Some Reminders for Allistics
So, I know it’s not Autism Acceptance Month YET but I don’t think I can wait until then to jot this down.
Here are some reminders for allistic allies that are incredibly important:
1. “Aspie,” “autist,” and “sperg” are NOT your words and they never will be. Stop using these words if you aren’t autistic.
2. Aspergers and autism are the same thing. If you were diagnosed with “aspergers” you have autism. Aspergers is not a “less severe” form of autism. There is no such thing as a “less severe” form of autism.
3. Furthermore, the term “aspergers” has a checkered past, and the word is considered problematic at best. If you were diagnosed with aspergers and still want to call yourself an “aspie” or still want to say you have aspergers, that’s up to you, but allistics shouldn’t have a say in what an autistic person calls themself.
4. STOP USING “HIGH FUNCTIONING/LOW FUNCTIONING” TO DESCRIBE US! It’s incredibly insulting to refer to an autistic person based on how well we supposedly “function.”
5. No, it’s not “person with autism” it’s “autistic person” or whatever the autistic individual wants to refer to themself as.
6. Words like “moron,” “imbecile,” “lame,” etc. have roots in ableism, and while it’s not required that you purge them from your vocabulary, it’s incredibly important that you keep in mind their ableist past when an autistic or otherwise neurodivergent person tells you they are uncomfortable with certain words.
7. You cannot reclaim the r-slur unless you are neurodivergent, and using the r-slur as an insult, no matter who you are, is ableist and hurts ND people.
8. As with number 7, using autistic as an insult is also ableist no matter who does it, and harms ND people (autistic people in particular).
9. ABA, no matter how much it’s evolved over the years, has hurt and continues to hurt autistic people.
10. Autism manifests differently in everyone. While there are a lot of common symptoms we share, not everyone experiences autism the same way. Someone’s 5 year old autistic son will likely not behave the same way as a 30 year old autistic woman, but that doesn’t make either of them less valid.
11. Hold your faves accountable when they say or do ableist stuff. William Shatner and Sia are prime examples of famous people who are ableist specifically towards autistic people.
12. Stuff like MMS and other unscientific “treatments” for autism are NOT a thing of the past, and autistic kids are STILL being fed industrial bleach and other harmful things to this day.
13. Vaccines do NOT cause autism. They never have, and they never will. The man who came up with that myth lost his medical license BEFORE making those claims. Furthermore, those claims he made had very little if no science at all backing them up. The results were purposefully skewed in his favor.
14. ALL autistic people deserve love and respect. That includes those of us with severe anger issues, adults who have meltdowns, autistic people who wear diapers, nonverbal autistic people, those of us who have stimming behaviors that aren’t considered “cute” or “charming,” etc.
15. For the love of heck, STOP using the terms “special interest” and “hyperfixation” for things you really REALLY enjoy if you are NOT neurodivergent! Special interest is an autism specific term, so only autistic people can use it. Hyperfixation is for EVERY neurodivergent person, but NOT for neurotypicals.
16. Also, if you are not neurodivergent, you cannot call your love for satisfying behaviors “stimming.” Neurotypical people do not “stim.”
17. Sesame Street may be a classic, but in recent times, they have also shown support for Autism Speaks, which is an ableist organization that aims to eradicate autism instead of support those of us who have it. Liking Sesame Street or The Muppets doesn’t make you ableist, but it’s important to denounce their decision to partner with Auti$m $peak$.
18. Auti$m $peak$ aims to profit off of the suffering of autistic people. Their goal is not to provide help and support, their goal is to find a “cure” for autism, rather than provide actual support for autistic people. They often incorporate harmful tactics to try and “fix” autistic children, and they completely ignore or flat out deny that autistic adults exist. There is so much more wrong with A$ that I don’t have the time or patience to go into. Just do your research and listen to actual autistic people before you decide to side with an organization.
19. ADHD people and autistic people tend to share similar experiences, but ADHD and autism are NOT the same thing.
20. “Cringe culture” directly harms autistic people. I know by now the term “cringe culture is dead” has probably gotten grating, but in order to make the world more comfortable for autistic people, we have to dismantle the idea that certain behaviors are “cringe.” Cringe culture harms pretty much everyone (albeit indirectly for some people), but it is especially harmful to those of us with autism.
21. The color blue and the puzzle piece symbol are no longer acceptable ways to show support for autistic people, as both have ties with Auti$m $peak$ and various other ableist ideas. Nowadays, we use the color red and the infinity symbol instead.
22. Many autistic people have trauma tied to being called “weird,” “annoying,” “mental,” “freaks,” etc. so keep that in mind when you talk to/about us or use those words to describe someone.
Allistic people are encouraged to reblog, but don’t add anything (including unnecessary stuff in the tags).
Autistic people can add whatever they want.
