Read on Twitter
A Thread:
This is an equivalent of PFL - historically society sees being Autistic as inherantly negative, ergo Autism becomes amorphous.
Talking about Autism separately & removing it abstractly from Autistic *people* is both dehumanising and non-Autistic privilege https://twitter.com/carolinehearst/status/1273904150535954439
This is an equivalent of PFL - historically society sees being Autistic as inherantly negative, ergo Autism becomes amorphous.
Talking about Autism separately & removing it abstractly from Autistic *people* is both dehumanising and non-Autistic privilege https://twitter.com/carolinehearst/status/1273904150535954439
Dehumanising Autistics is nothing new, it's embedded in societal consciousness going back decades to those like Lovaas who felt Autistic people were empty shells waiting to be filled with 'normalcy'. That's perpetuated with the burden narrative and neuronormative standards.
Dehumnaising Autistics consistently happens in Academia still, reinforcing that narative and perpetuating it in societal thinking; as @DrRubySapphire and I explored in: https://theautisticadvocate.com/2020/02/regarding-the-use-of-dehumanising-rhetoric/
Talking about Autism and not Autistic people, like the two exist separately is both privilege and Ableism. The two do not exist separately.
Do we talk about the non-Autism of non-Autistic people?
No
Because non-Autism is framed at the centre of it all. It is THE standard.
Do we talk about the non-Autism of non-Autistic people?
No
Because non-Autism is framed at the centre of it all. It is THE standard.
Perhaps we *should* be referring to non-Autism instead, when actually referring to non-Autistic people.
I'm sure it would wear thin quickly, be pathologised and be framed as 'rude'.
(I wish this were sarcasm)
I'm sure it would wear thin quickly, be pathologised and be framed as 'rude'.
(I wish this were sarcasm)
Equally manifesting the two as polar opposites as is being done in the blog shared above, is another level of us and them, othering. If non-Autism is THE standard, that's 'normal', that's human, then the opposite of that, as is being presented, is not 'normal, is not human.
This is not a reflection on, nor a personal criticism of @SueReviews, but a reflection of the systemic ableism that runs through society when it comes to Autistic people, that is shown in their subliminal thought process, or indeed lack thereof.
The author has taken a bashing & i'm not adding to that. But, it's a good example of the responsibility needed when you have both kudos & platform in the world of 'Academic celebrity'
It's representative of another systemic, darker process in how the Author didn't think about how they were framing it, because they didn't *have* to think about it.
Its a result of systemic Abled Privilege, in this case particularly non-Autistic privilege.
Its a result of systemic Abled Privilege, in this case particularly non-Autistic privilege.
Privilege comes from not having to think about or live under the narrative that we, as Autistic people do. Like White privilege, or straight privilege, non-Autistic people don't have to think about being non-Autistic, because non-Autistic experience is the centre of everything.
There is a decades old narrative that has created this monster of Othering, myth and direct and systemic oppression which is fully wrapped up in racism, sexism and bigotism, which I explore here: https://theautisticadvocate.com/2019/03/an-autistic-identity/
This stigmatising narrative was created by and is perpetuated by research and Academia and I genuinely think that it is time, that even those who want to be allies, wake up to the fact that they are part of the problem.
Just as a reminder:
We are human.
We are people.
We are Autistic.
So why not try talking *with* us instead of carving a massive chunk of our identities away from us and talking about *it* and speculating about *it*, like we're not in the room?
We are human.
We are people.
We are Autistic.
So why not try talking *with* us instead of carving a massive chunk of our identities away from us and talking about *it* and speculating about *it*, like we're not in the room?
