Aspies For Freedom

Welcome to the Disability Community
January 2nd, 2008

Here’s a post, inspired by recent readings online…Please don’t think I’m talking directly to any one person (don’t you hate having to write disclaimers on anything that touches society’s deep prejudices?), and I’m not trying to insult people. But I’m frustrated at something I’m seeing over and over. This is written strongly because that’s my style and because I think that’s the only way to make my point clear. Once again: I’m not trying to hurt anyone! So, without any more disclaimer, here’s my piece:

To autistic self-advocates everywhere: Welcome to the disability community!

Yes, that’s right, you’re DISABLED. Yep, you can pick that word apart and tell me why you aren’t, but, trust me, you are. And, no, I don’t mean that you are less or more functional than anyone else. I mean that you are part of a community defined by society’s institutions and programs, a community formed because of our minority status and the fact that society expects certain strengths and weaknesses, and anyone who doesn’t have that same pattern of strengths and weaknesses is going to have trouble in this society.

Yep, that’s the social model. It’s not the “OH MY GOD, I AM SO BROKEN AND LIFE SUCKS AND I WANT TO BE NORMAL BECAUSE EVERYTHING WOULD BE WONDERFUL AND I WOULD HAVE LOTS OF MONEY AND A GIRLFRIEND AND A NICE CAR” view of disability. But it is recognition that we have trouble in society as it is currently set up. You’ll also notice that it is not a view that accepts society as a static, unchangeable, and morally good entity, but rather as an institution that can and should change - even when people have a hard time seeing how it could.

In addition to this, I want you to know that there is “nothing new under the sun.” You don’t need to reinvent disability theory, come up with a brand new way to fight prejudice, or even learn “how the enemy thinks”. What you most need to do is to look at what worked and why, for other disabilities. Just possibly, your philosophy of disability isn’t as fully as informed at it could be if you haven’t read general (non-autistic) disability literature - and maybe you should read that literature before you tell us your philosophy, especially if you don’t respond well to criticism.

Then take your identity, as a disabled person, and your philosophy, hopefully in-line with many other disability rights thinkers, and learn how to apply that to practical, everyday situations. Of course to do that, you might want to read and learn about how other disabled people managed to influence the world around them. So learn about it!

One example - although the victory isn’t yet fully realized - find out why there public transit has to at least make *some* effort at accommodation in the US. Yep, I know it still sucks, and there are tons of problems - I’m not saying anything different. But I can assure you of this: Without good advocacy, there wouldn’t be a wheelchair lift on any bus except one owned by a nursing home - and even that one might not have one.

Find out why people with cerebral palsy can go to US schools today, even if their natural speech is hard to understand, thanks to assistive technology and good law. Sure, schools, technology, and law aren’t good enough yet, but they are way better than they were 40 years ago. Why?

Better yet, learn how you can make a bus in your city more accessible both to yourself and to someone with a different kind of disability. Learn about your schools and what can be done to help others with disability. Not just autistic people, but people with all types of disabilities. Do you know what you will find if you do this? You’ll find out quickly that it also helps you, even if that wasn’t the goal of the movement.

For those of you who are already doing these things - thanks! It’s good for us to stop reinventing the wheel once in a while.

Posted in Advocacy, Social Model

That's exactly my point--it's possible to pick certain stereotypical qualities of either neurotype and then use that as a reason why that neurotype is a disability.

I don't think that we can do anything here except 'agree to disagree'.

As to autists going off on our own path, ignoring the crowds of disabled who have done this already, well DUH!!! We're autistic, right? That's part of the parcel!

The 'wider disabled community' doesn't seem to understand that for us it is not a question of feeling superior to other disabled, just so different that we have to do things our way.

We may appear to be all here, in a group, at AFF - but in reality we are in our own little rooms, sitting at separate keyboards, thousands of miles apart.

You can't herd cats.

I believe EvilZakkie is refering to Zoran.

I'm currently hunting for a simply explanation of what's the difference between disability rights movements and civil rights movements.

Funny how many autism organisations are listed in the wikipedia list of disability rights movements. Including AFF and Autism Network International.

I've accepted the social model of disability. I've publicly acknowledged that I'm disabled. While I don't think I have ever considered myself better than other disabled people, I will try harder to not consider myself better than anyone else, since that's another failing anbuend has so helpfully pointed out.

I'm not really sure what else you want. I have agreed with everything that's been said and am trying to adjust my behaviour accordingly.

So, as I said, what do we do now?

Or are there still additional personal failings you wish to point out because I need to work on them?

If not, can we finally move on to discussing the ideas involved. Because I would really like to know: having recognised our far-ranging disabilities, what do we do now?

Regards,

Zoran

Ofcourse it may be something great about labeling it as a disability right issue which I haven't heard of. To be honest I just have the feeling that disablity rights against autism discrimination would get less attention than civil rights against autism discrimination, but that may be prejudice.

I was serious, and did not intend to be hostile, when i said that i hesitated to join forces with Disablity Rights, because i had encountered(i would give some specifics if asked), once, a call for legislation that might require me to violate my religious beliefs, and some things i have seen where i agree with positions and goals but thought the tactics being used to get them wouldn't work,or arguements were presented that i thought wouldn't stand up to scrutiny.

And i'll tell you why I'm a Nazi. A few years ago, my 85 year old mother , who was seriously ill and had had another of a series of strokes, was in a state where she was dying.My siblings and i were asked what we wanted to do.Because of her age, overall condition,and her own religoius beliefs and and what she had told us she would want for herself, we (not i alone, all of us),decided that she should be given no more treatment,and allowed to die and make the journey into the afterlife.Because i agreed to this, According to some Disability Activists, i must think it's ok to massacure disabled people.

The criteria established in the original post were:

• disability is unrelated to functionality;
  
• it's being part of a community defined by society's institutions and programs;
  
• that community has a minority status;
  
• members of that community possess different traits (strengths and weaknesses) to those society expects.
  

Nothing about medicine there.

Are you now saying that the original post was wrong? Or at least incomplete? It would seem to be a major omission.

Well, let's see…
Has the inferiority of women been supported medically? Yep.
Has the inferiority of various racial groups been supported medically. Yep, again.
Has homosexuality been regarded as a medical condition? Oh, definitely.
Is religion regarded as a medical condition? Well, there have been a number of attempts to explain religion in psychological terms and religious experiences in terms of neurology and brain chemistry, so, yep, again.

So, like I said, apparently we're all agreed that being a woman/black/gay/non-Christian/poor is a disability. You certainly haven't said anything to suggest otherwise. You've just ignored the question.

My mother was not euthanized.We ended most of her treatment, but no action was taken to actively shorten her life. at that time, in that place, it was not legal.

I just don't want a law that would not allow me to be allowed to die if my beliefs say it's the right time.

hmm true but theirs also just bullshit, AS is not a disability, but if we are accepted or not that doesn't matter,[one may concider it a social disability at most if ones desperatly inclined it is however not mental phyisical or non-abstractly, or accdemically, and with almost any verb a disability, despite why not have tolerance personaly cure bies remind me more of nazis then any other group in history even number 54 down on that list, were people who did mass murders].