#it’s not an article about autism without “children with autism” /s

[slugass]

mmmm yummy aba abuse propaganda sites talking about autistic people like they don’t exist past the age of like 12 when i’m just trying to fucking google features of autism yummy yummy in my tummy!!

[stardustto-dust]

Why you should vote Abed Nadir in the 2023 autism swag summit

I've seen people do this for other polls and it is vital that Abed Nadir from the 2009-2015 NBC comedy Community wins this one.

Vote him round one here.

Does he fit the first part of the statement? Yes, Abed is canonically autistic.

When he realised autistic fans related to him, creator Dan Harmon did as much research as he possibly could into autism as to not let those fans down.

While doing said research, Harmon realised himself was likely on the spectrum. Meaning that Abed is a canon autistic character created by an autistic person. How often does that happen?

Due to the above facts, he is a very well researched and developed autistic character, with both traits more commonly shown in the media, such as blunted affect and difficulties reading faces and less commonly shown traits, such as hyperempathy and sensory issues.

From the time Abed first appeared on screen to the present day, there have been many blog posts, magazine articles and even scholarly articles written about how good rep he is. I have seen him on many a neurodiversity advocacy Instagram account. (If you want me to link some I will!)

OK, we have established the autism. What about the swag? Well, first of all, as Donald Glover summarised it "Abed fucks". There is a whole episode dedicated to his friends trying to get him a girlfriend and worrying about his self-esteem and in the end it turns out he gets plenty of girls and, as he says, he has "self-esteem falling out (his) butthole." He also gets guys hitting on him. And how can we mention Abed without his boyfriend soulmate best friend Troy. who canonically wants to have his "gentle and mysterious" "other half"'s children. In short, bisexual king.

Of course, swag is not limited to just sexual and romantic prowess, as the amount of aroace people I know with limitless swag testifies to. Swag can also be measured by commitment to the bit, for example. And, boy, is Abed known for his commitment to the bit.

Abed is Batman, Han Solo and Jesus. He is a mafia boss. He is a cartoon man discovering the meaning of Christmas. He is the narrator and the cameraman. Like, not metaphorically or in archetype. He realises a need for these characters in the story and becomes them.

[GIF- Abed as Batman, applying lip balm, possessing undeniable amounts of swag]

9. "How does he realise the need for the these things in the story?" you may ask. Well, his special interest is film and TV. He is a filmmaker. Thus, he frames his life in terms of genre, often seeming aware of the fact he is in a sitcom. However, this often changes, and, the show branches off into completely different genres, which Abed points out. These shifts in genre explore character dynamics and also are super awesome. Abed is so genre-aware, he changes the entire genre of the show. That is swag.

10. The Community fandom here on Tumblr.com, and throughout the web, is quite small. It will make us very happy. Plus, for the first time in 8 years, there likely will be new Abed content this year, due to the release of the movie. (Due to one of Abed's many catchphrases "Six seasons and a movie!")

11. Please please please please I love him so much and i am very cool you should listen to me please please please.

So yeah, that's it! If you have anything to add, please do!

Click below for some Abed gifs.

[GIF- "Evil Abed" (Abed with a goatee and sunglasses) walking through his college being evil. He hangs up someone's payphone call, pops a girls balloon with his cigarette and then dumps said cigarette into a woman's coffee]

[GIF- Two gifs. One is of Troy, topless, leaning out of an airvent. He looks down and says "I love you". Next is of Abed, looking up at him. He says "I know", before being grabbed by a zombie in a kilt]

[GIF- Abed, wearing sunglasses, saying "movie reference". Jeff is there too and also wearing sunglasses]

[GIF- Abed saying "Cool. Cool cool cool"]

Ok there are so many more GIFs I want to put but I kinda have work soon lol. You get the gist, he is amazing. Vote Abed!

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Hello, again, Summer! I had a question, but feel free to answer whenever you are at your best so you're not stressed. <3

I was wondering if neurodivergent people---especially those with autism and ADHD---experience GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) or other anxiety disorders differently than most.

I'm curious because my personal struggles with GAD have been really bad as of late, but all of my friends with it or other anxiety disorders can't relate to my struggles and I wonder if it has to do with the fact that I have AuDHD and they don't.

Hope you have a great rest of your week!

Hi there,

I found some information about this on ADDitude and according to one article:

Anxiety is the brain’s essential internal alarm system that activates our fight, flight, or freeze response. This reaction occurs when we feel vulnerable, in danger of being embarrassed, or are in trouble. Most children with ADHD and ASD experience anxiety this way a rise in feelings of fear or panic when faced with an uncomfortable situation; others have generalized anxiety disorder, which leads to chronic worrying.

The link to this will be below:

I also found some more information that states:

Autism & Anxiety

Up to 42% of children on the autism spectrum may also have significant anxiety.

Children with ASD are more likely to have a phobia than the general population.

Sometimes children with autism can be bossy or controlling.

Often children with ASD are anxious because they struggle in social situations and do best when things are predictable.

Many girls on the Spectrum are diagnosed with anxiety first.

Autism can be harder to spot in girls because some symptoms like restricted interests may be harder to notice in girls.

Due to how we raise girls in our culture, they then to have better nonverbal communication skills and coping skills

I found this interesting. I’ll also leave it below so you can read it if you want.

Apparently there was a study on this. It states the following:

Children who have both autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are also more likely to experience anxiety, depression, developmental delays, learning disabilities and other mental health conditions than are children with only autism or ADHD, according to a new population-based study.

The results draw on data from more than 6 million children aged 3 to 17, collected from 2016 to 2018 by the U.S. National Survey of Children’s Health, an annual questionnaire that asks parents about their children’s medical diagnoses and treatments. Among those children, 949,367 have autism, 4,570,320 have ADHD, and 740,816 have both conditions.

Children in the last category are four times as likely to have anxiety and three times as likely to have depression as autistic children without ADHD. They are also four times as likely to have a learning disability and seven times as likely to have developmental delay compared with children who have only ADHD, the researchers found.

I’ll leave this study below so you can read through it if you’d like.

I hope these sources help you.

Thank you for the inbox. I hope you have a wonderful day/night. ❤️

[wibehavioralhealth]

Supporting Children with Developmental Disorders through Empathic Attunement

Navigating the complexities of developmental disorders in children requires not just a deep well of patience and love but also informed strategies tailored to their unique perspectives. This article, grounded in research demonstrating the importance of fostering strong and healthy attachment relationships, aims to guide caregivers in cultivating an environment that nurtures both the emotional and developmental growth of their child. As you read through the article, we hope that our examples will inspire you to find some unique ways to build healthy relationships with your children to help promote their emotional wellbeing.

Understanding and Validation

Embrace Emotional Awareness:

Understanding and recognizing emotions are critical for all children, especially for those with developmental disorders who may find their own emotions confusing or overwhelming. Embracing emotional awareness lays the groundwork for effective navigation through these feelings, fostering resilience and self-understanding.

For example, consider Eli, a 7-year-old with autism, who feels overwhelmed in crowded spaces, leading to distress. His parents approach these moments with curiosity, inviting Eli to share his feelings and thoughts. This approach not only helps Eli become more aware of his emotions but also improves his ability to communicate his needs, easing his distress in overwhelming situations.

Create a Safe Emotional Space:

A safe emotional space is crucial for children to express their feelings freely without fear of judgment, particularly for those with developmental disorders. This supportive environment encourages emotional exploration and learning, reinforcing the child’s sense of security and belonging.

Take Sarah, for instance, a 9-year-old with ADHD, who often felt misunderstood. Her family created a ‘calm corner’ at home where Sarah could retreat, filled with items that comfort her and tools for emotional regulation. This space became her sanctuary, where she felt valued and understood.

Adaptive Emotional Expression

Teach Emotional Regulation Skills:

Emotional regulation skills are essential for children to manage intense emotions and navigate social interactions appropriately. Teaching these skills to children with developmental disorders provides them with the necessary tools for expressing themselves and handling emotional challenges.

Lucas, who has a non-verbal learning disability, struggled with identifying and expressing his emotions. By utilizing a ‘feelings chart’ and mindfulness exercises, he learned to articulate his emotions and apply calming strategies, which significantly improved his emotional regulation.

Model Healthy Emotional Expressions:

Children learn a great deal about emotional management through observation. Caregivers who model healthy emotional expressions and coping strategies offer invaluable lessons on constructive ways to deal with emotions.

Mia, for example, learns how to handle her emotions by observing her mother talk openly about her feelings and coping strategies. This example teaches Mia that it’s normal to experience a range of emotions and that they can be managed constructively, enhancing her emotional resilience.

Supportive Relationships

Foster Secure Attachments:

The establishment of secure attachments is vital for the emotional and social development of a child. These relationships provide a safe foundation from which the child can explore the world, understand relationships, and build self-esteem.

Alex, an 8-year-old with developmental delays, benefits greatly from his father’s efforts to spend quality one-on-one time engaging in activities that interest Alex. This consistent, responsive care strengthens their bond, a cornerstone for Alex’s emotional and social development.

Encourage Social Interaction:

Social interactions are crucial for developing emotional intelligence and offer opportunities for practicing empathy, sharing, and cooperation. For children with developmental disorders, carefully facilitated social experiences can be especially beneficial in helping them navigate the complexities of social relationships and build meaningful connections.

