Autistic Self-Advocacy
April is Autistic Pride Month!
This April…
Please don’t light it up blue or use puzzle pieces for “awareness”.
I recognize most neurotypical (NT) people who use these symbols have good intentions and are trying to support Autistic people. The first step to becoming an ally to a marginalized group is to actually listen to them.
We’re already bracing ourselves
Want to know how harmful certain “bewareness” campaigns are?
Back in February, many Autistic people and Autistic self-advocates were already anxious about April. We began emotionally preparing for the onslaught of messages “warning” parents about the perils of having a child with Autism.
Anti-Autism campaigns tell parents to “watch out” for the warning signs their child could be Autistic. They spread hurtful messages about how hard it is to live with an Autistic person.
Well, this is awkward... We’re right here.
How would it feel to know that people wish you didn’t exist? How will their children feel when they grow up and read those kinds of messages one day? (And maybe they already are).
Advocacy is not about you
(…Unless it’s self-advocacy, then it’s quite literally about you).
If anyone forms or runs an organization meant to “help” a particular population, they absolutely must be lifting up the voices of that community, rather than speaking over them.
The first step to becoming an ally to a marginalized group is to actually listen to them.
Autism “Bewareness” Campaigns: A Cautionary Tale
Please don’t light it up blue or use puzzle pieces for “awareness”.
I realize that most neurotypical (NT) people who use these symbols have good intentions and are trying to support Autistic people.
The best way to be an ally to a marginalized group is to actually listen to them.
Autistic Appreciation
We’re well aware of autism. We need to start appreciating Autistic people.
Except the most well-known group which claims to support and advocate for autistics and their families actually perpetuates myths, stereotypes, and philosophies based in eugenics.
Autistics Are Not Puzzle Pieces
Some autism moms saw my anti puzzle piece image and immediately began complaining that I was “shaming” parents of autistic children and autistics who choose to identify with the puzzle piece.
The Judge Rotenberg Centre
The Judge Rotenberg Centre (JRC) is a day and residential school located in Canton, Massachusetts licensed to “serve” (torture) children as young as five years old, all the way through to adulthood.
This so-called “educational” centre (their self-proclaimed title) uses electric shock devices on disabled and Autistic people in order to force compliance.
The JRC claims they only use these torture devices to stop “harmful” and dangerous behaviours (not that this would ever make it okay), but there is extensive evidence from former staff and residents proving this is an outright lie.
Some of the reasons people have been shocked with these devices are:
- Getting out of their seat without permission
- Refusing to eat food offered to them
- Swearing and/or yelling
- Covering eyes or ears
- Repetitive hand motions in front of one’s eyes or face
- Running away, or attempting to run away
- Having bathroom accidents (urinating or defecating outside of a toilet)
Some of these are outside of people’s control, some of these are behaviours which signal a person is in distress, some are normal Autistic “behaviours”, and some are simply human beings making choices about their own bodies.
If someone were shocking — or threatening to shock — me, I’d probably yell, swear, or run away. I sure as hell wouldn’t have much of an appetite to sit down and eat a meal, and I’d most certainly be engaging in self-soothing (i.e. rocking, stimming) and/or avoidance behaviours (i.e. covering eyes or ears).
Their own messaging tells on them
If you take a look at the JRC’s website, you can see their approaches are 100% behaviourism-based. The things they brag about actually disgust me.
They have a “big reward” store where residents can purchase rewards with money they earn for doing schoolwork or progressing on “behavioural goals”. Guess who develops those goals? (Spoiler alert: It’s not the residents).
They have to comply with the programming demands in order to earn access to: the Internet café, hair salon, movie theatre, snack bar, amusement area, arcade, field trips and “outings” — y’know, things people get every day just for being people.
It gets worse.
They have to “earn” the “privilege” (right) to play on the playground, use the basketball court, watch T.V., play video games, use the fitness room, and have parties.
Reading the JRC’s so-called “positive programming” page honestly makes me feel sick to my stomach. They:
- Identify behaviours to be changed;
- Record and chart their frequency;
- Make available “powerful” rewards (i.e. things that should be the right of every human being to have or use);
- Set up academic and behavioural financial rewards;
- Set up behavioural contracts (which residents have no choice but to agree to); and
- Set up a loss of privilege procedure
This reminds me of sending dogs away to board-and-train facilities, telling the trainer to “get rid of” an unwanted behaviour, paying them a bunch of money, then picking the dog up a few weeks later.
I was a positive dog trainer for more than a decade, and I didn’t even recommend this approach with dogs (in fact, I spoke out against it), let alone vulnerable human beings.
The Lines Between Behaviour Therapy, Abuse, And Torture Are Very Thin And Very Blurry
Trigger warning: This article discusses the use of electric shock on human beings. No graphic details are described, however the content may be upsetting for some — In fact, it should be upsetting for everyone.
The Judge Rotenberg “Educational” Centre tortures Autistic and Disabled people.
Stress And Anxiety Impede Learning
Seems obvious, doesn’t it? Yet people inflict stress and anxiety on people every day under the guise of “teaching”.
Clinical Application of an Abusive Practice is Still Abuse
The JRC is getting away with torture disguised as treatment.
The Judge Rotenberg Centre (JRC) is still torturing disabled and Autistic people using electric skin shock in order to force them to behave in prescribed ways.
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