Read on Twitter
One of my autistic kids just walked in and was like, "Huh, I just thought of this, so I haven't thought this through, but the behaviors most associated with autism are things autistic people do when we're upset."
Not great, society.
She described a situation in which neurotypical parents were asking autistic adults questions and some parents were like, "My kid doesn't have meltdowns. Does that mean he isn't autistic?" and autistic people were like, "No, that means he's happy."
Just want to highlight this: https://twitter.com/geeoharee/status/1306703503172210688
Starting to (?) get some PERSON FIRST LANGUAGE absolutists in my mentions, so I'm going to add a few things. Firstly, go with what the person in question chooses to go by. My daughter opposes person first language and identifies as an autistic person.
Secondly, do a little research. Many disabled people oppose person-first language, which assumes disability to be a negative characteristic rather than an identity. Many disabled people strongly identify as disabled.
Some people prefer person-first language! Use the terms that an individual uses for their own self when referring to a specific individual.
In the disability world I am a part of, person-first is strongly disliked by the majority, so I use identity-first when referring to a plurality.
Additionally, since identities are a big part of this thread, I will say that while I do not have a diagnosis, I strongly suspect I am autistic. However, I do not currently identify as autistic because I am not sure, although I know I'm not neurotypical.
I have other diagnosed and identified disabilities. I've felt a strong kinship with all the folks in my mentions talking about the difficulty of getting diagnosed when you are outwardly "doing well."
One of the problems of only identifying disability in its negative is that we miss all the ways we could be helping disabled people to thrive. I'd love to get help to keep from floundering rather than wait until I AM floundering.
Final thing: I am so glad that autistic people have claimed this thread as their own. If you are a neurotypical parent or neurotypical therapist who works with autistic people, please listen to what they are saying about their own experiences.
It is VERY hard to keep marginalized people from experiencing trauma in a world that is not designed for marginalized people. This is especially true when more than one shared identity is marginalized.
The trauma marginalized people experience is something neurotypical or able-bodied people often take personally. If you feel called out, sit with it and examine it. Even if you are great at what you do, the world we live in isn't made for the marginalized.
Assumptions are often wrong, especially when they're based on a flawed assumption of what is "normal" and a correlation between "normal" and "best." Joyful stimming may annoy neurotypical people. That doesn't make it wrong or bad. It is, in fact, good.
Anyway, please let autistic people have this thread. Thanks.
I should have posted this when I did it, but a heads up that this thread got overwhelming for me and I muted it.