Jade, a child on the autism spectrum, initially found social interactions challenging. Through gradually introduced, structured playdates, she became more adept at socializing, enhancing her social skills and emotional adaptability.

Conclusion

Supporting a child with developmental disorders is a journey marked by empathy, understanding, and the right strategies. By fostering empathic attunement with your child, you can make a significant positive impact on your child’s emotional and developmental growth. Remember, the key to nurturing this growth lies in being attuned to and respectful of each child’s unique way of experiencing the world.

The Behavioral Health Clinic of Wisconsin is dedicated to assisting families navigating these challenges through comprehensive assessments and specialized therapy services. Our team is committed to providing support to children with developmental disorders and their families with informed, compassionate care. Reach out today to learn how we can support your child’s journey toward emotional and developmental well-being.

[tallmantall]

James Donaldson on Mental Health - How Can We Help Kids With Transitions?

With the right support, children can learn to change gears without whining and tantrums Photo by olia danilevich on Pexels.com Writer: Katherine Martinelli Clinical Experts: Dave Anderson, PhD , Michael Rosenthal, PhD , Matthew H. Rouse, PhD What You'll Learn - How can parents help kids who have trouble with transitions? - What tools can make transitions easier for kids? - Quick Read - Full Article Many children whine, stall or throw tantrums when it’s time for a transition. But there are ways parents can help kids make transitions without acting out. These strategies are particularly helpful for kids with ADHD, anxiety, autism or?sensory processing issues.  One basic strategy is creating routines for daily transitions. Routines for things like getting ready for school, starting homework, and bedtime can be helpful for kids of all ages.   Previews and countdowns can also make a big difference. Every morning, give them a preview of the day. Then before each transition, let them know when it will happen and what they will need to do. For example, you could say, “In 20 minutes, it will be time to finish breakfast and head to school.” Then repeat yourself in 10 minutes and again in 5 minutes.   You could also give each transition its own soundtrack. This works really well for younger kids.?There’s a reason that the “clean up” song can be heard in preschools across the country! Some kids may also benefit from visual cues, like a chart with pictures that show what happens at each transition.   When helping kids with transitions, getting their attention is important. You can try making eye contact, sitting next to them, putting your hand on their shoulder or even asking them to repeat back what you said.   When your child does well with a transition, praise them! You can also give them a small reward like a sticker, a snack or a point toward a new toy. Once they can transition easily, you can phase out the rewards. When they don’t do as well, it’s usually best to pay your child less attention and focus on the times that do go well. #James Donaldson notes:Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.  #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticleFind out more about the work I do on my 501c3 non-profit foundationwebsite www.yourgiftoflife.org Order your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,#CelebratingYourGiftofLife: From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com Link for 40 Habits Signupbit.ly/40HabitsofMentalHealth If you'd like to follow and receive my daily blog in to your inbox, just click on it with Follow It. Here's the link https://follow.it/james-donaldson-s-standing-above-the-crowd-s-blog-a-view-from-above-on-things-that-make-the-world-go-round?action=followPub Many children struggle with transitions, which are common triggers for behaviors that range from annoying (whining, stalling) to upsetting (tantrums and meltdowns). There are many ways parents and teachers can help kids have an easier time with transitions — and be able to behave better—but  it may take a little experimentation to find out what clicks with each particular child. These tools are useful  to help kids of all stripes with transitions. But for kids with ADHD, anxiety, autism, or sensory processing, this kind of scaffolding is particularly crucial and can make the difference between a good day and a bad one. Over a period of time it can help pave the way for success. Create routines: If a child “doesn’t want to transition because they like consistency and routine and structure,” says Michael Rosenthal, PhD, a clinical neuropsychologist, “then start by building in consistency and routine and structure into the transition process itself.” For transitions that will happen every day, like turning off the phone to go to bed, consistent routines can have big payoff. A bedtime routine, for example, might seem like something for babies, but having a predictable structure in place can be reassuring and helpful even for older kids (and adults!). Preview and count down: Along with routines, previewing and countdowns are key. In the morning you might lay out what the day is going to look like. Dr. Rosenthal suggests doing a role-play in which you practice moving from activity to activity to “engage them in the process.” Then before each transition, give a timeframe and description of what will happen along with countdowns (in 20 minutes, then 10, then 5 it will be time to finish breakfast and head to school). This is “allows them to emotionally get ready for an event,” explains Dr. Rosenthal. Give it a sound track: For younger kids in particular, songs can be especially effective tools to help implement routines and ease transitions. The “clean up” song can be heard in preschools throughout the country for good reason, but there are countless other songs to be found (and made up!) to suit a variety of situations from tying shoes to brushing teeth. Visual cues: Other kids may benefit from visual cues. Being able to point to a chart with drawings about what to expect from a particular transition or the steps involved can help some people immensely. These are common in lower grade classrooms but could be easily adapted at home. Get their attention: For kids with ADHD in particular, says Matthew Rouse, PhD, a clinical psychologist, it’s important to make a connection with the child to ensure that you have their attention and that the information is sinking in. This could mean eye contact, sitting next to them, a hand on their shoulder, or asking them to repeat back what you have said. Simply yelling at them from the other side of the room and assuming it’s gotten through won’t work and will only lead to frustration on both sides. Use rewards: Rouse points out that rewards can be an effective tool for all kinds of kids and issues. These can be things like stickers, snacks, or a point system that leads to tangible rewards. Schools and parents alike can implement reward systems, and once the kid gets into the habit of seamlessly transitioning you might be able to phase it out. Implement appropriate consequences: If a transition is not going well, David Anderson, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute, recommends paying less attention to it rather than escalating the situation. “Ignore it as long as they’re at least making an effort to make the transition or approximating the transition,” he says. “If they’re really egregiously misbehaving then use an appropriate consequence for that behavior that makes the child understand that behavior is off limits.” Praise good transitioning: Finally, Dr. Rouse urges parents to recognize when things go well. “For all the times it’s gone wrong,” he says, “there have probably been a lot more times when it’s gone right. Don’t lose those opportunities to be really enthusiastic and say this was so great, it went so smoothly, I really liked how you handed over the iPad right away and started brushing your teeth, and now we have more time to read.” Be specific in your praise, and follow up with a reward when appropriate. With the right support, children can learn to change gears without whining and tantrums. Photo by olia danilevich on Pexels.com Read the full article

[notmuchofarolemodel]

music- sia’s movie

originally written on jan 24 2021

I can’t believe i’m writing about this. again.

So, if you didn’t already know, Sia directed a movie about an autistic girl, starring Maddie Ziegler. This is problematic for so many reasons, including the fact that Maddie is allistic (not autistic), Sia did next to no research on autism before directing the movie, and after announcing the movie, she took to twitter and attacked autistic people voicing their opinions. But she’s done so many more awful things since. So yay, article by me, the sequel. /s

Sia has done a few interviews over the last while about her movie and has responded to criticism about it. (very badly.)

Despite her claims, Sia was never going to cast an autistic actor in the first place. She said:

“I realized it wasn’t ableism [Casting Maddie]. I mean, it is ableism I guess as well, but it’s actually nepotism because I can’t do a project without her. I don’t want to. I wouldn’t make art if it didn’t include her.”

It was also found that Sia said had written a film for Maddie a long time ago- in 2015- which almost certainly means she never had any intentions of casting an autistic person.

The plot of the movie, and a clip have both been leaked since the release of the trailer in November.

‘Music’ falls back on harmful Hollywood sterotypes again, and again- but yet, after it was no longer fresh news, almost nobody but the autistic community was talking about it. It’s still set to be released soon this year, but stereotypes such as ‘autism = special/savant abilities’ as seen in Rain man, and ‘Autistic people don’t have feelings’ - are ones that lead to underdiagnosis, and biases in the professional world.

“We are particularly alarmed that Sia has said it would be ‘cruel’ to cast a nonspeaking autistic person as an actor. It suggests that she thinks that autistic people don’t understand our own lives and aren’t the people who should be telling our own stories. When people tell stories about autism that cut out an autistic point of view, when storytellers view us as objects to tell inspirational stories about, or when autism is treated as a narrative device rather than as a disability community full of real people, the stories that are told fall flat, don’t speak to our reality, and are often harmful to us.” -Zoe Gross, ASAN

Sia refused to refer to her main character as disabled, and only used the term ‘special abilities’ which just further proves how these sterotypes affect people’s view of autistic people. In today’s society, autism is a disability, and that’s not a bad thing. She also described the film as “Rainman, the musical- but with girls”

There are several meltdown scenes in the movie, and one of them has been leaked in a clip. In this, Music is having a meltdown in a park, and she is then held in prone restraint. Meaning she was jumped on top of and pinned to the ground. This was not only unnecessary, but potentially deadly. This film is going to be big, if it gets released, and it was very much made for a neurotypical audience’s enjoyment. People will likely see this movie, and think that restraining an autistic person is ok. It’s not. This is how people get killed. Recently a story came up about Eric Parsa, a 16 year old autistic boy who was killed at the hands of the police last year, after they used this ‘technique’ on him.

