#mb rb this instead of the bs gender critical persons post

[actualsasori-moving]

there is a huge difference between normalising stimming and aestheticising stimming. I want stimming normalised. I want nts to stim. if neurotypicals stim, it doesn't look weird when I do. that's normalising stimming. I DON'T want stimming aestheticised. if nts are only okay with stimming if it's pretty? that does jack fuck shit for autistic people. it doesn't matter if chewlery gets normalised if chewing it in public is still stigmatised! in fact, it could be looked at worse because it would be seen as destruction of something pretty. stimboards are great, I love them! but they don't normalise stimming when nts embrace them, because they aren't considering it anything weird. Enjoying the look of calligraphy being written is not stigmatised. slime is a children's toy, gifs of it aren't stigmatised. stimboards, to nts, are going to look like a relaxing breed of aesthetics and moodboards. That's fine. that's basically what they are. but I don't want that glorified as normalising of stimming when the nts embracing it don't know or care about the origin. Anyone can buy a stim toy if they want one, but if they still stigmatise nd people for using them? if they don't actually stim with them? that's not! normalising anything! when neurotypical people take something autistic people do to survive, ostracise autistic people for it, and fashion it into something they think is pretty for themselves to consume, that's not normalisation. And that is what they do every time! the "pretty" ways of stimming are normalised, and the "ugly" ways are stigmatised. autistic people are literally profiled as criminals on the streets for stimming publicly. it's a problem. so @neurotypicals: if you like stimboards, great! if you like the look of chewlery, cool! if you want stim toys but don't need them, cool! all of these things are fine! but you need to make sure that when you see someone stimming publicly, that you don't treat them differently. don't call them slurs. don't think that they should "know better" or that they're "up to no good". don't infantilise them. don't be a dick to neurodivergents. normalising stimming is a result of people not thinking stimming is abnormal. that's all you've gotta do to make a difference: change your perspective, and change that of others if your friends think poorly of us. it helps.