From time to time typed communication, and people like me who use typing as our chosen method of communication, are attacked and disrespected under the guise of “protecting our human rights”. Actually, the attacks never stop, they spike from time to time. Now is one of those times. I am talking about Facilitated Communication (FC) […]
AWN Statement on the Santa Fe Texas High School Shooting
For the students, teachers, and staff of Houston-area Santa Fe High School, their morning began like any other day, but it ended in tragedy as 10 individuals (9 students and 1 teacher) were murdered by a shooter and several others were injured and/or traumatized. The alleged perpetrator is currently in police custody and several individuals […]
12 People On What It Felt Like To Discover Autism
After decades of oversight, autistic women, non-binary and transgender people are coming out of the shadows. For years researchers focused their studies on white middle-class boys and blinded the world to the unique ways autism expresses in different groups of people. But that’s rapidly changing as researchers, therapists, and journalists learn how autism interacts with […]
Dear Former Therapist, I Wish You Knew
If you were my therapist when I was seventeen to twenty years old, this letter is for you. In the beginning, I trusted you. I was eager to get help for my anxiety, which had become so severe that I was barely eating or sleeping. I was also glad there was finally a therapist in […]
Deej: Film Review
“Deej” is a remarkable film about autism, family, the presumption of competence and the right of each individual to access communication and to be included in our schools and communities. Directed by Robert Rooy, the film follows DJ Savarese, who is autistic and nonspeaking. When we first meet DJ, he is a student attending mainstream […]
Another Autism Awareness Month is Almost Here. Yay
I’m aware. I’m aware that the way that I am is considered “disordered” and wrong. That people expose laboratory mice to infections in order to try to recreate the way I naturally am. In their efforts to “help” me to be something I’m not. I’m aware. Very aware. I’m aware that an invisible caste system […]
Real Independence
Most people believe that the only valuable life achievement of a disabled person like me (non-speaking Autistic with high support needs) is “to be independent”. I already wrote about how the concept of independence is ableist. In short, it is not our ability to live by ourselves, or to care for ourselves that makes us […]
AWN Urges Media Caution When Reporting On Parkland Florida School Shooting
AWN urges caution when speculating about any mental health diagnosis of the shooter in the recent Florida tragedy. News outlets have already begun speculating about the shooter’s possible links to mental health. We especially implore the media to resist their usual patterns of stereotyping people with disabilities when these kinds of killings occur. People with […]
Autistic Representation Needs Autistic Voices
Hollywood loves talking about autism but refuses to talk to Autistics. When a new show or movie with an Autistic character airs, writers, directors and producers pat themselves on the back because they are so proud of their “indispensable” view that will help to “shed light and raise awareness about the disorder”. To them I […]
ABA Providers Making Fun of Autistic People
I have already written about my thoughts on ABA. I do believe it is dehumanizing, and is used to make Autistics act in a way that pleases non-autistic people. Many will say that ABA teaches “life skills”. I say that, if you are paying someone to teach the so-called life skills via reinforcement, you are […]