Beginnings

Where We Got Started

Finding out that my child was autistic changed my world.

Shortly after learning that my child was autistic, I started seeking social support from people like me- people who had kids like mine.

That’s when I found the neurodiversity movement: an entire movement by and for neurodivergent people with a focus on embracing different ways of being while celebrating what it means to be neurodivergent.

At first I was shocked to hear that there are people out there who don’t see autism as a negative, but soon thereafter I came to understand that autism is a truly wonderful state of being.

Understanding Autistic Identities

Autism is more than a disability, it’s a neurotype. A whole different type of brain than what a non-autistic (or allistic) person has.

Autism is also more than a neurotype, it’s an identity. Being autistic is a way of being. Autistic is an identifier.

Autistic people feel that autism is deeply inextricable from themselves; a thing that cannot be added nor removed.

If you’ve spent a lifetime thinking that autism was a thing a child could be afflicted with, and needed to be fixed because of, you’re not alone. Most of the information available for the general public and parents of newly diagnosed children is really, really bad. It takes time to change your thinking and to accept that autism is a simply another way to be human.

Don’t worry, you’ll get there.

Fighting for Equality

The only problem is… autistic people still aren’t treated right by our society. Equality is blossoming for so many marginalized groups, but disabled people? Neurodivergent people? That progress is lagging behind.

Far behind.

Autistic people (and other neurodivergent people, and other disabled people in general) include many multiply marginalized people (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, fat, poor, you name it) who are constantly engaged in a never-ending battle for their fundamental human rights.

Disability Rights issues are abundant and often overlooked.

#FreeBritney brought a lot of attention recently to a key disability rights issue: conservatorship and guardianship.

But what about the other issues?

• Disabled employees are legally allowed to be underpaid (sometimes only being compensated with mere cents per hour)
• Governmental disability benefits sparsely cover any necessary expenses
• Healthcare and academia (and frankly, everywhere else) are wildly inaccessible to disabled and neurodivergent people
• Neurodivergent people (especially neurodivergent people of color) are disproportionately targeted by police violence
• The global response to COVID-19 has been largely dismissive of disabled experiences
• Eugenics are still practiced in a variety of ways in our modern day
• Disabled and neurodivergent people face additional hurdles in custody, fostering, adoption, and general parenting situations
• Store security policies often target neurodivergent behaviors as signs of shop-lifting, which leads to increased discrimination
• Straw bans intended to benefit our environment (rooted in the fundamentally incorrect “carbon footprint” theory) leave disabled people without access to important accessibility tools

I only included a small selection because frankly… there are too many to list.

The fight for equality (and equity!) is always small in numbers. The time to join the cause is now.

Why Start Now?

Honestly, this project has been in my mind- albeit in different formats- for some years now.

I hemmed and hawed for ages because consistency is not my strong suit, and I wasn’t really sure if anyone would care to hear my voice or my opinion.

And only recently did I realize that it doesn’t matter if anybody wants to listen. Readers would merely be a fringe benefit.

We have things to say, and now we have a place to say them.

And we’re looking forward to connecting with you.