Regarding this scene Sia said, “If they [cinema-goers] watch the movie, it will allow them to touch into their compassion. That scene was so important to me, because of all the people staring. I felt compelled to put it in.”

This is why people need to listen and learn from actual autistic people. There’s so much dangerous misinformation out there, and it’s unacceptable. There is nothing ‘compassionate’ about harming people, and autistic people are people. i.e people who deserve the same rights and dignity as everyone else.

Sia continues to further dehumanize autistic people by constantly talking about ‘levels of functioning’. humans are impossibly complex, and there’s no one way to function. In an interview with Sia, nonspeaking autistic people are compared to ‘inanimate objects, like wigs’.

Sia also said “People functioning at Music’s level can’t get on Twitter and tell me I did a good job either.” This is untrue, firstly because, again- there’s no one way to function, and just because a person can’t speak, doen’t mean they don’t have a right to opinions, and feelings (and it definitely doesn’t mean they should be compared to ‘inanimate objects’), and secondly because many nonspeaking autistic people have taken to twitter and social media to tell her she’s done a bad job, she’s just chosen to ignore and insult them.

This whole thing is so infuriating, and it’s very obvious that Sia does not care about autistic people.

“Sia being ableist AF while claiming she meant well is some serious abled savior bullshit. I can’t believe so many people green-lit this project & the press team approved the ‘special abilities’ language. Disabled people clearly weren’t part of this production team.” -Kristen Parisi via twitter

She also claimed she decided to make the movie because she was inspired by a 16-year-old named Stevie that she met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. ���Stevie used to sit next to me in the front row at my AA meetings. He was low-functioning and on the spectrum with echolalia; he’s the reason I wanted to make this movie,” she said. Autistic people don’t exist simply to be inspiring or make you feel good about yourself. We’re people, who just want to go about our lives, the same as anyone else- we don’t need a cure and we don’t need to fit people’s idea of what autism is, just let us be, please.

Finally, I’m just going to touch on the question ‘Why isn’t any criticism being directed at Maddie?’ This is because she likely didn’t have much say in the film at all. Keep in mind that she was only 13/14 at the start of this project. Sia also said Maddie was worried that people would think she was mocking autistic people. The film is a mockery of autistic people, but Sia is at fault.

“She had researched her role for two years, we watched movies together, and I taught her the nuances and ticks I had observed from [a] friend [with autism],” Sia said. “We did this in the most sensitive and respectful way.”

I can confirm that that is very much not sensitive and respectful- not to mention that Maddie also watched autism meltdowns as a part of her reseach too (filming a meltdown is incredibly dehumanizing) , but the fact that she learned how to ‘act autistic’ from sterotypes, taught to her by a person who just, doesn’t know anything about autism is awful, but also quite absurd. It makes no sense.

No, I do not wish to watch an abled-bodied actor wear my stims like itchy clothes. A caricature of my being.

No, I do not want to see her dance around in skin not her own, profiting from a life not her own.

No, I do not wish to support yet another film that will profit off the lives of disabled bodies without one disabled body involved. -tiffany hammond

I recieved quite a bit of backlash when I posted the first time about why casting a nondisabled actor for a disabled role is bad- from allistic people, so if any of you are reading this as nondisabled people- I literally do not care if you disagree, you don’t get to dictate how autistic people feel. Try a little harder to get out of your own head and see things from another person’s perspective xx

Now, for the love of God, please don’t watch this movie if it comes out in February, and listen to Autistic voices. : Here is a thread of positive autistic representation instead :)

click here for thread!

Sign the Petition

Filming & posting videos of children's autism meltdowns on YouTube is a clear violation of YouTube's community…www.change.org

link

Sign the Petition

Sia has announced she is directing a movie about an autistic woman, and claims she wants to represent the…www.change.org

all other relevant links are linked within the underlined text.

my original article - link

[the-timeless-children]

Sia's debut movie “Music” is severely ableist and contributes to harmful stereotypes of autistic people. The Golden Globes must rescind its two nominations for “Best Musical/Comedy Picture” and “Best Musical/Comedy Actress: Kate Hudson”, and the entertainment industry must promise to actively work towards inclusion and better disability representation.

Sia has claimed the movie is a “love letter to the autism community”, however, the music segments are filled with strobing lights, colors, loud sounds, and quick camera movements, which is very overstimulating. About 1 in 4 autistic people have epilepsy, so the movie can cause seizures and is also very uncomfortable for those without it. Despite making the movie “for” autistic people, Sia has made it in such a way that a majority of us will be unable to watch it.

Secondly, actual autistic people were ignored in the casting process when Sia cast neurotypical Maddie Ziegler to play the autistic character, “Music” because she "can't do a project without” her. That is not a valid reason to create a movie about autistic people without including autistic people in it. How does one act autistic, you may ask. If we look at Ziegler's portrayal, the answer is by stereotypically mimicking autistic people the exact same way autistic people have been bullied and mocked their entire lives. It also enforces the idea that autistic people are not good enough and that their autism is better portrayed by someone with no concept of what it is to be autistic. To make things even worse, Ziegler learned how to “act autistic” by watching videos of autistic children having meltdowns uploaded to YouTube by their parents without their consent. Autistic Sophie Buck asks in her article on Dazed, "why autistic people [are] shamed for being themselves, but a neurotypical actor gets rewarded for inaccurately and reductively assuming an autistic identity?".

“Music” is also used as a prop to advance the other characters' stories and lives. Not once are her feelings and thoughts expressed or even sought out. What about the trauma from watching her grandmother passing? What does she think of suddenly having her estranged sister take care of her? Does she want Ebo to move in, the grown man who restrains her? As non-speaking Niko Boskovic says in his essay: “I think there are two points which stuck out to me. First, that there is a caricature of autistics which relies on depicting us as headphone-wearing, gaping innocents who are symbols of purity there to remind us of selfless sacrifice.” And “Second, the assumption that we have no dreams or hopes for the future of our own, and that the life experiences of everyone around us, i.e. those without disabilities, are central and more important than our own dream for the future.” In the movie, "Music" is gifted an AAC device to help her communicate, but it only seems to be able to say “I’m happy” or “I’m sad”. AACs usually have thousands of unique words programmed. It highly underestimates the intellectual capabilities of autistic people. Non-speaking does not mean incapable.

Positional Asphyxia. That is how 13-years-old autistic Max Benson died in 2018 when he was physically restrained by staff at Guiding Hands School. Max was held in a prone restraint for an extended period of time and was forced to urinate and vomit on himself before becoming unresponsive. It is far from the only case of positional asphyxiation in autistic people being restrained during a meltdown. Sia’s decision to include this inhumane treatment is a testament to her ignorance and complete disregard for the safety and needs of autistic people. Despite claiming her movie to be a “love letter to caregivers and to the autism community”, she is actually telling the autistic community that she doesn’t care about them. The fact that “Music” has been nominated for two Golden Globes awards illustrates the complete disregard the entire entertainment industry has for inclusivity and minority representation. It will only use autism as inspiration porn to make neurotypicals feel good about their supposed “superiority”.

Sia’s handling of the comments by disability activists so far has been insensitive, irresponsible, and invalidating. When faced with justified critique, Sia decided to personally attack members of the community e.g. when she replied: “maybe you’re just a bad actor” to one autistic individual who expressed their ability and willingness to act in her movie. Furthermore, Sia claims to have researched autism for years, but the fact that she collaborated with Autism Speaks, easily identified as a eugenics-promoting hate group, is a testament to the severity of her lies. She refused to apologize and only did so after receiving the nominations out of fear of a boycott, which is exactly what we urge all of you to do. She did announce that she is removing the restraint scenes, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was nominated before Sia made this decision. The damage has already been done. Update: the restraint scenes have NOT been removed and there are no warnings in the movie.

In light of this damning evidence, we call on the Golden Globes to rescind its nomination in both categories. We also call upon the entertainment industry to create a more inclusive workspace that will allow autistic people to become part of the industry. We are already seeing more inclusion of minorities, but disability inclusion is non-existent, which is deeply immoral and concerning. When representing autistic people, listen to actual autistic people, not just social workers, parents and organisations. We are the only ones who knows what is best for us and what it is like to be us. We also call upon other members of the industry–such as actors, producers, writers, and musicians–to call out the movie and its enablers, and to show support to the autistic community and its wishes. We call on HanWay Films and Vertical Entertainment to immediately stop the distribution of “Music”, and on any streaming platforms planning to show it. We call on the actors to apologize and distance themselves from the movie. Your silence is louder than you think. Lastly, we call on YOU to sign this petition, to share it, to demand justice, to be an ally of autistic people, and to listen to the autistic community. Let’s make history together!

[adultingautistic]

[Sept. 7] Re: Non-Autism diagnosis. Thank you for your reply! (Ha - I realized as I typed this I consciously applied my mom's "thank you FOR + THING" formula for how to properly thank people. I used to just say "thank you"& didn't realize it could be rude). This will probably be some parts to explain more, sorry. So my mom was told that children w/Aspergers or Autism were "happy in their own worlds" & my trying to engage/wanting friends was a sign that it wasn't true. She also cared v [1/?]

strongly that I was never grouped in with ppl w/ Autism. I learned of the connection when there was a uni networking event for ppl with Autism & NLD, my diagnosis. It's Non-verbal learning disability, which basically means I struggle with non-verbal social cues, spatial awareness, visual learning, auditory processing & executive dysfunction. The more I knew people w Autism the more I saw a lot of overlap. There's also nearly no record of NLD existing. 

