No, this is not about autists/autism: this is about society as a whole, and neurotypical/allistic people, and the problem I mention is that when someone is diagnosed (or self diagnosed) as autistic, the autist’s insights into society may be downplayed or ignored in favour of preservation of normative conditions - no matter how biased, abusive, or selfish those normative conditions may be (genocide of Indigenous people, endemic misogyny, a wide range of other abuses, white supremacism, homo/bi/transphobia, the capitalistic/neoliberal greed that caused the climate crisis, social destruction, endemic greed/selfishness/false presumption that only money motivates etc are just a few examples of such norms).
I was moved to write this partly by watching “Doctor Who's 60th TV Anniversary Made an Autistic Man WEEP!” https://youtu.be/e7tFROp9Vgw?si=LBHOGfaTO0HHH4E8, but mostly that was just a final trigger on top of having thought deeply about who I could/should tell (other than the Internet ... ), and why.
I have had many, many, MANY people try to dodge changing themselves into something better (often for the sake of job security, possibly because of dependents such as children) rather than respond appropriately to a perspective I was giving them - and that’s something I am contemplating, in particular, for my autobiography (if I ever finish it ... ).
PS - the very next video I watched from this channel also had some very good comments on this sort of problem. See:
“Are YOU "On The Spectrum"?” https://youtu.be/NV_z-lpcQ8I?si=07m02hnU1KdPt2k9 (especially from 7:54)
and then there was also:
“Trash Talking Autism (and How NOT to...)” https://youtu.be/qLsvjvhmy6U?si=kJNAU8d54vd3J1kg
and, a little later I also came across:
“Autism & Infantilization - My Experience with Autistic Infantilization” https://youtu.be/K6s4FVReskk?si=WJlNA8UlEF6VpgKE
and then:
“Autism: The new view. The world is disordered” https://youtu.be/ugQEiZG19Rs?si=0L2S0TvwFd2ESf5m
and, some time later:
“The Problematic & the CRINGE | Autism Mom Memes” https://youtu.be/aa8kpZZ1xpM?si=kkBGfFLICQKO54y2 Excellent analysis and explanation of the problems and possible advantages (of some of these)
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Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk.
