Tag: ableism

hotcommunist:

why are people so afraid to call a spade a spade and accept that the current state of ableism in the UK amounts to societal cleansing.

we have and continue to die in our THOUSANDS since the tories decided upon “reforms”.

furthermore, the most vulnerable within that group are immigrants and poc and lgbt people. we are not going quietly, we are shouting about this, but press coverage is nonexistent, and the government continues to force us into humiliating and dehumanising tests for pittance.

when we fail those tests and get declared fit for work despite our agonies? we die. we starve, we commit suicide, we perish from exposure.

please, if nothing else, call this what it is.

we are being purged from society because we are deemed worthless in a capitalist system.

Hospitals denied my child life-saving surgery because he was autistic: Guest opinion

Though I’ve experienced bias myself, whenever I read stories like this, I’m still gobsmacked by how much worse it can get.  There really is no bottom to the abyss of ignorance and apathy.  That this bias is set toward children, that doctors – at a children’s hospital – would refuse to save this child’s life – when they absolutely could – it goes against every decency, it is a complete obscenity.  

Hospitals denied my child life-saving surgery because he was autistic: Guest opinion

10 Traits of Mentally Strong People

onlinecounsellingcollege:

1. They are able to stay calm, and maintain self-control.

2. They have clear boundaries between themselves and other people.

3. They respect their own and others’ boundaries.

4. They don’t become defensive, or feel completely crushed, when someone is critical of them or their work.

5. Where appropriate … they are able to take their fair share of the blame, and are quick to apologize when they are in the wrong.

6. They are flexible, and willing to adapt or change.

7. They know their limitations, and are happy to be helped.

8. They forgive themselves willingly – and then move on with life.

9. They don’t bear grudges, or play games with people’s feelings.

10. They are responsible, persistent, and are people of their word.

If you are neurodivergent, disabled, abused, suffer from mental illness, deal with minority culture displacement or live within different societal norms – please ignore.  

Not everyone can fit the ableist criteria of ‘strong.’  

We define strong for ourselves.  

Things they don’t tell you about being a first time wheelchair user in highschool

angelkin-autie:

Literally everyone will ask if you broke your leg(s). Everyone. Even people you don’t know. Theyll ask a lot and think you’re extremely fragile.

bruises show up within the first day of rolling around, and they can really suck

people will try to grab your chair if they think you’re struggling and it can be hard not to snap at them for it

static electricity is a huge issue. You will probably either continuously shock your leg when you’re rolling around or do what I did today and zap someone so hard as you pass that both of you nearly keel over

people will call you out as a faker if you do anything even remotely fun ever on your wheelchair. Wheelies? Obviously your legs are fine lol not like you have to go down fucking curbs /s

puddles are the worst and if there’s a curb with a puddle all around and you have some ability to walk its a better idea to just stand up and navigate the chair than to fall backwards into said puddle

weird looks from people are inevitable, especially from people who don’t like you

bus drivers will often push your chair and give you advise you don’t want to hear, even if you tell them nicely you can push yourself. Its really hard not to get mad at them for it

no wheelies in school. Though if you do it in the elevator when no one else is with you you can’t really get caught.

speaking of wheelies, always be ready to throw at least one arm behind you in case you fall. They say tuck your chin in but its easier and more reliable to throw your hands back and keep your neck up so you don’t hit the floor. Sore arms are way easier to put up with than head injuries

don’t even bother to try and roll back up curbs. You will either be there for an hour or fall backwards. I managed to do both.

90% of classrooms that aren’t special ed are not very wheelchair accessible.

people will automatically assume you’re faking something if you’re not considered dumb enough in their standards to fit in with disabled students (aka high class ableism at its finest)

people are going to give you weird looks if you don’t suddenly start sitting with the other disabled kids

standard backpacks usually dangle way too much to keep on you easily, so try to pack light

built in storage on wheelchairs cannot sufficiently carry books

don’t try to hold an umbrella. Period. Especially not with your teeth. It doesn’t work.

don’t try to give the bus driver your ticket while you’re stuck on the ramp. And speaking of, its easy to start falling down the bus ramp so be careful, and when in doubt throw on the breaks

and finally if you’re like me pray to god you don’t go nonverbal when someone is trying to push you and you don’t want them to because it is hard to get them to stop if you can’t speak

able-bodied people can and should 1000% reblog this, some of these things I’ve seen on tips about using a wheelchair but a lot of these weren’t things I’ve seen

Not a writing question but I was wondering what your opinions on the organization Autism Speaks were.

scriptautistic:

mydreamisgone:

scriptshrink:

scriptautistic:

scriptautistic:

Ah, thank you for offering us an opportunity to share something very important to us. For those who aren’t aware, there is an organization in the US called “Autism Speaks” which claims to be a charity working to help autistic people. They are not a charity. They are a hate group.