It wasn't ever in the DSM, or lumped into anything. There have been few studies on it, & a lot is speculation. The best I can find is some early 2010's Psychology Today think pieces. I was also diagnosed with "tics" & trichotillomania which I think may have been stims. I'm still definitely not in a close friend group - I tend to be socially outside & I struggle a lot socially, especially now in workplace settings where friendly/professional/friend blurs.

I've been given fidget toys & found them unappealing. But I know I find it very difficult to do the eye contact, particularly if I'm at home or with family (or strangers in my home). I do also have to sleep with earplugs bc I hear water rushing in the pipes, I can't have clocks around, & I'm very distracted by the hum of fluorescent lights. But I stopped crying at school assemblies/crowds around 10. When I was 17 I was re-assessed to qualify for my uni's

to take up space or claim it without a diagnosis (self dx isn't really favourably looked at here, among the ppl w Autism I know anyway). Lol but this is my last year to try while in uni & I wonder if it's even worth it. I guess I'm just trying to figure out if there are reasons for things I'm dealing with still (especially as I get older things seem stranger) & if there's a community. Bc there definitely isn't one for NLD lol. Sorry for how long this is!

Also I have had zero assistance with skills or strategies to manage these things since childhood - I had some occupational therapy for balance & my mom gave me "conversation lessons", & I was usually in the special ed classes (which often confused ppl bc I could read at a normal time). I'm very much struggling w/ executive dysfunction & socially, with not much to go on. If I had a diagnosis, maybe there's something to help? idk. OK finally done srry!

Oh wow.  So, that is a lot!  And as I was reading your description of your experiences, my mind is going “Uh huh, that’s autism.  Yep, autism.  Sounds like autism to me...” 

Then I went and looked up this “NLD” thing, and found this article:

“There is clearly a great deal of overlap between Aspergers Disorder (AD) and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NVLD), so much so that it is possible that the symptoms of each describe the same group of children from different perspectives—AD from either a psychiatric/behavioral perspective, and NVLD/neuropsychological perspective.”

So basically, it seems like NLD is Aspergers, and Aspergers is autism.  From a few other articles I read, it seemed like NLD is diagnosed when a person is “too mild” for Aspergers, which is itself diagnosed when a person was “too mild” for autism.

Since it was determined between the DSM-4 and DSM-5 that the divide between Aspergers and autism was so arbitrary and impossible to pin down, therefore there shouldn’t be a divide and they are really the same disorder, it would seem to follow that the line between NLD and Aspergers should be the same.

In other words, you’re on the spectrum, the same spectrum that autistics are on, but at the time you were tested they gave you a diagnosis of “Asperger Lite”, which in of itself was “Autism Lite”, and now Aspergers has been folded into autism, so it might be that NLD will be folded in as well someday (but as of now, isn’t, for some weird reason).

I can’t answer for you what will happen if you go to get tested again for autism.  I don’t know what the result will be.  But what I can tell you is that you do belong in the autism community, regardless of whatever official diagnosis you have.  You obviously share autistic traits, I related to literally everything you said about your experiences, and maybe you just have better social skills, or maybe your doctor was biased, who knows.

You already have a diagnosis, and that may be enough for you to get accommodations at your university, or at a future job.  You will have to look up what the laws/rules are regarding accommodations where you live.  But if the current diagnosis you have will get you the support that you need, then there is really no benefit to you getting your diagnosis changed to autism in that way.

So really it comes down to whether you feel your NLD diagnosis is accurate, and whether you want to be tested for autism instead.  It may turn out that your original doctor was right on the mark and that you’re on the mild end of the spectrum, so mild that you’re NLD instead of autistic (but it is the same spectrum).  Or it might turn out your original doctor was biased and didn’t score you correctly and your symptoms are more severe and a label of autistic fits you better.

It’s entirely up to you whether you want to get re-tested, of course.  But you don’t need an autism diagnosis to be part of the autism community- this community is about sharing our experiences which you obviously relate to, and are absolutely welcome to participate in discussions about.  

So getting re-tested is really about two things: accommodations (which you may already be able to get with your NLD diagnosis), and feeling that your diagnosis is accurate to yourself.  So to answer your question whether it’s worth it to get tested again- only you can decide that.  It’s entirely up to you.  But I hope I’ve given you enough information to help you make that decision.  But no matter what, you belong here, everything you said was absolutely relatable to me, I felt like I was reading the story of my own life in a lot of ways.

[vincent-g-writer]

The Silver Screen Savant, pt 2- the Meh, the Bad and The yikes.

Hello Writers!

Last time here on Starry Starry Write, I talked a little about Autism in the media and my personal experiences therein. Today, I’d like to go a little broader, and tackle the topic from a macro perspective.

In recent times, you’ve probably heard “Representation Matters” oft repeated. Especially in prominent talking spaces like social media. But what does that mean, exactly?

Why “Representation Matters,” and how.

The short answer:

Diverse representation in media tells us that everyone has a place in the world. That everyone’s story matters.

The long answer:

It’s no secret that we begin engaging with media at a young age. When I was growing up in the 90’s and 00’s, TV and video games were often the babysitters of my peers. I was one of the few kids in my neighborhood whose parents weren’t divorced. The kids I knew? Not so much. Most of them were raised by single parents, grandparents and of course-the boob tube. I personally prefered books, when my mom wasn’t yelling “it’s too nice out to be holed up in that dark bedroom!”

Now, don’t mistake my preference for some kind of intellectual superiority. I watched plenty of TV too. Besides, books aren’t magically out of the equation. Printed material is our oldest form of media. And- often just as problematic. Though I will say- I saw a much broader range of people on covers adoring library shelves than I ever did titles on a TV roster. But, I digress. The point is: for many of us, consuming media begins at an early time of our life. And that’s where the problem starts. Even in my childhood, where The Magic School Bus, Hey Arnold, and Sesame Street showed people of all kinds, I can point to many that did not. Especially not people like me. Which did me a grave disservice. I didn’t know I was on the spectrum for a long time, and when I finally found out, I was horrified, thanks to what I had seen on TV.

Because media is not only a wonderful way to learn about people that don’t look, act or sound like us. It also informs our ideas of who we are, and what we can be. Whether we like it or not: it shapes how we understand the world. And it doesn’t stop with Childhood.

Time Changes Much, but not all.

Things are better now. Well, a little bit, anyway.

As an adult, I see more people like me on the screen nowadays. Which is nice.

Ish.

Why “ish?” Well…

Frequently, these “noticeably different” characters (read: Autistically coded) are branded “NOT AUTISTIC!” You heard it here first, folks! That one character (insert your favorite) is Totally Not Autistic. Despite being written in a way that gives every indication otherwise.

*Facepalm*

Now for some examples, which we’ll call the “Meh,” “The Bad” and the “Yikes.” For “fun,” we’ll also go into the off-air perceptions of the characters.

The “Meh.”

First on the list is Dr. Spencer Reid, from CBS’s “Criminal Minds.”

Dr. Reid is the youngest member of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, having joined at the age of 22. He holds three B.A degrees in Sociology, Psychology and Philosophy, as well as three Ph.D’s in Engineering, Chemistry, and Mathematics.

He also has the social skills of a limp dishrag. Wait, what’s that? High Intelligence + Low Social Awareness? Hmmm…Then there’s his restrictive behavioral patterns, obsessive interests, and general “quirkiness!” that we could talk about. But let’s hear a quote from the actor who plays him, Matthew Gray Gubler:

“..an eccentric genius, with hints of schizophrenia and minor autism, Asperger’s Syndrome. Reid is 24, 25 years old with three PH.D.s and one can’t usually achieve that without some form of autism.”

Hoooo-boy. I could go into all the things wrong with this, including why the term “Asperger’s” is both horrific (TW: Eugenics,Ableism, N*zis) and harmful. However, today we’ll simply leave it with the fact that this term is no longer applicable, having been reclassified in 2013 as part of Autism Spectrum disorder.

The “Bad.”

Next up, we have Will Graham, from NBC’s Hannibal.

Like our first example, Will works for the FBI. He’s a gifted criminal profiler with “special” abilities, namely hyper empathy, which allows him to reconstruct the actions and fantasies of the killers he hunts. He’s intellectually gifted, hates eye contact, socializing, and prefers to spend…most of his time…alone.

Oh dear. Haven’t we been here before? But, I mean, he doesn’t have Autism! The show runner says so!

For Will Graham, there’s a line in the pilot about him being on the spectrum of autism or Asperger’s, and he’s neither of those things. He actually has an empathy disorder where he feels way too much and that’s relatable in some way. There’s something about people who connect more to animals than they do to other people because it’s too intense for whatever reason.

