We are at a crisis moment in Canada. Autism Speaks, an organization that is broadly condemned by autistic people, is poised to be in control of much of Canada’s autism policy. This includes funding for health, housing, police education, and social services. They are doing this through a proposed national policy initiative called the National Autism Strategy.
A Surrey family is horrified their 13-year-old son, who is on the autism spectrum, was punched in the face by a middle-aged man and police are not pursuing the case further.
It happened last Monday morning at the food court at Central City Shopping Centre in Surrey, B.C.
The boy’s mother is outraged.
“A 200-pound adult punched my kid, who is barely 70 pounds,” said Yanyan Yao.
Also note that this is not just police ignorance to ableist violence towards children, but also racial violence, and in this case to Asian people, Asian children.
So, if you say Anti-Asian sentiment and violence is non existent and that we are ‘priviliged,’ go fuck yourself
Image description: [pale purple and yellow background with dark text] This April, don’t support an organization that harms autistic people. [crossed out logo for Autism Speaks] Support one built by autistic people, for autistic people. [logos for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and the Autism Women’s Network]
“You don’t look autistic.” Autism has no influence on anyone’s appearance.
“You don’t seem autistic.” I’m autistic regardless of whether you choose to acknowledge it or not.
“You must be very high-functioning.” Autism cannot be measured on a scale from ‘low-functioning’ to ‘high-functioning’.
“My cousin is autistic so I know how it is.” Having a relative with a specific neurotype does not equal living with said neurotype.
“So can you explain autism to me.” I could try, but thousands of people already wrote comprehensive texts on the topic that are freely available online. No need to attempt to hire me as your personal autism specialist.
“Are you autistic or do you just have Aspergers?” Aspergers is autism. It is also no longer a separate diagnosis in the DSM-5. The previous difference between the aspergers diagnosis and the autism diagnoses was whether or not you were verbal before you were three, which says approximately nothing about how autism will affect your life.
When white children were misdiagnosed with autism they were usually told they had ADHD, but Mandell discovered that Black autistic children were told they had things like psychoses, mental retardation or selective mutism. This, along with the fear that Black parents have of reporting their child’s behavioral issues due to the fact that their children are removed from the home as a result more often, makes it hard for Black children with autism to get the treatment that they need.
Racial disparities in diagnosis are incredibly important. With that said, I disagree with the article at the link about why diagnosis is important. I believe diagnosis can help folx find community and others who are like them, learn more about how their brains/bodies work, and find/share ways of communicating and living that work for them.
I do not believe in diagnosis for the purpose of abusivetreatments or to “defeat” autism (or any other benign human variation, for that matter).
The link above also includes sensory triggers, including auto-playing videos with sound. Again: I link to it only because this information about racial disparities in diagnosis is very important.
Racial disparities in diagnosis are incredibly important. With that said, I disagree with the article at the link about why diagnosis is important. I believe diagnosis can help folx find community and others who are like them, learn more about how their brains/bodies work, and find/share ways of communicating and living that work for them.
I do not believe in diagnosis for the purpose of abusivetreatments or to “defeat” autism (or any other benign human variation, for that matter).
The link above also includes sensory triggers, including auto-playing videos with sound. Again: I link to it only because this information about racial disparities in diagnosis is very important.
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Image description:
[pale purple and yellow background with dark text]
This April, don’t support an organization that harms autistic people.
[crossed out...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/04b90f7b75fb83a513e7ec743920a1be/tumblr_o4i6rwl6jV1r73x6go1_1280.jpg)
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