Light it up rainbow

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Adam in our first video on our YouTube channel. Please Like, comment and subscribe so we can continue to make videos. 

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Exposing and Expelling the myths part 2

Thanks to everyone who has so far read my blog entry into the misconceptions around Autism and Autistic people. They are some things that I wish to add into the list.

  7) Autistic’s are dangerous- Quite often, Autistic behavior can be misunderstood as dangerous and antisocial  because of how autistic body language, communication difficulties and other atypical behavior, are seen from an outsider who is very likely not to be Autistic. This doesn’t mean that we are a threat to you, to ourselves or to others. Neurotypicals can be dangerous but… I don’t see any label being given towards Allistics.

 8) We are all the same- No we are not! We have an Autistic spectrum for a reason and not the way you see it.(ie high functioning and low functioning or any other functioning label)  We all have our own unique  interests, likes and dislikes, needs, desires, preferences, abilities and disabilities that all need to be taken into account on an personal level rather than covering us over with a “one size fits all” blanket.

 9) Autistic’s must make eye-contact- No way! Making us use eye-contact will create a lot of discomfit in us. In some cases, even physical pain. Learn to understand that we are not ignoring you or being rude or disrespectful in anyway. This is our way of focusing and paying attention.

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Identity-first please

It has come to the attention of the Autistic community that many Neurotypicals like the use of the person-first method way of identifying Autistic people. For an example,” Matt is a person with Autism” or “I have has Autism”. For a lot of us, we like to use the identity-first method as a way of self-identification and when mentioning others like “Matt is Autistic” or “I am Autistic”. The problem that we have now is that a lot of you insist that we refer to ourselves as “having Autism” rather than allow ourselves to be called Autistic. A lot of you are now asking “What’s the big deal?” let us explain.

When you do this, you are telling us that Autism is a separate thing that isn’t part of us. Like a broken leg, a common cold or a disease that needs curing which Autistic People do not need and by which you are implying that underneath our Autistic brains, there is a Neurotypical brain. You can’t simply separate the person from the Autism without this affecting their personality and their identity. This is the main reason why we prefer identity-first rather than person-first, “Being Autistic” rather than “Having Autism”. Telling us to use person-first language is oppressive because you are denying us our identity. If you are speaking with someone from the LGBT community, he or she and so on, won’t say to you “I’m a person with Homosexuality” they will most likely say “I’m a homosexual” and that is seen as socially acceptable, but because Autism is seen as this “horrible disease” by the media and by the public thanks to groups like Autism Speaks, it isn't. Like being Gay, being Autistic is part of one’s identity that can never be removed. Societies attitudes towards sexuality have changed from it being “wrong” to a part of you that will never chance and Autistic’s need to see the same change in regards to Autism.

We don’t need snobby doctors to tell us that we medically have Autism or Social justice warriors telling us that we are people. Duh! It quite obvious we are people and we don’t need reminding of this.

Being Autistic, Not having Autism.

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To Autism Speak supporters from Autistic’s

Dear Autism Speaks supporters, You may be aware of the recent backlash Autism Speaks had received over the past number of day by removing reviews from public view over on Its Facebook page. Autistic people like myself, took to social media in protest over what Autism Speaks is doing to the lives of Autistic people all over the world, by posting one star reviews and rating of Autism Speaks page. I’m sure plenty of you think that this was organized by a bunch of “bored trollers” who are against Autistic’s and support for Autistic, which is certainly not the case.

We are the Autistic community that Autism Speaks is meant to speaking for. (Which is sad ironically, as they are called Autism speaks and not one us is on their board of directors). We are not against parents of Autistic people, if anything; we are on your side. Less than 4% of Autism Speaks budget goes to helping Autistic people and their families. Sadly, more money goes towards media campaigns that demonize Autistic people as being “burdens of their families” and “diseased”, unethical research that is looking into eugenics and abortions, and paychecks and bonuses for head CEO’s. Do you want to give money to an organization that simply views your child as something that needs to be removed, isolated and wiped out? If the answer is yes, it is you who needs help and to undergo intense therapy, not your child! If the answer is no, then join us and become an ally for the Autistic community.

Your child is not missing! Your child is alive and waiting for you! Just because your child is Autistic and may devolve differently at a different time scale, does not mean your child needs a “cure”. Your child needs your acceptance and love! Going after a “cure” which no Autistic person wants or needs will make you a very bitter person and as a result, your child will suffer because of this. We have a lot to offer to you, to employers and to society.

So I ask you to do what Autism Speaks doesn't. Talk to us! Listen to us! Value us! Be everything that Autism Speaks isn't. You are the key people who are Autism speaks alive and we need you to shut off their life support because if you don’t, we will live in a world where Autistic people like myself do not exist. Let’s not make the same mistakes that we made in the past and together, let’s make a bright future where neurodiversity is valued and accepted by everyone.

It’s up to you now

Light it up Rainbow

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Our Letter to Autism Speaks...

Dear Autism Speak,

Allow us to introduce ourselves to you. We are Light it up Rainbow and this is an official message. With your resent decision to remove yourself from criticism over on your Facebook page, and by once again, failing to listen to the concerns of us Autistic’s, you have made a declaration of war against the Autistic community and it's allies.