You can’t see me right now, but I’m cringing. A lot. This is just…ugh. I mean, for starters, I know a handful of autistic people who struggle with hyper empathy, which can make social situations overwhelming and hard to navigate. In fact, I happen to be one of them. Plus, there’s a cool little thing about how, frequently, people on the spectrum more readily identify with animals. But, y’know. Who am I to say? I’m just someone, one of many, who’s dealt with this my whole life.

Now, onto the “Yikes.”

*sigh*

And finally, we have BBC’s Sherlock, a modern adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s renowned “consulting” detective, and probably the most famous fictional character of all time.

Now, I’ll start by saying that the BBC incarnation is not the first to be Spectrum labeled. In fact, Sherlock was my childhood hero, and the first “person” I saw referred to this way. My aunt, an avid reader herself, casually remarked to a friend “I’ve always wondered if Holmes is Autistic,” after I came yammering on about how fantastic the books were. Had I not been champing at the bit to get back to my reading, I might have asked her what that meant.

I also believe this fandom driven speculation is why many detective type characters (see above) are often coded as Autistic, intentionally or otherwise.

In this New York Times article, Lisa Sanders, M.D. describes Holmes traits:

He appears oblivious to the rhythms and courtesies of normal social intercourse — he doesn’t converse so much as lecture. His interests and knowledge are deep but narrow. He is strangely “coldblooded,” and perhaps as a consequence, he is also alone in the world.

Now, before we go any father, let me take a moment to defend his creator. During the time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first created his most famous work, Autism was not known. That isn’t to say it didn’t exist. We’ve always existed. In fact, it’s now believed that the Changeling Myth, a common European folk story, was a way to explain Autism. In one telling (there are a few) children displaying “intelligence beyond their years” and “uncanny knowledge” were imposters, traded out by Fae creatures for offspring of their own. Children believed to be “Changlings,” regretfully, often came to a bad end. A chilling reminder that the stories we tell impact our real lives.

So while Autism was at least somewhat recognized, it did not become its own official diagnosis until 1943.

Meanwhile, Sherlock Holmes was first published in 1892. Now, as a writer who often draws from my personal reality, I imagine Doyle probably “wrote what he knew,” which is to say, acquainted with one or more Autistic people, he used them as inspiration.

On the other hand…

BBC’s Sherlock first aired in 2010. And while one might argue that the writers simply capitalized on the Autistic fan-theory, or took already available traits and exaggerated them for their version… they left a lot to be desired. Autism aside, this new Sherlock is…well…an asshole. Narcissistic, abusive and egocentric (to name a few) he sweeps his caustic behavior under the rug of “high functioning sociopath,” and blytly ignores the consequences.

Which is a major problem. Because while doing this, he’s still “obviously” (at least in the Hollywood sense) Autistic. In my previous post, where I said some characters are “too smart™, and logical© to ever have feelings, friends or empathy,” this is what I meant.

This is bad. We’re looping right back to Representation Matters. Bad representation, and the navigating of such, is just as important for writers to think about as good representation. Maybe even moreso. Because bad representation paints real people into cardboard, stereotyped people-shaped things. It otherizes. And it’s harmful. You would not believe the people I’ve met assume I’m not Autistic because I’m not an egotistical jerk. Why? Because they watched, you guessed it, BBC Sherlock.

Confession time:

Now here’s my little secret:

I love all of these characters. They are some of my favorite on tv. Why? Because for good or ill, I recognize myself in them. Finally, I can turn on the TV, and see myself. Or, somewhat, anyway.

My favorite character out of this list? Loath though I am to admit it… Is Sherlock. See, what those well meaning folks didn’t know (the ones who say I’m I’m “too nice,” to be Autistic) is… well, if we’re being honest, I wasn’t always nice. A few years ago, I was that guy. I was a jerk because I thought I was the smartest person in the room. Which is really not a good look. In fact, sitting down and watching the first season of sherlock, (around three or four years after it came out) made me realize how much of a jerk I actually was.

There are other things there too. Things that tie me to all these characters, that I didn’t list. But that’s for another today.

For now, I’d like to add a caveat or two:

1) I’ve watched all the shows listed above, and adore them. As I mentioned, Sherlock is my favorite. He’s also the one I’ve watched the most (Repeatedly, in fact. Whoops.) and I recognize it’s not all bad. In the end, he learned to treat people better (somewhat) and certainly became more human over time. And, there are other deeply problematic elements of the show I’d like to tackle, eventually.

*cough* Queerbating! *cough*

2) I’m well aware that the above cases are all thin, white, able bodied, “straight” males. But I chose these characters for a couple of reasons. One, they’re the most prominent type on TV. Again, we loop back around to representation, and why we need more positive, diverse examples of it.

And finally-

3) In my last post, I mentioned I’d give some “good” instances of Hollywood Autism trope. But I didn’t exactly do that. Partially, because half way through, I thought…perhaps…I’m not the best to judge what might be a good Autistic character. I mean, I’m sure someone will read this and think my current aforementioned characters are fine. Heck! They might even argue my perception here, and say the characters are just fine. I accept that. In my life, both on and off the page, I recognize that I cannot, should not (and don’t want to) speak for an entire community.

Because of this, I cannot tell you how to write a “good” Autistic character, or what media is “acceptable.” I can’t even really tell you what a bad character is. Sure, I have a lot of opinions about it. But- if you’re on the spectrum and like and identify with the above? That’s fine. I mean, even with all the problems I noted (and some I didn’t) I certainly do.

On the other hand, if you’re a writer, and you want to write a character from this (or any, for that matter) community you aren’t part of, I caution you.

Do your research. Preferably from multiple credible sources.

Talk to people on the spectrum about what it’s really like. (Though try to steer clear of asking for emotional labor.You could, say, hop on reddit and ask the community there, for instance, which is a no pressure way to obtain potentially decent info.)

Finally, whatever you do, remember this-

Autistic people can look like anyone. We can act, and think and be different, like anyone. We are real, living, breathing people. Not robots, not sob stories, not tropes. People. So if you write about us, write us like people. And your work will be all the better for it.

-Your Loving Vincent

[go-go-devil]

A Short History of the Woman Who First Defined Autism

Hey, I would like to send an important message to all of my fellow autistics on this website. It turns out that there was a woman who studied and properly defined what autism was about twenty years before Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger did, yet she’s not getting nearly enough credit for her research and is largely unknown here in the West.

Her name is Grunya Efimovna Sukhareva.

Dr. Sukhareva was a Ukrainian child psychologist who was born on November 11th, 1891, and died on April 26, 1981.

In 1925, she published a vividly detailed description of what she referred to as “autistic” traits in the behavior of several boys. Her paper was translated to German, but never got an English translation until 1996. She firmly (and correctly) believed that autism was rooted in brain development, and was even one of the first people to separate the condition from schizophrenia, which was something that the DSM-5 did not officially do until the 1980’s.

Now mind you, her findings were published over a decade before either Dr. Leo Kanner or Dr. Hans Asperger knew of her paper. While it’s still unknown whether Kanner had ever read her paper, there is evidence that Asperger may have used some of her observations for his paper without crediting her, as it had been translated into German at the time. The reason for leaving her uncredited could possibly have been because doing so in Nazi-occupied Austria would have gotten him arrested considering he’d be using the research of a Jewish woman, but I digress.

Dr. Sukhareva dedicated her life to helping children with mental disorders, and I feel awful that I never knew about this until I saw a random old article pop up on my search engine tab. She had claimed that her goal when working with these children was to help them “stay connected with real life, its tempo and movement,” to help them adapt to the world instead of trying to cure them like most other medical professionals did, and yet we had to have our disorder be named after a Nazi who had supported the euthanization of children...

Anyway, here’s the article where I found this information. It’s a good read, and even goes into some detail about two other leading researchers of ADS that Kanner had ripped off.

[dimpledsarcasm]

Election Night - A reminder

Friendly reminder (with links!)

This is a president that has:

been impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, the 3rd president in US history to be impeached 

Articles of Impeachment Against Donald John Trump: https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hres755/BILLS-116hres755enr.pdf

How did he get away with it? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/05/how-donald-trump-got-acquitted-after-impeachment

has 26 counts of sexual misconduct against him https://www.businessinsider.com/women-accused-trump-sexual-misconduct-list-2017-12 

And consistently shows misogynistic behaviour (refer to his twitter, or literally the hundreds of compilation videos online, or the ads run by his own party against him: https://lincolnproject.us/video/mirror/)

“avoided paying federal income tax in 10 of the 15 years preceding his election. In 2016, he paid $750 in federal income tax, less than one night’s stay in a suite at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.” (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/three-interpretations-of-trumps-tax-records/616570/) 

The full report by the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/27/us/donald-trump-taxes.html

has arguably led the worst response to the novel Coronavirus pandemic on the global stage, which has caused 1.2 million deaths to date, however he continues to play down the threat of the virus 

Timeline of intel conveyed to the president and how he’s conveyed it to Americans: https://doggett.house.gov/media-center/blog-posts/timeline-trump-s-coronavirus-responses

An other timeline: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/15/835011346/a-timeline-of-coronavirus-comments-from-president-trump-and-who

doesn’t believe in climate change and has very little regard for the environment

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/03/how-trump-is-changing-science-environment/

Openly racist (I’m not linking anything, just look at his twitter) 

but he did say to a white supremacist group to 'stand back and stand by’ (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/proud-boys-trump-debate-1.5744467)

