I'm on a journey of learning-about-autism.
Below are quotes about autism. Some validate what I'm thinking. Some open my mind to new things. Some annoy me. Some make me angry.
(For a better idea of what the hell I'm doing here and why, Part 1 will explain things)
Note: If I have no comments about a quote, it's probably because I agree with it and don't have anything valuable to add.
1. From The Double Standard of Growing Up Autistic by Chasing the Whale
Not only that, but acceptability politics (making things seem more acceptable to appeal to the mainstream) is harmful on its own, because if you’re a verbal cis-het genius with a “splinter skill” profitable to capitalism, who lives on their own and requires little or no obvious support except for being a bit disorganized, ableists see you as “one of the good ones,” as a pseudo-autistic that they’re not even thinking about when they discuss wiping us off the planet by means of selective abortion.
I had this type of ableism in the past...even on my blog. It's the idea that there's SAD, TRAGIC autism and cool, very okay autism.
And I'm not fully de-able-ised. I still imagine there are some autistic people who have such strong autistic traits that it causes them to suffer too much. How much suffering is too much? It's really hard to qualify or quantify.
I guess what I'd ask if the suffering is caused from autism, or is it caused by society's prejudices. If someone can't speak because of their autism...what if they lived a life where everyone was cool with that, and they could easily get by with writing instead?
I think what we need to ask when we start to feel sorry for a person is whether we'd still need to have sympathy for them if they lived in a society where those certain traits were celebrated.
I just finished reading the essay, there's too much I want to quote. So I'll just say I highly recommend reading it. Of course, I recommend all the essays and articles I'm linking too, but I especially love this one.
I like it especially, because it relates very well to the personal stuff I started writing yesterday and then deleted it. What I was basically wondering is whether having an autism diagnosis as a child would have made my parents, sisters, teachers, etc. pathologize aspects of me they've almost always accepted.
Minus some major pushback I got with the Australia obsession, most of my family had been extremely supportive of my special interests. But if I had gotten a diagnosis back in the 1980's, when the idea of autistic pride and acceptance was much quieter than it is today, would they have seen special interests as symptoms of a dreadful mental disorder.
The reason I deleted it is I didn't know if I was being outlandish with the idea...but the person who wrote the essay WAS diagnosed young, and he talks about how innocent and awesome things can become pathologized. So.....
2. From: So, You Want to Autism Level Up by Autism Level Up:
Regarding people who are are showcased as heroes for doing something like sitting next to an autistic person in the cafeteria.
First of all, these stories perpetuate the idea that treating autistic people with respect and decency is newsworthy and deserving of some sort of superhero status. That’s not good. Second of all, it does nothing to empower autistic people who are often portrayed in these stories as some poor, helpless, but very sweet soul reliant on the selflessness of the kindhearted few to allow them into your normie nonsense (like prom… just for example).
What really makes me want to scream is people who are shitty to the autistic people in their daily life but will be nice to an autistic stranger or acquaintance if it's something they can post about on social media or put on their college application.
It's like: Ewwww, why do you flap your arms? That looks creepy. Why are you so obsessed with things? Why do you dress like that? You're such a picky eater! It's annoying.
Same person: Here's a photo of me helping some kids with autism bake cookies!
3. From: On Autistic Masking and Unmasking
They have lists of phrases that encourage autistic masking.
"Why do you always have to be so sensitive?" "Stop making such a fuss over nothing." "Control yourself." "Take a joke." "Stop moving." "You need thicker skin." "It's not that loud." "Calm down." "Try to fit in." "Look me in the eye." "Overdramatic." "Sit still." "Man up." "Relax." "You're no fun." "Quiet hands." "You're so quiet." "Chin up." "Grow a pair." "Stop talking so much." "Nobody will hire you." "Stop overthinking." "Use your words." "You won't last a second in the real world." "You can't do that in public." "Use your manners." "Ridiculous." "Tattletale." "Drama queen." "People will think you're crazy." "If you loved me, you would..."
The ones I bolded are things I've heard at least once (or in some variation).
4. From: My Dream as an Autistic Youth: An Autistic Renaissance by jtaylor1718:
But inferiority is instilled in autistic people both subconsciously and consciously by popular culture, both as a result of the negative stereotypes about and attitudes towards autistic people and the implicit ableism in labeling autism as a disorder.
5. Also from the above:
I predict that there will be an Autistic Renaissance. Openly autistic people will rise to political positions, careers as mainstream artists, and other positions of leadership.
