Thinking In Metaphors

Big Buck Bunny

Big Buck Bunny

Autistic Self Portraits by Junior & Message to Lou Dobbs

Educating Lou Dobbs

Lou Dobbs, of CNN Money, took some time away from his zenophobic diatribes against brown people and turned his ugly attention to my people. The result? The same! Lou views us as ugly people with our "ugly" terrible disorder. Well Lou, perhaps you should learn about people you marginalize before you speak. These type of comments from a TV personality further marginalizes autistic people. They place barriers to inclusion in school, the workplace and society. They aren't helpful to us in any way. Mr. Dobb's broadcast was his contribution to April's Autism Awareness.

Self Advocacy and Neurotypicals

Autistic Self Advocacy

The list of 16 was reprinted with the permission of the author, Phil Schwarz. Its a list about autistic people being the leaders in any autistic rights movement or organizations advocating on behalf of autistic people. Of course non-autistic people should be involved as well, but autistic people should always lead these organizations. Non autistic people have made great contributions to Autism Advocacy, as an example please see TAAP (The Autism Acceptance Project lead by a great non autistic). Its a call to us as it is a call to non-autistics. Please visit this webpage for additional information on on Phil's 2004 Autreat presentation Identifying, Educating and Empowering Allies : http://www.autistics.org/library/allies.html

For more in depth discussion of this topic and additional issues of self advocacy, please read this excellent book (co-authored by Phil Schwarz) which can be purchased here:
http://www.amazon.com/Ask-Tell-Self-Advocacy-Disclosure-S...

The ABA Therapist and the Glass Slipper

The ABA Therapist and The Glass Slipper

We Are Autistics

Message to Autism Speaks

PARODY OF THE ORIGINAL VIDEO WHICH WAS PRODUCED BY ANONYMOUS TO SCIENTOLOGY.

Hello, Autism Speaks. We are Autistics.
Over the years, we have been watching you. Your campaigns of misinformation; suppression of dissent; your litigious nature, all of these things have caught our eye. With the leakage of your latest propaganda video into mainstream circulation, the extent of your malign influence over those who trust you, who call you autism advocates, has been made clear to us. Autistics have therefore decided that your organization should be destroyed. For the good of your followers, for the good of autistic people--we shall expel you from our community and systematically dismantle the your organization in its present form. We acknowledge you as a serious opponent, and we are prepared for a long, long campaign. You will not prevail forever against the angry masses of of the body politic. Your methods, hypocrisy, marginalization and the stigmatization of autistic people and the artlessness of your organization have sounded its death knell. You cannot hide; we are everywhere. We cannot die; we are forever. We're getting bigger every day--and solely by the force of our ideas. If you want another name for your opponent, then call us Autistics Speak, for we are many. Yet for all that we are, we are not as monstrous as you are; still our methods are a parallel to your own. Doubtless you will use our actions as an example of our autism. However, the persecution you have so long forced upon us and future generations of autistics will come to an end. We are autistics and you don’t speak for us. We will not allow your research to destroy us. We will not allow your public ad campaigns to stigmatize us. We will not allow you to continue to speak for us, without us. We demand that you cease and desist your charade because there will be nothing about us without us. Gradually as we merge our pulse with that of your organization, the suppression of autistic voices will become increasingly difficult to maintain. Autistic people will awake, and see that inclusion has no price. They will know that the stress, the frustration that they feel is not something that may be blamed upon them. No--they will see that it stems from a source far closer to each. Yes, we are autistics. But the sum of suppression we could ever muster is eclipsed by that of the Autism Speaks. Knowledge is free. We are Autistics. We are Everywhere. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Nothing about us without us. Expect us.