A huge hypocrite 

Ex: consistently denied vaccine efficacy and pushed the narrative that it causes autism, now views a vaccine as the cure to COVID-19, while I admit personal growth and education can shift someone’s views on a topic, considering his determination to steadily ignore scientific evidence up until a couple months ago and his consistent efforts to undermine his public health officials, I would argue that this is entirely politically motivated —> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/09/health/trump-vaccines.html

is a well of misinformation 

Some of his most damaging claims include his insistence on the effectiveness of unproven coronavirus treatments, for instance the use of hydroxychloroquine or the antiviral cocktail manufactured by Regeneron: https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/trump-hails-experimental-treatment-for-his-virus-recovery-1.5136141

has weakened trust in political institutions by threatening the very foundations of democracy via tactics such as voter suppression and misinformation: https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/5/21499009/harvard-berkman-klein-center-paper-voting-misinformation-trump-tweets-media-framing 

not a team player (this is the nicest way I can put this)

again I look to his response to covid, simply because of how disastrous it’s been; he has undermined science and scientific institutions and subverts his own administration, holding gatherings without the use of social-distancing and mask and in Nevada, flaunted that state authorities failed to stop him https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02800-9

If this person showed up to a job interview, would you hire them? Would you let them babysit your children? If the answer is no, or if you hesitate in saying yes, why are you letting them run a country?

If you voted him in. Shame on you.

I can respect republican views, although they significantly differ from my own, I can understand and debate these points without hesitancy, we can talk about the pros and cons of different legislation and policies, etc. However, this election is not about supporting a political party anymore, this is about deliberately placing an abomination in office and making a mockery of the United States of America. The world believes you to be clowns and maybe that’s because you are.

Even if Biden wins based off of absentee ballots, the fact that this election has been so close, the fact that there is so much support for Mr. Donald J Trump and that we are seeing a repeat of 2016 voter distribution, makes me absolutely lose faith in the American People. WAKE UP.

PS: to all my babes struggling in the US and trying to grasp what is happening in your country, know that my thoughts lie with you, I am distraught at American news so I can only imagine what it feels like for it to be your national news.

[cllynchauthor]

On Aspie Supremacy and the Aspergian

CW: bullying, suicide, aspie supremacy

I feel the need to talk to you guys about what has been happening on autistic twitter lately surrounding the autistic website The Aspergian. I write for The Aspergian. Here are some of my articles:

https://theaspergian.com/2019/05/04/its-a-spectrum-doesnt-mean-what-you-think/

https://theaspergian.com/2019/04/19/person-first/

https://theaspergian.com/2019/04/05/7-cool-aspects-of-autistic-culture/

While I am white, cishet, and speaking, I am in the minority at The Aspergian.

The majority of contributors are mostly either LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, or high support needs.

Here are some of their contributions:

https://theaspergian.com/2019/10/10/stopping-the-stigma-against-people-with-disabilities-interview-with-sbsk/

https://theaspergian.com/2019/09/09/10-signs-i-was-transgender-but-didnt-know-it/

https://theaspergian.com/2019/08/08/the-cage/

Despite this, the name The Aspergian makes many autistic people uncomfortable. Several ASAN members have spoken out condemning the name.

In these days of #AltAutism, the autistic dark web and other aspie supremacists have turned the word Aspergers into a borderline slur.

Aspergers and “Aspergian” are becoming dog whistles for function labels, white supremacy and incels.

The founder of The Aspergian knows that. That’s why she named it The Aspergian.

With every pro-RPM, pro-Neurodiversity, feminist, intersectional article The Aspergian publishes, it gets left wing values all over Aspergers. If you google Aspergian now, all you will find are social justice articles.

And the AltAutism folks HATE IT.

But so do a lot of autistic advocates, for whom “Aspergers” conjures up a lot of trauma.

The founder has trauma from it too, though.

https://twitter.com/theaspergiancom/status/1185068296636375040?s=21

Image Description: screencap of a tweet from @TheAspergianCom reading

When I first told my closest living friend about being autistic, it was the first person I'd told other than my husband. This was her response:

Below is a screencap of a text conversation. The friend is talking about her autistic son saying “at this point I’ll be fucking happy if he ever calls me mom and stops trying to attack me.” Then she says “I think your autism is fucking bullshit.”

Image description: screencaps of more tweets reading:

Though she knew I was going to be tested, she'd continued to use the word Asperger's. I'd been helping her through the process of understanding her son and autism. I loved her deeply. I still do. But she blocked me on social media and told everyone before I was ready to come out.

So instantly all my social media was flooded with all these speculative and veiled comments I could only see portions of, and I was humiliated. I was a new mother struggling and lost my support system. She thought it was sinister I used the same label as her son. Minimizing.

Autism was my diagnosis. She didn't know that I was made to believe I was possessed by demons in my youth or all the hell I'd endured and all the struggles I had like being the last person in my school who learned to read six years late. She knew an articulate adult.

Image description: the next person I told, things went even worse. She outed me in local Facebook groups where I was the admin and parent groups. I had postpartum anxiety and severe breastfeeding aversion but my child wouldn't eat food. So it was BF constantly or a feeding tube. And no meds for me.

So I thought maybe the problem was me saying autism instead of Asperger's. My husband was aspie and always identified that way. I'd been a teacher with largely autistic classes for years. Those with that diagnosis were often intellectually disabled.

Image description: My best friend and one of my oldest and closest friends, both autistic, had committed suicide, and the two living best friends I had blew up my whole social circle. I was afraid to seek help, afraid to go in public, and brutally reframing my whole life and reliving traumas.

I needed help. I joined about 20-30 autistic groups and made the mistake of saying that I was aspie. I didn't want to be insulting and have another incident like what happened the first time I told someone. It didn't go well. I had no idea of the stigma at the time.

And I had no idea why I was being called a supremacist, shiny, a Nazi, ableist, etc. I argued against those claims because I'm definitely not those things. I thought I'd entered a den of extremists. I got booted. Then another group I entered started with, "Oh, there's the Nazi."

In that tweet thread, Terra goes on to say that it occurred to her that her best friend who had recently committed suicide might have sought out the autistic community before he died. And she went to look and found that he had posted and been dogpiled in the same manner. The day before he died.

Terra Vance is desperately anti supremacy. But she is also desperately anti bullying. And she felt that if people couldn’t say “I’m autistic” without losing loved ones and “I’m aspie” without being called a supremacist, then autistic people were being put in a very tight corner.

Especially since Aspergers is still an extant diagnosis pretty much everywhere but North America so people are getting shunned from the autistic community because of their DIAGNOSIS.

That’s why she named it The Aspergian.

And you know what?

The aspie supremacists HATE IT.

They hate that their dog whistle is now a popular and booming hub of Neurodiversity, anti-ABA, and intersectionality.

They hate that The Aspergian is republishing deleted Wikipedia articles of autistic nonspeakers, which the autistic dark web worked hard to get removed.

They hate that we promote FC and RPM and other AAC. They hate that we keep claiming that autism and Aspergers are the same thing.

They don’t want to share space with nonspeakers and black women. They’re a bunch of altright white incels and The Aspergian is getting autism and neurodiversity over their shiny high functioning boots.

Worst of all, we’re reaching PARENTS.

Our most popular articles are not aimed at fellow autistic people. They are aimed at NTs, parents, laymen, trying to educate them about autism.

My article on ABA went viral and made so many ABA therapists angry. It was beautiful.

Imagine description:

“And by some strange magic, we took off suddenly, going from like 100 views per month to over 100k, then 200k, then more and more. We heard a lot of stories that were not being heard. There are parents who read our site to learn about their children posthumously after suicide.

One mother told me that if she had found our site earlier, she would have known that her son's "aspie" diagnosis meant that he was fully autistic. She is filled with regrets. We hear from lots of people who had no idea that they were supposed to have these autistic struggles.

We hear from people in lots of non-white majority countries where autism acceptance and awareness is years/decades behind what a difference our site has made because they had no idea. They weren't reading other blogs and now they are. Now they are understanding autism.”

Understanding autism from a neurodivergent, autism-acceptance, Autism-Speaks-Is-Bad, anti-ABA, pro-AAC website.

The ADW HATE that.

So what do they do?

They stir up shit about the name. The autistic dark web have a bunch of sock accounts which they use to deliberately stir up shit among the #ActuallyAutistic tag on twitter so they can screenshot stuff and repost it out of context to further discredit autistic people.

So they know the ND crowd resent Aspergers. So they deliberately stir up crap about The Aspergian’s name and everybody eats it up.

They also spread lies like that we are racist and don’t have any contributors of colour (they block the BIPOC contributors who argue against this lie).

Image Descriotion:

Tweet from Riah Person (a black autistic advocate) saying

“The .@theAspergianCom has writers

• with I/DD

• that are nonspeaking

• with research background

• that are deaf

• that are blind

• with physically limiting disabilities

• that are autistic BIPOC

• that are autistic LGBTQ+

• with no formal writing skills

The list goes on”

They claim that we plagiarize. But in fact each contributor owns their own content and is free to publish in other places and often they do.

But mostly they bitch about the name.

