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If you see any more SPEAKING autists commenting on @Sia's movie without directing attention to what actual nonspeaking autistic people want the world to know, please remind them of the #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs principle. https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1332800229314269187
No more petitions without asking nonspeakers what they want.
No more articles without asking nonspeakers what they think.
No more speaking on behalf of nonspeaking autistic people EVEN IF YOU'RE AUTISTIC, unless they've asked you to.
Share THEIR words. https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1312542821384060928
No more articles without asking nonspeakers what they think.
No more speaking on behalf of nonspeaking autistic people EVEN IF YOU'RE AUTISTIC, unless they've asked you to.
Share THEIR words. https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1312542821384060928
Nonspeaking autistic people speaking for themselves — how do they communicate if they can't speak? iPads or what? (Hint: Not always. Tip: Read what they say.)
Years ago all this was new to me too. You can learn too, like I did.
Here's a thread which I started when the Big Sia Fight broke out on social media. It uses the movie as a departure point, but it's not about bringing down Sia. It's about shifting focus to the people being ignored in all this: nonspeaking autistic people. https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1330222341494874114
If you're an autistic activist and all this is new to you, if you want to support nonspeakers but you're still in the starting blocks, if you don't know why activists like DJ Savarese insist on 'nonspeaking' rather than 'nonverbal' (and if you don't actually know who DJ is!)...
...then simply share their words.
If you like, you can tag those tweets with #IStandWithNonSpeakers. What that means is that you support the communication methods that they say work for them, you're prepared to read their words, and you want other nonspeaking people to have access to communication too.
Guess what. People will occasionally try to stop you if you share the words of nonspeaking autistic people, because the idea of nonspeakers communicating in clear words and sentences threatens them in various ways. Be prepared. https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1333798307034923014
If you're an autistic who speaks, you can't say #IStandWithNonSpeakers if you just accept that nonspeakers exist and include them under your theoretical neurodiversity umbrella and say you're anti-ABA. You don't stand with nonspeakers if you don't share what nonspeakers say.
