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10:22pm June 23, 2014

andromedalogic:

freezepeachinspector replied to your post: “is using stim toys if you’re…

Clarification: hyperconcern with appropriation, and the fact that this person has been informed or has otherwise internalized that they couldn’t POSSIBLY be autistic, are the two big things wrong on the internet?

no, actually! i’m sorry, i struggled to specify my problems with the thing and eventually gave up, so it was bound to be misinterpreted

imo, the things that have gone wrong:

a) a definition of ‘cultural appropriation’ that makes no sense and often glosses over instances of real culture-stealing, while criticizing stuff that is harmless

b) the idea that accommodations designed for people with disabilities are exclusive to them — the idea that You Must Be This Disabled To Ride This Ride — which is actually kind of an ableist idea, i.e., ‘if you can walk AT ALL you shouldn’t be using a wheelchair’. in this case: everyone stims. autistic people happen to stim more. disabled people who push for accommodations are often pushing for universal design, which means, all our needs are seen as being on the same level — if a nondisabled person sees the value of an accommodation, that’s a GOOD thing.

c) i’m not sure if, at this point in time, Autistic culture is enough of a thing that you could appropriate it? OP has ADHD and as such, their stimming is pathologized as well, so even if appropriation were a concern here, i don’t think they need to worry about it. and just — i also think the watering-down of the definition of ‘appropriation’ takes the focus off large-scale efforts by white/Western people to steal, make money off of, and wipe out indigenous/non-western/like, MOST OF THE WORLD’s cultures. and applying the same term to a person using stim toys is deeply disturbing.

d) ????? SO MANY THINGS.

Notes:
  1. titaniumelemental reblogged this from andromedalogic
  2. nothingmorethanstardust reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone
  3. autieblesam reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone and added:
    And circle around to a point I’ve made before that insisting something is appropriative that isn’t appropriative can...
  4. withasmoothroundstone reblogged this from karalianne and added:
    Also the word stimming – originally – doesn’t come from autistic people, and is not specific to autistic people. It was...
  5. fostby reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone
  6. karalianne reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone and added:
    Dear everyone who wonders about stimming and non-autistic people doing it: Read this post. And then go check out this...
  7. nicocoer reblogged this from andromedalogic
  8. freezepeachinspector reblogged this from andromedalogic
  9. floozycaucus said: I feel like point b is especially relevant: everyone stims and we are all taught otherwise by ableist ideas about how autistic ppl are Pathological and Not Like Us. And so, “stimming” becomes recognizable as an “Autistic Thing” to appropriate. (I think.)
  10. pipistrellus said: yea