Since 2005, you have gone out of your way to humiliate, demonize and dehumanize us Autistic’s in the name of charity and research, which we all known goes to prenatal testing and eugenics. Did I forget to mention that you spend more money on Paychecks and CEO bonuses than on helping Autistic people and their families?

But now, we say no more! No to fear! No to eugenics! No to irresponsible budgeting! And of course, No to silencing Autistic’s! Our views matter more than parents, teachers, social workers, researchers and government bureaucrats and that’s why you need to include us in your board of directors and give us a voice in your organization.

But of course you will not do this, we are too “high functioning” to understand “real” Autism and those who you would deem worthy of having “real” Autism don’t understand as well.

This will serve as a reminder to you that Autistic people have feelings and emotions. We are not puzzle pieces for you to solve and exploit for profit!

It’s time to listen, Autism Speaks!

Light it up rainbow.

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In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.

Albert Einstein 

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Exposing and expelling the myths

Hi everyone, this will be my first blog entry and within this I wish to speak about the common myths and misconceptions around Autism and Autistic people. Too often has this been done from Neurotypical bloggers, parents, social workers, new reporters and so on, but we very rarely here from Autistic’s like myself and sometimes, the human touch is often lost. That’s Not to say that I have a problem with Neurotypicals speaking about Autism but the people who can give the best amount of information into the lives and the stereotypes that are often encountered are Autistic’s themselves. Autistic’s need to be given a voice in our society which unfortunately are often sided-lined because of the “The responsible Adults are talking now” mentality (Already one piece of prejudice) thanks to groups like Autism Speaks, which doesn't want us to speak. But thanks to social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, we can and will speak! Getting back to the point of this entry, this will be aimed more towards Allistic parents who have just had their child diagnosed, teachers, health and social workers and adult’s to have recently had a diagnosis themselves. But of course, anyone who wishes to read and use this as a resource are more than welcome to. So without further ado...

My name is Matt and yes, I am Autistic. I was diagnosed at two and half years young and these are some of the myths and misconception around me and other that can develop barriers between getting to know who I really am. So I will get one of the most controversial myths out first;

1) Vaccines- Vaccines do not cause Autism! Andrew Wakefied in 1998 released a report titled-The lancet, suggesting that there is was a link between the MMR vaccine and rates of children being diagnosed. Because of this, there is a huge anti-vaccine moment in the western world despite there being no other theories or evidence to support this and they have been plenty of studies which have found time and time again to debunk the idea that vaccines are responsible for the rise in the rates in Autism diagnosis-which by the way is because society has found better ways to identify Autistic behavior which pave way for more diagnoses. Not to mention that the lancet was a fraudulent piece. By supporting the anti-vaccine movement, you are harming both Autistic people and the general public and I will ask you to stop. 

2)  Bad parenting- Leo Kanner’s “Refrigerator mother” theory still plays a big part in the misconceptions around Autism. There is a large group of people who want to place the fault on the mother or the father of that Autistic child. Often because parents are seen as targets by the media which uses extreme cases for when things go wrong. Not only is Kanner’s theory incorrect, it is very harmful towards both the parent and the child as this put the blame on wrong indicators for someone’s difficulties, like have meltdowns, rather than focusing on triggering points like sensory processing issues.   

3) “The spoilt brat”- As with any minority, there is always hateful bigots and folk who do not want to acknowledge that an Autistic child can’t help the way they act or respond. This paves way for the “back in my day…” mentality. If you see a child that having a meltdown, don’t always assume that the child is “acting out” or “not getting his/her own way”. Try and support the Autistic person and if possible make different arrangements like taking them out of the room, giving them space to stim and to calm down. When we are experiencing meltdowns, these we don’t need judgement A holes telling us we are naughty, disrespectful and how in their days they got “the belt” off their parents.

4) Lacking empathy- It is true that a lot of Autistic’s do struggle to express their emotions whether it is facially, within our speech tones or in our actions. Sometimes, this can be misunderstood for not having any empathy towards the other person. This however, doesn’t mean that we do not understand emotion per say or that we are not capable of feeling emotion. Autistics are just as emotional as any other person.

5) Not wanting Friendship’s and Relationships- It ties in with above. Our expressions and actions can be misconstrued as being uninterested or even being fake and not genuine. Autistic’s crave both being along and having companionship like Neurotypicals. The rest…is self-explanatory .

6)  We are broken- No we aren’t! Autistic’s may have some difficulties with our lives that need addressing but does not we are broken. If given the right help and support Autistic’s can achieve wonderful things and lead rich fulfilling lives. We are not broken, diseased or tragic! We are different!    

I would say that this top six are the most common myths regarding Autism and Autistic’s. Why only mention six? They are so many that it would take such a long time to explain in a single post and… I like the number six. If there is any that anyone wants me to mention, please feel free to comment and keep spreading love and Neurodiversity.  

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This page is to use the positive rainbow colours to represent the variety in autism and celebrate...

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We are pleased to say that our tumblr page is up and running. We are hoping to start adding some in-detail blog entries into the lives of us Autistic’s as well as updates with our campaigns which we will keep you updated with. We wish to thank the amazing supporters of our facebook page and we hope that this can prosper into something amazing. 

Admin Matt