Autism, Ablesplaining, and the Audacity of Non-Autistic ‘Experts’: Nothing About Us Without Us - The Resurgence of Anti-Autistic Rhetoric and Why It Matters
Bettelheim’s Ghost & Echoes of Eugenics: How RFK Jr. Recycles Fear-mongering Tactics and Harmful Myths Demonize Autistic Existence & Threaten Autistic Autonomy
The Autistic Community is in an uproar this week after last week's horrific speech by Mr. Brainworm, RFJ Jr (Full Transcript HERE for those who can stomach it).
Once again, in comments sections of news stories covering the horrendous presentation (full of anti-autistic propaganda), I am seeing non-autistic people telling Autistic people to "shut up" because this "isn't about you". . . which begs the question, "If this isn't about actual Autistic People, how could anyone possibly think someone who's not even Autistic should have the floor)????"
Side note: Because Autism tends to run in families, some of these parents could be Autistic themselves and not know it. In my experience, Autistic People who don't know they are Autistic and are in denial about such often have lots of unchecked ablism (I myself had this problem when I didn't know I was Autistic yet, and I am still growing past some of it). These are the people who will say things like "I do that, and I'm not Autistic" as a way to dismiss Autistic People sharing their lived experiences.
Welcome back to another Founding Member Post!
Twice each month I will put out an exclusive post like this one (often on a more intimate and personal topic, book sneak peeks, OR featuring some of the training materials I’m teaching) that will be brought to you by and for our Founding Members.
When I am scheduling this post, we have Forty Two Founding Members!
I won’t put them on the spot today, but you know who you are. I can’t thank you enough for your support (especially in this moment).
All of this reminds me of the Autism landscape eight to ten years ago (when I was newly diagnosed).
Back then, most of the Autism information online (and stories about Autistic People) didn't include first-person perspectives (or late-identified Autistic adults like me).
In those days, instead of getting information about Autism directly from an Autistic person, most information about Autism came from medical sources (non-autistic doctors and sites like Autism Speaks), ABA providers (who were trying to profit off of making parents afraid of Autism), and Autism Parent blogs (which were full of posts complaining about "how hard it is" to live with an Autistic loved one). These sources often painted a grim picture of Autistic life, in some cases framing being Autistic as a family-ruining phenomenon or a fate worse than death.
It was a difficult time to be an Autistic Person on the internet because (back when this type of Autism Parent™, or Autism Warrior Parent™, sometimes called an Autism Martyr Parent™, was the main type of person you would encounter in Autism spaces).
The Autism Community or the Autistic Community?
There is a reason you might hear things like "the Autism Community and "the Autistic Community are two very different things"(because they are).
The Autism Community started out as a community of non-autistic people (parents, doctors, and service providers) who were "concerned about Autism."
Meanwhile, the Autistic Community started as a community of Autistic People who were tired of being spoken over by the other community (that refused to allow us a voice at their table).
That’s a history many newly identified people today don’t know, because these days most Autism blogs are by Autistic People themselves. However, this wasn’t always the case (and not long ago blogs written by Autistic People were few and far between).
We’ve had to fight to have our voices heard, and we fought so hard that what used to be the main voce of Autism had been almost entirely drowned out… until recently.
Nothing about us without us... unless you're Autistic...
Back then, Autism Spaces didn't include Autistic People, and in response, many of us took a bold counter position, compensating for our voices being taken from us by creating spaces that ONLY included Autistic People or had rules that non-autistics needed to be quiet, listen, and learn.
The creation of something new.
I took a slightly different approach when I created my spaces (still heavily favoring the voice of NeuroDivergent People but also allowing our allies to stay with us as long as they followed the rules - like no pro-conversion therapy posts).
Eight years ago, a space like mine (where no pro-NeuroDivergent Conversion Therapy content was permitted) was a radical idea (when most Autism Spaces were still very pro-ABA). However, because I had many NeuroDivergent People I'd encountered online who were survivors still recovering from the trauma of this type of "therapeutic" intervention (many with cPTSD/PTSD from it), I felt we needed a safe haven (in a time when there were few safe spaces for these survivors).
This rule has drawn some controversy over the years (by those who insist we need to "hear both sides" in every issue). But, in my opinion, conversion therapy is NOT the kind of issue we should be asking for both sides on (because one side is being oppressed, via forced assimilation, by the other side).
In my mind, NeuroDivergent Conversion Therapy supporters could easily be included in the paradox of tolerance (because NeuroDivergent Conversion Therapy is intolerant of NeuroDivergent People).
Everything that came out of RFK Jr. & Dr. Walter Zahorodny's mouth last week was intolerant of Autistic People.
This fear (that Autistic People need to be cured) has historically been used to sell various NeuroDivergent Conversion Therapies by many names. It was used to peddle all kinds of quack "cures" (like bleach enemas) that will never work and only harm.
This fear (that Autism was an epidemic) has historically been used to make people afraid or ashamed of having an Autistic child.
How dare we go back to blaming parents for "causing" their child's Autism (when that didn't work out well in the past-remember the refrigerator mother theory)? Do we really want to go back to the Bettelheim days?
This fear (that Autism is inherently something bad) has often been used to silence actual Autistic voices who disagreed with the status quo (that Autism is not a boogy man to fight against, but something that needs compassion and understanding)... until we resisted, fighting to have our voices heard over all the non-autistic people who've had the audacity to make Autism all about them (when it is supposed to be about us, the actual Autistic People).