I can totally see this happening, and as jtaylor1718 describes in his essay, it's seems to have already started.
6. From: How to Get Your Workforce Excited about Diversity and Inclusion by Terra Vance
In regards to employees having negative opinions regarding a coworker when they have nontypical behavior and/or needs.
Normally, the employer and human resources (HR) are at an impasse because they can’t disclose private medical information to explain that an employee with invisible disability has been misunderstood; however, if the employer makes it clear that the company recruits, hires, and promotes neurodivergent and other employees with disabilities, then employees are much more receptive to behavior that deviates from the norm.
That sounds like a pretty good plan. And hopefully in cases where companies work to make people comfortable, the autistic people can happily come out of the neurodivergent closet.
7. From: Newly Diagnosed ASD Shame: I'm not really autistic, right? by Andi Barclay
Another reason I grapple with whether my autistic label is deserved is because the standards for autism inclusion are expanding.
Over time, ASD diagnosis rates have been on the rise in parallel with changing medical standards influencing who gets diagnosed.
At what point in the evolution of diagnostic criteria has autism most accurately been captured?
From what I've been learning, there's a lot of imposter syndrome with autism...especially with people self-diagnosed.
Of course, I go through it pretty much on a daily basis. Throughout an average day I range from, I'm so definitely autistic to I'm probably autistic to I seem to be...maybe autistic. Kind of?
The thing I tend to tell myself is that autism is a human construct. There's no blood test out there to prove autism in anybody. Some people noticed certain traits and gave it a label. And autism was born.
But if the traits become so broad and so changed from the original....it does make one start to ponder.
On Instagram, there was a question put to autistic people. What is something that people would be surprised about you?
And people named things that didn't fit into autistic stereotypes and/or autistic symptoms/traits. Examples included: I don't like math and science, I'm social and love parties, I don't have special interests.
I answered that I love grocery stores. Because I've heard multiple times that autistic people don't like grocery stores. And also, some grocery stores actually have special quiet hours for autistic people. It's that big of a thing in autism.
I think it's comforting to see these lists when you have imposter syndrome, because it's a reminder that you don't have to fit perfectly into a stereotype or have every single autistic trait to be authentically autistic.
BUT....What if you have someone who doesn't like math and science AND loves parties plus crowded, loud concerts, AND doesn't have special interests AND loves grocery stores AND doesn't struggle with communication. And they don't do a lot of stimming.
Let's say they hate olives and anything with tomato sauce. That's their sensory issue. And also they are rigid about their routine...sometimes. Is it okay for them to consider themselves autistic? And if they do, does society need to agree with them? Should the autistic community accept and welcome them?
I think there might not be harm in being overly inclusive if all the person wants is to be invited into a community that they can relate to in a few ways. Or it might be that all their friends are autistic, and they don't want to be left out.
I think one problem might be when and if these people start answering questions aimed at autistics, and start overly shaping future autistic profiles.
Let's say many of these people say they don't have special interests. Then in the future we're told, Actually special interests are just a stereotype of autism. Most autistic people do not have any special interests.
Maybe by then, the word autism will mean something totally different, and people similar to me will have another label.
Another problem would obviously be someone trying to get special accommodations. Though it depends on what's the accommodation. If the example-person I mentioned above requested pasta sans tomato sauce as their special accommodations, I'd be 100% in support of them getting what they need.
As for me....the only new accommodations I'm really expecting as a newly self-diagnosed autistic person is accommodations FROM myself-to myself.
I'm doing a lot of: It's okay to feel what you're feeling. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to accept help when it's offered. It's okay to say no. It's okay to have needs and wants that are different from other people. It's okay to be weird.
I wish I could get all that tattooed on my hand or something.
You might be wondering why I added this picture here. What does it have to do with autism?
I don't know.
Well, I think autistic people tend to like Minecraft. At this point, that symptom is not in the DSM. But eventually...it probably will be. I hope.
That's besides the point. The main reason I put the photo there is I changed my Blog style/layout, and I think it looks better with photos in the post. So I might have to add random photos to my posts.
This photo is not completely random, though. It's also a way to bring up this issue. I've gotten back into playing Minecraft (again) and therefore....it might take some extra time for me to get to the next installment of my Autism Quotes series.
Note: That photo is actually from my last tango with Minecraft. I haven't taken screenshots of my new world yet.
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