8:48pm March 4, 2013

Damn tumblr client won’t let me post reblogs no matter what I do on this one post.

But this is a reply to josiahd:

One Of my least favorite misconceptions is that in order to be an autistic people who actually helps other autistic people you have to oppose a cure. Or in order to be an activist or self advocate or whatever other word (understand I don’t use either of those words the way most people do, I just lack better words).

There are tons of different issues affecting autistic people. People act like in order to do anything about even one of those issues you have to agree to a long list of the rest of them. Which is a good way to ensure that only a tiny amount of people ever works on them, who all agree with each other. Feels like the Borg even when I do agree with people on some things. That’s why I never feel like my “side” is really my “side”.

I know tons of autistic people who want to be cured and have done a huge amount of stuff to guarantee that themselves and other autistic people have rights in all kinds of other areas. And these few narrow usually Internet-based communities like to pretend that such people don’t exist or are the enemy. All I can say is they’re not my enemy. Many of them helped guarantee that I can live in my own home despite a list of limitations longer than a lot of people imagine.

I really like the DD self advocacy movement because its not concerned with specific diagnosis, doesn’t police your personal beliefs so much, doesn’t spend its time gossiping about its leaders, and works on a variety of extremely practical specific issues that you can pretty much pick and choose what you want to work on, and seems to get a lot done. It has other problems but somehow the culture tends to be more accepting, I’ve found. When it’s at its best anyway. Maybe also because I’ve spent my adult life in a general DD system, not some kind of thing where I can pretend autistic people are special. And adolescence in mixed psych and DD places. Not that psych and DD are meaningful categories in themselves, but they’ve come to mean something due to shared experiences.

As usual my mind is wandering. But really I wish there was more room for dissent before people are considered the enemy. Not necessarily the OP doing that. Not accusing because don’t know. Just free associating based on lots of stuff. Damn wish I could write my thoughts down better Because much more to say.

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