Autism Speaks is not run with the help of any autistic people. It’s run by allistic people who think of autism as a horrible disease that needs to be eradicated. They run propaganda ads talking about autism like a plague which is destroying lives. They compare it to cancer. One of their propaganda videos famously shows a member of their board talking about contemplating killing her autistic child – while the child is in the room listening to her. Their goal is to “cure” autism – to wipe it off the face of the planet. They don’t see autistic people as people, but as tragic burdens to those around them. They want to take care of all the poor moms and dads whose lives were so tragically ruined when they found out their child was autistic. And they support organizations that torture autistic people and call it “therapy”, like the Judge Rotenberg Center.

This is not a charity. They think of us as broken, inhuman monsters who should be expunged from society. They are not helping us – they’re trying to exterminate us.

Their propaganda is a big part of why there is so much misinformation out there about autism and autistic people. The average person is likely to believe their claims that autism is a horrible disease, that the best way to help the people who have it is to cure them and make them “normal”. Especially the parents of autistic children might like the idea of “fixing” their kid.

News flash: We’re not sick. Autism is not a disease. At worst, it can be considered a disorder or disability, depending on your definition of such, but the vast majority of autistic people are perfectly happy being who we are. Our biggest hurdle isn’t some terrible defect in ourselves – it’s the negative attitudes and lack of understanding in those around us, and the expectation that our primary goal in life should be to act less like ourselves and more like the “normal” people who make up the majority (pro tip: there’s really no such thing as normal). Autism cannot be cured, because it’s not an illness. Our brains are hardwired differently than others, and that is a fundamental part of who we are. If you asked me if I would like a cure, I would look at you the same way as if you asked me if I would like to remove the color from my pizza, because it makes the same amount of logical sense.

Imagine if someone asked you if you would like to stop being (insert your nationality here). Like, just completely remove it from yourself. What would that even mean? Removing all your memories and experiences from that country? Erasing your native language and replacing it with another one? How would that even work? That’s the kind of thing that’s being proposed here.

What autistic people need is awareness, education, and sometimes assistance, depending on our individual needs. We dream of a world where seeing a person rocking back and forth gently and not making much eye contact isn’t met with indignation, disgust, or pity, and where our strengths are valued (and we have many!).

It should be noted that recently, Autism Speaks has changed their official platform slightly, supposedly focusing less on a “cure”, but I’m afraid I don’t buy it for a second. Anyone whose goal includes a “cure” at all is not advocating for our rights, and even if they did have a different mission now, the damage is long since done. Many of us may struggle, and many of us may wish there were certain problems we could do away with, but a “cure” is not possible and our goal should not be to eliminate autistic people from the world, especially given how much we contribute to society. Very few autistic people would actually desire a “cure”, even if one were possible.

So what does this have to do with writing? If you’re writing an autistic character who gets help from a charitable organization, do NOT make it Autism Speaks. That’s not what they do. If your character has any interactions with Autism Speaks, it will be more along the lines of being told they are broken and must be fixed, having the people in their lives treat them as less than human (or as deformed or defective) because they have believed the propaganda, being told they have no right to speak for themselves, and possibly suffering abuse and even torture at the hands of those who think they are “helping”.

There are plenty of good charitable organizations to help autistic people with what we actually need. If you want your character to support an organization in your story (or support the organization yourself by giving them positive exposure in your story), try one of these (and a little Google-fu can help you find a local one for you if you don’t live in the US or UK – search terms like “autism advocacy” and make sure it’s run by actual autistic people). We strongly recommend contacting them, letting them know what you’re writing, and asking how you can include them in your story and represent their work accurately:

Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN)

Autism Women’s Network

Autistic Rights Movement UK 

-Mod Aira

I think it’s important to reblog this right now. It’s currently “autism awareness month”, and Autism Speaks is running a campaign encouraging people to use a blue puzzle piece to symbolize their support of the organization. Please DO NOT take part in this campaign, and if you know anyone who does, please gently inform them that they’ve been taken in by the propaganda campaign of a hate group and ask them to take it down. We always recommend supporting organizations like ASAN and the others listed in this post, as well as any other advocacy groups in your area which are run by autistic people. If you’re looking for more information, simply Google “autism speaks hate group” and you’ll find all the information you could want.

If you are looking for a symbol to show your support for the autistic community, please do not use a puzzle piece. The neurodiversity symbol is greatly preferred (the rainbow infinity symbol, a version of which we use as our avatar for this blog). 

Thank you to everyone for all your support and understanding, and for simply taking the time to find out what autistic people actually want this month. And keep those autistic characters coming, so the world can start to get to know us and start to give us the understanding and support we really need. ❤

-Mod Aira

Reblogging for my followers because this is important.

Can I translate this into my language? This is very important!

Please do!

thetrippytrip:

This is disgustingly ableist. Disabled people have worth, their labor has value, they’re working just like everyone else so they should get paid as much as everyone else. Why are we debating this??? It’s common sense!

We have to call out the media so much for this.  

It’s exhausting.

It is also absolutely necessary.