#my school is also using the puzzle piece symbol for our autism awareness week

[send-me-a-puffalope]

it’s the way school dress codes tell young girls that their bodies are inherently sexual and the way they are reinforcing girls not showing their shoulders more than teaching students to respect others’ bodies for me

#i’m TIRED #it’s also the way it’s hard to find girls shorts that meet the dress code requirement #my school is also using the puzzle piece symbol for our autism awareness week #and i had a meeting with the vice principal about it and she said she emailed the superintendent #and the response we got was ‘well WE don’t think the puzzle piece is offensive and you need to stop making a big deal #about the little things. there’s always gonna be people who are offended by everything’ #i’m ANGERED #IM GONNA YELL #rant #arden panics

[autistic-crows]

Autistic people - I need your help!!

Hi everyone! Basically, I’ve drafted something I want to post on Facebook next April for Autism Acceptance Month, and I’d really like some feedback to see if you all think it’s okay. I really want my Facebook friends to have a good understanding about what the month is meant to be about from the POV of the autistic community. I’m planning to post it in the last week of March 2018. I’ve posted it under the cut. I’d appreciate it if you could take the time to read it! 

This is a PSA of sorts from your Local Autistic just before April starts. Some of you might be aware that April is designated Autism Acceptance Month, and I just have a few important things to say about this. Sorry it’s such a long post, but I’d really appreciate everyone taking the time to read through it. 

1) Please do NOT support Autism Speaks. They’re one of the most well-known autism “charities”, but are a disgusting organisation that strives to remove autistic people from the world because of our apparently damaging effects on allistic (non-autistic) people. The vast majority of those of us in the autistic community view Autism Speaks as a hate group, and from my experience those who don’t simply haven’t been informed of how awful the group is. If you want more information on this, here are some resources: https://medium.com/@KirstenSchultz/a-roundup-of-posts-against-autism-speaks-5dbf7f8cfcc6 

2) Please refer to April as Autism ACCEPTANCE Month, not Autism AWARENESS Month. “Awareness” implies that autism is a disease, and is used to spark fear and/or pity in allistics. By saying that you want to accept us, you are instead advocating for a better understanding of how the autistic mind works, and making everyday life (work, school, public transport, everything!) more accessible for us. Believe it or not, despite most people knowing what autism is - or at least being “aware” of it - the world really isn’t designed for us, and we need all the help we can get. 

3) You’ve most likely seen the “autism awareness” logo of a blue puzzle piece, often accompanied by the movement to “light it up blue”. These things are actually strongly disliked by most of the autistic community, because it stems from the stereotype that autism is just something that young boys have. (Actually, the stereotype runs much deeper than that, the typical image of autism being the young, nerdy, rude but genius middle-class white boy. That’s a story for another time, though.) If you’re looking for a good autism acceptance logo to post on Facebook, I’d recommend the rainbow infinity symbol. We prefer this because it doesn’t imply that we’re incomplete like the puzzle piece does, instead symbolising the fact that autism is a spectrum. 

4) “Identity-first language” is highly preferable. What this means is that (unless the specific autistic person in question has asked otherwise) it’s much better to say “autistic person” than “person with autism”. When you’re autistic, it’s not just an add-on to your life - everything you do is experienced through the lens of autism, and your personality is very much shaped by it. And again, “with autism” makes it sound much more like a disease than a neurological syndrome. 

5) While I’ve been guilty of this in the past due to misinformation, the split function/severity model is inaccurate and invalidating. If you don’t know, the split model refers to an autistic person in two terms: functioning level (e.g. high or low functioning) and severity (e.g. high or low severity). This is widely disapproved of in the autistic community because “severity” implies that it’s an illness, and “functioning” invalidates those who can pass more convincingly as allistic. Those of us who are labelled “high functioning” often have our difficulties ignored, because we often don’t outwardly appear to be struggling because of our autism. Also, remember that a lot of us seen as “high functioning” are actually working very hard to hide the signs of our autism, which is pretty uncomfortable and makes us feel like we’re pretending to be something we’re not. You don’t need to refer to how “bad” someone’s autism is; you just need to know what it is they find difficult. 

6) Do your research! Since April is supposed to be about accepting and understanding autism, all of us would really appreciate it if allistics could look into the details of autism. Look for posts, articles, blogs, etc. made by autistic people. They’re much more accurate than anything an NHS page or charity could tell you, trust me. And feel free to ask us about stuff - not everyone will be comfortable answering questions about autism, but I know I am, so please just ask me if you want to know something. 

7) It is the autistic people and not those around them who need supporting. I’m sorry, but just because you have to look after your autistic cousin sometimes or your child is autistic doesn’t mean that you are the ones who need accepting this month. It’s often the case that allistic people get labelled “brave” and “heroes” (read: Autism Moms) when they do something to help one of us. Don’t share those cutesy inspiration porn posts about the pretty girl taking that poor, awkward, nerdy autistic boy to prom. Look into why autism is underdiagnosed in girls and people of colour, or why gender dysphoria is very common in autistics, or how we can work to make work and education easier for autistic people. If you’re looking at these posts from the autistic person’s family thinking “oh poor them, they must work so hard” instead consider how difficult it is for us to navigate the world, often without any outside help. 

8) Just a general tip: do NOT question somebody for not making eye contact with you, especially if you know they’re autistic. Seriously. 

Thanks for reading, if you got this far. Again, sorry it’s a bit of a ramble, but I really had to get this out there. Please share!! 

#autism #autistic #actuallyautistic #actually autistic #autism acceptance #autism acceptance month #asd #autistic spectrum #autistic spectrum disorder #anti autism speaks #autism speaks #autism spectrum #autistic community #that autism feel #that autistic feel