If you’re at all interested in autism & the experiences of autistic people, please read this & the attached thread.

All too often autism is portrayed as a problem experienced by parents, families, teachers etc. The autistic person is so often the passive object of their concern, or the difficult & uncooperative cause of their distress. Their knowledge, insights & experiences are so often ignored, devalued.

Whatever the issue we are talking about, autism, teens & social media, racial/religious minorities etc, it is essential that the voices of the people at the centre are heard. It is essential that the conversations are held with them, not about them. It is essential that they at least have a say in how they are portrayed & represented, preferably being actively involved.

Some autistic people are leaders in their field, highly knowledgeable & capable. Many are not, just as in the allistic community. Some are highly articulate & expressive. Some are less so, & some are the opposite.

There’s a saying - If you’ve met one Autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person. That’s because even amongst ourselves, we are so diverse.

There’s been a rash of television shows lately involving actually autistic people, even actors. In Australia, Austin, The Assembly & Headliners. The extent to which they accurately present the diversity of autistic people varies. While there are several autistic people in the latter, I don’t know how much they were consulted about the making of the show, or how much & how well their needs were accommodated. At one point I was concerned that the ADHD Austistic was being portrayed as the “baddie”. (The fact that the show was produced by the same people who brought us MasterChef was a concern. Entertainment values?)

But one thing these programs all do, is show us more about what it’s like to be autistic, not just what allistic people think about autism.

#actuallyautistic
@actuallyautistic

From: @petrichord
https://octodon.social/@petrichord/113607952125702608