter wouldn’t make eye contact with me as an infant.  I didn’t notice it really too much back then, but I did notice the fact that she was 21 months when she took her first steps.  Or when she was almost three before she said her first discernible word.  

TL;DR - Peer reviewed studies are far greater than the drivel perpetuated by Wakefield, Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey.  They can all jump off a bridge - it’d make the world a better place.

as much as I typically do not wish bodily harm upon most people, as an autistic person, I make an exception for Wakefield and co. Especially Wakefield, who knowingly falsified data in his studies about MMR, Autism and GI issues, and took undisclosed funding from lawyers to basically create false "evidence" so that the lawyers could try suing vaccine companies.  It's thanks to him and Jenny McCarthy that preventable diseases are coming back, causing untold suffering and painful deaths.  I sincerely hope that there is a special level of hell just for him.  And then one for Jenny McCarthy, and for each person in on the scheme. 

Don't believe me?  Then go do more research.  Try the Thinking Person's Guide to Autism. Look up Brian Deer.  Go read Respectful Insolence.  You have a brain, go use it.

Let's talk about autism, kids!

So my dad was just talking about how his uncle started crying because he (my dad) looks like my grandfather (uncles brother) who passed a few years ago.

I’m not saying people shouldn’t be given time to grieve in whatever way is necessary for them. I just. Don’t get it.

I mean, I understand missing someone for a bit. But honestly if a sibling died today I’d be a bit upset but it wouldn’t…bother me terribly much, or for many years. And it isn’t that I don’t love them. I do. I just think that when people die, they’re dead and grieving is highly inefficient because it just wastes time (AGAIN THIS IS FOR ME AND NOT FOR ALL PEOPLE. IF GRIEF HELPS YOU THEN IT IS PERFECTLY FINE.) and doesn’t bring the dead person back. I think of feelings quite often as a currency- things that build up and are then to be spent efficiently and reasonably. Sometimes you can’t help splurging somewhere or sometimes you end up spending when yo wanted not to at all. You can’t fully control feelings. But for the most part my feelings are effective and, I think, reasonable.

Do any other autistics feel this way? Or is it just that I’m some weird psycho monster?

I am this way. I tend to get my sadness out and out of the way and feel no need to revisit it. My mom still gets weepy on the anniversary of her parents’ death, whereas I cried at their funerals and now just have fond memories (of the two most important people in my life). Just different ways of dealing with emotion, I guess. It doesn’t mean I miss them less. I just feel no need to continue to grieve 4+ years later,

I remember feeling this way (OP) before close family members passed away.  Then I did the majority of my crying, wailing and carrying on within the first day, and in private.  I don't like making my grief a public affair, although I'll still weep for a while afterwards and feel emotional about it for some months.  After that, yeah, I'll cry a little when talking about certain memories, because it's like I'm reliving the moment.  A change in topic, a few deep breaths and I'm fine.  I know that some years, death anniversaries can be bad for me.  Some years, I can get through the day fine, but other years it all comes crashing down around me.  Now, it probably doesn't help that it was a death in the family that pretty much triggered my panic and depression issues, nor that I have dry eyes and allergies, so my eyes will now take any excuse to tear up. 

But from what I have experienced with other autistics, we tend to deal with grief in ways that I think are more healthy.  We get it out and done with early on, and then we grief privately to ourselves while we remember happy memories, pick ourselves up, and get back to business of being alive.  I don't see too many of us swallowed by grief, especially when we have everything in place.   I'm not saying it doesn't happen, since it kinda happened to me the first time, but I think that what happened to me was mostly due to lack of... well, everything (diagnosis, supports, knowledge) as well as underlying mental health issues that got triggered by the first death in the family.  Since that first discovery of grief, I grieve more healthy, even if it is a death that hits hard, like an unexpected death. 

Yeah, from an outsider's perspective, we can seem cold and emotional, but I think it's because well, emotions are personal.  Like hell am I going to make a spectacle of myself and my grief in a public place.  My emotions belong to me.  

So you’re deciding not to support a movie that’s trying to make people aware of the effects of bullying, because its not catering to your needs? That’s what I’m getting at here.

Before I even read the continued comments by other Tumblr followers, ^ that comment is exactly what was going through my mind. The one that said, because the film isn’t catering to your needs you’re not supporting the movie. I don’t even know what to add, because it seems they won’t get it. The film’s one goal here is to make aware bullying, OF ALL KINDS!! ….some people

Exactly. The film isn’t about raising Autism awareness. Should they have some sort of mention of his Autism? Sure. But his Autism is apart of him. Its not who he is. And thus, the film shouldn’t focus on that. Merely the fact that he’s an individual who has had his school life ruined by bullying. I think these people who are getting salty need to grow up.

