As an autistic person and teacher, I love this article. I get real mad at this new movement around autism at times, because many of the speakers have a great deal of privileged with their particular area of the spectrum and don’t realize it, and then claim they speak for all autistics. Well, they don’t speak for me.
I do agree with them on a lot of points, and I am glad they are advocating for more acceptance and inclusion, and accepting autism. But so many of them mansplain what autism is for me and how I should feel about my own condition.
They don’t listen, they tell, and they tell other autistic people how they should think and feel-and often assume their autism is everyone else autism- and how they feel about it.
Recently at my job one of my good friends and colleagues, who is very much on this way of thinking and believes all of this (odly she’s not diagnosed, just self diagnosed) shamed me for my autism and didn’t even know it. Her classroom had some rules that were impossible for me to follow because of my disability and she insisted I conduct my classes science labs in her room. When I explained I couldn’t because of the strict rules she went on a tirade about why I needed to change that and it’s literally not something I can change-it’s a part of my disability with my autism. She didn’t get it and kept pushing me to do things her way and didn’t seem to realize how ableist she was being.
I see the same language with many other people in this new autism community-who have no idea the struggles of others on the spectrum and yet say they do. I’ve been shamed for being disabled by them-and they had no idea of the irony involved. I’ve seen wonderful parents who are doing everything they can to advocate for their kids being shamed by the same community.
I do agree with this new community a lot on advocating and tearing down the stigma around autism, but I have found them to be quite ableist, and they have no idea their doing it. I want to be friends with them, but I’m tired of them shaming everyone and telling me how to feel and think about my own autism which is very different from their own.