04/02/2022
April is here!
Youāre going to read many posts telling you what to do & what to say, who to support & who to censor.
Iām not gonna do that.
I like the puzzle piece more than the infinity loop, but if you donāt, youāre not my enemy. How have we ended up letting this define friend or foe?
I support Autism Speaks, and Iām frustrated by all the misinformation being knowingly spread, unknowingly spread, unknowingly trusted by the masses who read it. There might be more misinformation and disinformation than actual facts. This is happening all over social media. That said, if you donāt support them, thatās your choice. I just hope you arrive at that choice through the truth.
I donāt have a strong preference when it comes to identity language. I might like āI have autismā a bit more than āIām autistic,ā ācause I āamā a whole bunch of things ā not just that. But if you prefer identity-first language, I respect it! I canāt fathom a justification for others not doing the same.
For me and my oldest son, autism is a disability. There are universal methods of function and communication across societies and the world. The differences in us that our autism create, to varying degrees, make coexisting with society more difficult, not less. If you donāt see your autism as a disability, thatās your right. Itās not a matter of self-esteem or prejudice. Itās a personal perspective, and everyoneās is valid.
For autism awareness month, what I want is for people to understand that each autistic person is unique. Weāre all different from each other. That means, we have different skills, different struggles, and different opinions.
No one speaks for the entire autistic community, including me.
For autism awareness month, letās all try to drop generalized statements like āautistic people hate the puzzle piece,ā and replace it with, āIām autistic, and I personally donāt like the puzzle piece symbol becauseā¦ā
Just remember that youāre going to see contradictory information about autism, simply because autistic people are not a monolith. What you want to be aware of is that anything you read represents that autisticās opinion, whether they say that or not.
Letās celebrate our individuality. Happy autism awareness month! š