[Conversation snipped, but in short, reasons why I’m not supporting the film “Bully”]

‘Kay so you seem to be missing the point. Let me break it down for you:

I’m fucking MAD because you know what? You allistics GET to see yourself accurately represented in the media. When autistics see ourselves in the media, it’s either portraying us as burdens or, at best, portraying us as Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory (which really isn’t entirely accurate either). I’m tired of autism being erased or being fetishized. I was fucking bullied as a kid. I don’t think it would hurt a 13-year-old autistic kid who feels isolated as fuck and desperate for attention to see someone like themselves in a film. ESPECIALLY knowing that bullying often happens to autistic people. WHY would it hurt to say “bullying against autistics is BAD”? What fucking harm would that do?  Fucking none. Why does it scare you so much? Is the idea of inclusion REALLY that fucking horrible to you? No? Then shut the fuck up and LISTEN for once.

^^ THIS, THIS, THIS.  This kid was bullied because of who he was.  Who he was was an autistic kid.  It is no more acceptable to leave out the fact that he was autistic than it is acceptable to leave out the fact that Tyler Clementi was gay.  

Fucking allistics bathing in their privilege and don’t even know it.  How nice to be able to be THAT oblivious.

also never mind that Autism Speaks have been downright bullies to autistic people online.  There was a case where they threatened to sue copyright infringement on an autistic teen for a parody site, even though no money was being made from the site and it's legal under terms of parody.  Apparently though, it was impacting their "sales", like A$ isn't suppose to be non-profit. 

is it possible that transautism exists??????????

uuuh this has been bothering me for a while wow um i cant believe im getting this of my chest the thing is just like transexuals feel they were born the wrong gender i feel like i was born the wrong mental state as a non autistic person i have taken many online tests and i always score incredibly low on the autism scale but on the inside i feel like i am a true autist i spend a lot of my time rearranging files on my computer and when I play games like skyrim I spend more time tweaking my settings and getting lots of mods to run perfectly than actually playing the game i like stuff to always be symmetrical too and whenever i eat a meal with different parts to it i always eat each part one at a time (eg. all the peas, then all the potatoes, then the meat) also I often get real offended about things people say on tumblr because wow they are really offensive to the people who are gifted with autism making real mean and ugly jokes ):  i feel like i better identify with and understand other autists like it’s “us” vs the world even though  myself am not technically autistic  (which in my personal opinion autists are just a bit superior in some aspects to the normal people but um this is my opinion so dont take it too seriously!!!!!!)   does anyone else feel like this???????? if there was an operation to make yourself autistic would you do it?????? i think I probably would!!!!!! please respond if you feel the same or went through something similar!!! 

Oh my God, it’s a transabled person.

Get the fuck out, you appropriative, ableist shithead. I see you have very stereotypical (and incorrect) views of what autism actually is. You are the reason autists can’t have nice things.

Oh, FFS. OP - get the fuck out.  You have a very narrow-minded idea of what autism is, and it’s not even close to correct.  

Online quizes aren't very reflective of what it's like to be autistic.  I highly suspect that you have a form of BIID, but I highly recommend reading up on autistic accounts of, well, being autistic.  There is more to being Autistic than a need to line things up neatly and being organized.  There are disabling aspects just like there are gifts, and we're just as equal as non-autistic people.   Thank you for your interest in being an ally, but before you do so, please educate yourself a little more.  I recommend the Thinking Person's Guide to Autism, blogs at the Autism Hub, the Autism Blog Directory, and Autistics.org. 

Luka Does Not Understand What Autism Is

OOPS

what part of "is Autistic" and "Autistics can have mental health problems" does this person not understand?

At work today I sat atop the large inflatable slide- helping 4-10 year olds sit on “slide mats”. One boy kept coming again and again, I’d say about 25 trips. This boy was no average child though; Nathan clearly had autism.

His mother, a beautiful young woman, stood at the...

We never need your pity, none of us.

An autism treatment called applied behavior analysis, or ABA, has wide support and has grown into a profitable business. It has its limits, though, and there are gaps in the science. In 1987, Ivar Lovaas, a charismatic UCLA psychology professor, published what remains the most famous study…

ABA can be good, with the right therapist and program. Overall, though, no, it’s harmful. This would have been a great place for autistic adults to weigh in

Agree that it is possible for ABA to be a good teaching tool. Might not be for all students, but it's really hard for it to be used properly with all the hype going on about it being "medically necessary", and *the* treatment for Autism.  Especially when there is very little good evidence of it working and being beneficial in the long run.  I believe most scientific studies actually do come back as it having "fair" and "poor" results in the long run.  I'd rather studies and support money go towards various services and supports that actually aid students rather than try to force them into a false notion of normality.