And I get it. I do. Aspergers brings up a lot of bad feelings and associations, especially since the anti-ND movement started pushing the “Asperger was a Nazi” stuff in order to discredit Steve Silberman’s book Neurotribes.

But we can’t make Asperger’s a slur. It’s still an existing diagnosis all around the world. Happily it IS being removed from the ICD 11 in 2022 but it’s going to take decades to change the assumptions around that word.

Terra wants “Aspergers” to become synonymous with autism. No difference. No barriers. No judgements. Not because she loves or even identifies with Aspergers. Her diagnosis is autistic and she calls herself autistic. But she doesn’t think autistic people should be bullied over a label. It smacks of exclusionism.

The founder of The Aspergian feels that no autistic person should be bullied to the point of death or near-death because of their diagnosis, or because they have been trained to say they have Aspergers so NTs won’t pull the whole “you don’t look autistic” crap.

The autistic community, of ALL communities, should be the most understanding of misunderstanding. We should be the most able to understand that people don’t always mean what it sounds like they mean.

“Aspergers” is not a slur. It is not a supremacist term. At worst it is an outdated functioning label. At best it is a synonym for autism.

And it won’t become a dog whistle. Because The Aspergian won’t allow it.

[arosnowflake]

What is your opinion on ABA therapy, and when should ABA therapy be stopped? Do you think it’s viable for children beyond a certain age?

 ABA is abuse. Full stop. Always. There is no such thing as ‘good’ ABA, it is not viable for children of any age, and will most likely traumatize them. 

ABA, for those not in the know, stands for Applied Behavioural Analysis, and was invented by Ivar Lovaas and Robert Kroegel. The therapy’s goal, ostensibly, is to make autistic children ‘indistinguishable from their peers’, which is done through a system where autistic behaviours are discouraged and ‘normal’ behaviours are rewarded.

First of, making a child ‘indistinguishable from their peers’ is not a goal any autism therapy should strive for. This does not actually help the autistic person in any way; all it teaches them is that their way of being is wrong, and that they need to suppress it. Our autistic behaviours are our natural way of being, and suppressing them in order to pass as neurotypical takes a lot of energy, which will often lead to mental health issues. Aside from that, we need our natural behaviours to thrive; stimming, for example, is used to regulate sensory input and emotions, and without this as a coping mechanism, our ability to regulate those will be severely diminished, which again, can and does lead to mental health issues and/or burnout. All this is aside from the fact that consistently teaching a child that what they are is wrong is obviously going to lead to low self esteem. 

The thing with ABA is this: it does not train autistic children how to regulate their emotions, how to regulate sensory input, or how to redirect harmful stims. It teaches autistic children that their behaviour is wrong, and it ignores their needs. It does not teach them how to express themselves in a positive and healthy manner; it teaches them that what they want is irrelevant, to obey other people even if they’re in pain, and to ignore their own needs. You can do this with no negative reinforcement at all, and only utilize puppies, sunshine, and rainbow magic, and this would still be abusive. ABA addresses autistic behaviour and tries to suppress it so autistic children appear normal, so that they’re less of a bother to neurotypicals. That’s all it does, and it’s wrong. 

If you don’t understand what’s wrong with ABA, picture this: every time your child smiles, cries, or shows any emotion at all, you scold them and refuse them access to their toys, or at best, you ignore them entirely. When your child shows no emotion at all, even after you put them through actively stressful/hurtful things, you praise them and give them access to their toys. You do this throughout their entire early childhood, perhaps even for 30 hours or more a week. That would be abuse, right? It would lead to adults who don’t know how to regulate themselves or their emotions, and it would traumatize your child.

Yeah. Exactly. That’s my fucking point. 

But alright, say think it’s wrong to prevent a neurotypical child from expressing their natural behaviour, but perfectly okay to do with autistic children, somehow. You should know that Ivar Lovaas used electric shocks and physical violence to punish children when they exhibited autistic behaviours. The entirety of ABA is based around the idea that autistic children need to be taught how to be human; that we have no love, no thoughts, no nothing, that we’re simply problems to be solved. I’m begging you to read this interview with him and then maintain that any therapy this man invented is anything other than abusive. Some nice standout quotes from the father of ABA:

“You see, you start pretty much from scratch when you work with an autistic child. You have a person in the physical sense — they have hair, a nose and a mouth — but they are not people in the psychological sense. One way to look at the job of helping autistic kids is to see it as a matter of constructing a person. You have the raw materials, but l you have to build the person.” 

“Autistic children are severely disturbed. People seem to be no more than objects to them. They show no signs of warmth toward others (…)”

“They have tantrums, and believe me they are monsters, little monsters.”

“You see, by then I knew that she could inhibit [self-injurious stimming], and that she would inhibit it if she knew I would hit her. So I let her know that there was no question in my mind that I was going to kill her if she hit herself once more, and that was pretty much it.” 

Some other posts for your reading pleasure that expand upon why ABA is the actual worst:

@neurowonderful‘s ABA Masterpost, with lots of additional links, as well as their video What is ABA?

@strangerdarkerbetter‘s ABA Masterpost.

@howtoautism’s ABA Masterpost. 

Against ABA 

Various posts on the Autism Women & Nonbinary Network on ABA: one, two, three, four. 

This article by The Aspergian. 

If, after reading my explanation and all the links in the posts that I linked, you still don’t understand what’s wrong with ABA, then frankly, I don’t know what to say to you, other than that I hope you never meet an autistic person ever, let alone a child. 

TL;DR: ABA is abusive, it is never viable for anyone, and I will not budge on this.

I should note that, since ABA is the only insurance-covered autism therapy in the USA, some actually decent therapies for autistic children have taken to calling themselves ABA even if they’re not. However, if the goal of the therapy is to make a child ‘indistinguishable from their peers’, it’s almost certainly ABA or something equally as bad. 

I’m going to ask people not to send any further asks on the subject of ABA: it greatly distresses me (I’m literally shaking right now, I’ve had to compose myself multiple times throughout writing this, and I can’t actually read through any of the things I have linked here in its entirety because it triggers a panic attack), and as such, I also apologize if I don’t sound coherent here; hopefully the articles I’ve linked do a better job at explaining this than I do. Anyone who tries to argue with me about ABA will get an instant block. 

[phroyd]

The only way that Vaccinations would remotely impact which child might come down with Autism, lies in determining if the chemical delivery agent, Thimersol, can be linked to any activation of genes in noncoding DNA,  the parts of noncoding DNA that regulate gene expression.  Research has found that alterations in regions that regulate gene activity can lead to Autism. - Phroyd

There is no one gene that, when mutated, causes autism. But over the past decade, researchers have identified hundreds of gene variations that seem to affect brain development in ways that increase the risk of autism. However, these scientists mainly searched for variants in the DNA that directly encodes the building blocks of proteins. Now, a new study probing so-called noncoding DNA has found that alterations in regions that regulate gene activity may also contribute to autism. And surprisingly, these variations tended to be inherited from fathers who aren’t autistic.

“This is a really good article—it’s somewhat provocative and it makes us think about [autism genetics in a] different way,” says Lucia Peixoto, a neuroscientist and computational biologist at Washington State University in Spokane, who was not involved in the research. “I think it’s a great contribution to the field.”

Research into the genetic risk for autism has mainly focused on how mutations that arise spontaneously in an individual’s genome—rather than being inherited from a parent—disrupt protein-coding regions and lead to the condition. That’s because these sporadic mutations have relatively large effects and studies have shown that such mutations, although individually rare, together contribute to about 25% to 30% of cases, says Jonathan Sebat, a geneticist at the University of California, San Diego. But only about 2% of the genome consists of protein-coding areas. Sebat says the large noncoding portion of our DNA—often previously referred to as  “junk DNA”—has so far been ignored in autism research.

Sebat’s team was especially interested in the parts of noncoding DNA that regulate gene expression. They looked at whole-genome sequences from 829 families that included autistic individuals, their nonautistic siblings, and their parents. Assessing the influence of individual DNA base changes is particularly difficult in noncoding regions, so they instead identified bigger alterations, so-called structural variants, in which large sequences of DNA are inverted, duplicated, or deleted.

Each individual has thousands of structural variants in their genome, so the researchers narrowed down their analysis to examine just a handful of regulatory regions where genetic variation seemed most likely to cause disruption. They chose these by finding regions where the general population has less variation than expected, suggesting that genetic changes there could be detrimental. These included sites involved in regulating gene activity during brain development and initiating the transcription of genes.

The scientists then examined whether structural variants in these regions were associated with autism by examining the pattern of transmission from parents to their autistic and nonautistic children. Researchers have assumed that mothers are more likely to pass on autism-promoting gene variants. That’s because the rate of autism in women is much lower than that in men, and it is thought that women can carry the same genetic risk factors without having any signs of autism. But when a mother passes these genes to her sons, they are not protected in the same way and thus will be affected.

The team found that mothers passed only half of their structural variants on to their autistic children—a frequency that would be expected by chance alone—suggesting that variants inherited from mothers were not associated with autism. But surprisingly, fathers did pass on substantially more than 50% of their variants. This suggests that autistic children might have inherited risk variants in regulatory regions from their fathers but not their mothers, the researchers report today in Science.

