I started mentioning this in a comment but felt I needed to devote a post to it bc it really pisses me off (pardon the language)…had to hunt down things I’ve seen. Trigger warning…I use labels in this post only bc the post I’m responding to does…if I say something seemingly offensive and its not in quotes that’s because I cant find the original so just a paraphrase.
I read a blog the other day about the divisions in the autistic world (can’t find that either) that basically said that sure, “high functioning” autistic ppl could speak for themselves but what about the troublesome low functioning types that parents are institutionalizing and abandoning because they cant handle them anymore. The cant speak for themselves right? We need someone to be their voices whether the “high functioning” bloggers and activists want to admit it or not. My response to that is this…and this…and this…many, if not all, the supposedly “low functioning” autistics DO have a voice…if they are presumed competent and intelligent and are given the tools to HAVE one.
I’m not saying that it is necessarily bad parenting that makes the “bad” autistics…they’re just doing what they have been told to do everywhere they look but consider this post by a so called “low functioning” autistic (who of course is an anomaly bc *gasp* he can speak for himself I dare you to keep on reading the rest of the blog too). This is WHY more autistics, and more people who know and love them need to speak out. This is why parents need to stop trying to CURE their children and start actually HELPING them. I know you think you are but I challenge you to dive into the autistic world and let the future version of your child tell you what they REALLY need! We need to change the mindset and challenge what parents are told upon diagnosis (see here). The only people who even categorize a low and high or moderate functioning are doctors who are just guessing about autism…how about we put my son up against other 3 yr olds on an iPad or maybe just read this for a more eloquent version of that statement if it didn’t sink in when I said it. Why is it when my son can’t wave bye bye hes mentally incompetent but when he knows how do to things kids his age cant well then thats just some crazy once in a lifetime byproduct of his autism…either he’s competent or not…make up your mind!
As I’ve heard of echoed by many adult autistics…We need to listen to them, and make a better world for them…because one day soon our autistic children will BE adult autistics! And frankly I’m scared for my children…not because they’re autistic, but because of the global mindset about them that currently exists!
Opposite Ends of the Spectrum 