To check that this result held up, Sebat’s team then tested a second, larger sample of 1771 families. Once again, autistic children received more structural variants from their fathers but not mothers—though the size of the effect wasn’t quite as large in this second sample.

“This is completely opposite to … what we had previously assumed,” Sebat says. Peixoto finds the paternal bias surprising as well, although she already suspected that the inherited component of autism would be more apparent in noncoding regions. Compared with mutations in protein-coding regions, variants in regulatory regions usually have “smaller but additive effects. And when you have a smaller effect, you are much more likely to pass [it] along from generation to generation.”

Based on these results, Sebat proposes a more complex model of how autism arises, in which mothers pass on mutations affecting coding regions, which have large effects that women are protected from, while fathers pass on variants affecting noncoding regions; their effects are much more moderate and may only cause symptoms when combined with risk variants from mothers.

Dalila Pinto, a molecular geneticist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, says the study provides “very insightful preliminary findings.” She said she will be interested to see whether the results are replicated in even larger genome databases—and whether additional variants will be identified. Peixoto agrees: Although the research is still at an early stage, she says, it “open[s] a door in a different direction.”

Phroyd

[persephonewolf]

Shit is going down

So you all may or may not have heard, but last night news broke that at my school, the New College of Florida, some highly unethical admissions procedures have been enacted in recent years. Joy Hamm, the current Dean of Admissions, has instituted a policy of "red flagging" all student essays in which they disclose a mental or physical disability, particularly as it pertains to mental health and neurological conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, and having them go through an extra screening process. The essay in which they disclose their disability is qlso rated with a 1 for rhetorical content which has a negative impact on the student's overall score. According to evidence procured by the lawyer hired by two recent graduates who did work-study in the admissions department for three years and their lawyer, 1/3 of these red flagged students were denied in committee despite their scoring still qualifying them for automatic admission. This is certainly unethical, but it might also be illegal, so the Department of Education has launched an external investigation. New College itself conducted an internal investigation and found itself free of wrongdoing despite admitting to this policy. It is currently legal for a school to red flag any student they wish for any reason. However, due to her comments about the current student population (i.e. calling New College "the land of misfit toys" according to one employee) and multiple employees admittance that she has endeavored to lower the population of disabled students starting with those with mental and neurological conditions for reasons such as not being outgoing enough to hack it and not fitting in, the student body, the complainants, and their former lawyer who died earlier this month believe that she violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by intentionally denying students based on their disabilities as much as she could. Other committee members have attempted to make the process somewhat fair, but 1/3 is a large percentage. She has made disparaging comments about her own employer students as well as students with disabilities, claiming that we just aren't cut out for New College. Previously to Joy Hamm's appointment students were accepted based on scoring alone. They were only ever red flagged for serious issues such as disciplinary action, criminal record, and bad recommendation letter comments. Their essay topic was only given a second look if it had such concerning content as the example on the grading rubric of serial killer worshipping.

Whether it is illegal or not, I just wanted to let you all know in the case that any of you or any of your friends/children applied to New College last year or are currently in the process of applying. You have the right to this information. My friend and fellow EDSer, Gloria Pritchard, has compiled all of the evidence procured by the complainants' lawyer as she was close friends with them on a website that also includes current student actions to censure the administration and advocate on behalf of classmates and themselves. Below I will leave the links I have on current events in the investigation.

In my personal opinion, it is morally suspect despite the legality or illegality of the policy. We have more counselors on staff than colleges double our size (for example, Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL only has one or two according to my sister who attends and they have well over 1,000 students) with a building dedicated for their use and even an actual psychiatrist that comes by the school at least once a month. We have the capability to house, accommodate, and provide adequate care to the current population of students covered under the ADA. It is unnecessary to lower the population or not admit people based on their social skills or ability to navigate campus. Let me tell you, there are people without disabilities worse at both than most of my fellow ADA covered students and they are just as capable of getting good grades as the rest of us. It is plain bias and I hope the DOE investigation reveals that.

Here is the link to her website which is separate from but attached to her main blog: https://demidragonqueen.wixsite.com/redflag

Here is an ableist, but still mostly factual article about it that came out last night:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.heraldtribune.com/news/20190426/new-college-accused-of-discrimination-by-former-admissions-staffers%3ftemplate=ampart

[neonpiegon]

Vaccines should be mandatory and free for everybody

Argument Essay

Since the inception of vaccines, millions of lives have been saved to otherwise deadly diseases, these infections being completely prevented and even eradicated in many countries. However, in recent decades, vaccinations have become a topic of controversy among citizens, especially parents, be it health concerns for their children or for themselves. Though safety is a valid preoccupation of any member of society, the worry towards vaccines is no more than uneducated claims to promote fear of modern medicine, disguised as a contrarian movement originating from misinformation and ignorance.

To combat the anti-vaxx movement, one has to be correctly informed. Vaccines are part of the actively acquired immune system. They function by introducing an infectious agent inside the body (inoculation) so that immune cells recognize the agent and build specific defenses against that agent in the certain case of a future infection. For the sake of simplicity, vaccines are functionally divided into two groups: 1) Dimmed, where the introduced agent (germ) is weakened. It is the most effective way of building immunity, and 2) Inactive, where the introduced agent is dead, or only some parts of the agent are introduced. The latter method is safer, but slightly less effective in case of an infection (by safer, I mean that there are fewer chances that the patient may present one of the minor side effects, the most common amongst all vaccines being a short fever).

The main objective of vaccination is to prevent a life threatening-infection. In terms of money, it is cheaper to prevent sickness than to treat it, and as we have seen during this whole year, a sick population brings heavy unbalance to a whole country. Not only is it cheaper and easier to prevent than to treat, but do you really want to risk loved ones dying? Maybe the average person, with a normal diet and regular exercise, could survive many illnesses even without a vaccine, but what about newborns, the elderly, or patients of other extremely serious diseases, like cancer? In short, they can’t survive. It is the responsibility of the sane to look after the ill; if everyone has an infectious disease, be it minor or major, the people with the weakest immune system would not be able to survive. This is called “herd immunity.”

It is true that vaccines have side effects, as almost everything in life does. Taking as example the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, rubella), the worst side effect is encephalitis (less than 1% chance of happening), and modern medical treatments are prepared to handle such cases, but not vaccinating leaves the individual open to those illnesses, with more dangerous symptoms and a higher chance of death. It is widely heard that vaccines cause autism, as this is the most serious concern anti-vaxxers have. This claim started when an article was published in 1998 by The Lancet Journal supporting such a statement against the MMR vaccine. However, the paper was later retracted by the publisher and the author discredited, as its information was poor, misleading and even faked. Nonetheless, what was said in the paper had already caused an impact, as even today, people think all vaccines cause autism, when they just do not. In order to surprise and silence the opposition, one could say that vaccines have cause multiple tragedies, like “my brother’s cousin’s daughter’s baby died” or “my grandson became a granddaughter” “turn you into a dog, make you speak Chinese, or now you are able to see ghosts from the 1700’s”. Of courses, these statements are no more than exaggerated examples of lies an agitator may use to destabilize a more formal debate or to spread fear among social media. One lie that has been used, and believed, for more than a century, is that vaccines are a method of mind control. Other pleads against vaccination include toxic ingredients within the vaccine itself or natural immunity being better, but in short, vaccines have evolved to be as safe as possible for everyone to take them (especially newborns), with ingredients like mercury or thimerosal being removed decades ago. Their use is now necessary for our bodies to have better defenses than ever, since diseases are also growing stronger. When a part of the population refuses to vaccinate, that disease may come to hit the whole world after it has been under control for so long, like the recent outbreaks of measles.

By making vaccination mandatory, it is ensured that everyone is safe from infectious diseases, be it healthy people or those at risk. By making it free, the overall population should have no realistic concerns for getting a shot.

As much as contrarian groups want vaccines to be optional, or even banned, it is impossible for them to express valid arguments for why they should, even recurring to lying and propagating rumors, trying to excuse their ignorance. In reality, medical advances have made the cumulative benefits of vaccines outweigh the individual disadvantages, these last ones being almost virtually nonexistent.

Bibliography

Rojas, M. W. (2015). Inmunología. (17a Ed). Colombia: CIB Editorial.

Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell. (2019). The Side Effects of Vaccines - How High is the Risk? Youtube video: https://youtu.be/zBkVCpbNnkU

National Health Service. (-2019). Why vaccination is safe and important. UK: NHS.

Canadian Paediatric Society. (2016). Vaccines: Myths and facts - Caring for Kids. Canada: CPS.

Larsson, Paula. (2020). COVID-19 anti-vaxxers use the same arguments from 135 years ago. UK: The Conversation.

Sarukhan, Adelaida. (2015). How to Scientifically Dismantle the 4 main Anti-Vaccine Arguments. Spain: Barcelona Institute for Global Health.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (-2018). Why Are Childhood Vaccines So Important?. USA: CDC.

Classen, J. B., Classen, D. C. (1998). Public should be told that vaccines may have long term adverse effects. USA: PMC, US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

Eggertson, Laura. (2010). Lancet retracts 12-year-old article linking autism to MMR vaccines. USA: PMC, US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.