Celebrate Autism!: Why "Awareness" Has Got to Go

Let me state right now that I am not against awareness. Quite the opposite, in fact. I'm a big fan of cultivating self-awareness...which is why this month is so utterly baffling.

In case you weren't "aware" (couldn't help myself), April is Autism Acceptance Month! Many Autistics prefer this over Autism Awareness Month, the original name for this advocacy period. Using "Awareness" for autism advocacy has actually done more harm than it has helped. This term has caused a medieval thought process to prevail over research, policy, and society in regards to Autism. So, instead, many (dare I say most) Autistics prefer to call it "Autism Acceptance Month."

You might be wondering how I know this.

...the ultimate square pegs...

“Autists are the ultimate square pegs, and the problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is hard work. It’s that you’re destroying the peg.”

~ Paul Collins

...then their abilities will shine...

“Do not fear people with Autism, embrace them. Do not spite people with Autism, unite them. Do not deny people with Autism, accept them for then their abilities will shine.”

~ Paul Isaacs

...a part of humanity...

“Autism is as much a part of humanity as is the capacity to dream.”

~ Kathleen Seidel

...embracing value...

“Until we create a nation that regularly wants to employ a person with autism, assure for a quality education for each person with autism, and eliminates the far too many unnecessary obstacles placed in the way of success for a person with autism, we really won’t be as successful as we must. We need to get all in our nation to embrace the belief that each person with autism is valued, respected and held to the highest level of dignity and must be provided every opportunity for the highest quality of life each and every day.”

~ ASA President Scott Badesch

...what comes naturally...

“Let’s give people with autism more opportunities to demonstrate what they feel, what they imagine, what comes naturally to them through humor and the language of sensory experience. As we learn more about autism, let’s not forget to learn from those with autism. There are poets walking among you and they have much to teach.”

~ Chris Martin, Unrestricted Interest

...diversity of the human gene pool...

“Autism is here to stay and may be considered a part of the diversity of the human gene pool."

~ Dr. Stephen Shore

...a bright thread...

“I see people with Asperger’s syndrome as a bright thread in the rich tapestry of life.”

~ Tony Attwood

...differences in cognitive functioning...

“The concept of neurodiversity provides a paradigm shift in how we think about mental functioning. Instead of regarding large portions of the American public as suffering from deficit, disease, or dysfunction in their mental processing, neurodiversity suggests that we instead speak about differences in cognitive functioning."

~ Dr. Thomas Armstrong

...the imagined child...

“By separating the autism from the person, are we encouraging our patients’ family members to love an imagined nonautistic child that was never born, forgetting about the real person who exists in front of us."

~ Christina Nicolaidis, A Physician Speaks

...the first stone spears...

"Who do you think made the first stone spears? The Asperger guy. If you were to get rid of all the autism genetics, there would be no more Silicon Valley."

~ Temple Grandin

...you experience their autism mildly...

[So-called] Mild autism doesn’t mean one experiences autism mildly… It means YOU experience their autism mildy. You may not know how hard they’ve had to work to get to the level they are."

~ Adam Walton

Autism Acceptance Month: Executive Function - The Silent Burden

This week's post is a topic that hits very close to home for me, as it has only recently come to my attention: Executive Function. This is a very difficult subject for a lot of people on the spectrum, especially women, as it turns out, because issues with executive function are perhaps the least "glamorous" part of being autistic. For many of us, it is a source of shame, myself included, because these seem the simplest and most commonplace of human functions. So why do we have so much trouble with them?

What is Executive Function?

In brief, executive function is the administrative assistant part of your brain. It regulates organization, memory, and even emotions to some degree, with a little bit of drive to get things done. Executive function is the part that makes sure you get up on time, groom yourself, complete tasks in a timely fashion, don't have wild emotional swings, and all around stay motivated and productive.

What Does It Have To Do With Autism?

A lot, in point of fact. Diagnostic criteria lists impaired executive functions as one of the markers of someone on the spectrum. How this manifests in each individual may be vague, but the difficulty it causes for Autists (yet another moniker for someone on the spectrum) is no less real.

...the world was made up of words...

“Years before doctors informed me of my high-functioning autism and the disconnect it causes between person and language, I had to figure out the world as best I could. I was a misfit. The world was made up of words. But I thought and felt and sometimes dreamed in a private language of numbers."

~ Daniel Tammett

...the difference between high-functioning and low-functioning...

“The difference between high-functioning autism and low-functioning is that high-functioning means your deficits are ignored, and low-functioning means your assets are ignored."

~ Laura Tisoncik

...looking back and reframing life...

“To find out you are autistic is quite a realization to have in your teens, but in your 40s or 50s it means you have to look back at your whole life and reframe everything; every incident, every moment, with this new lens to look through. It's like getting glasses after spending your whole life near-sighted. Obviously, the longer you've gone without the diagnosis the more work you have to do in looking back. And in some cases, the more damage to your spirit, psyche, and relationships you have to undo.” 

~ Rudy Simone, Aspergirls

...real but not obvious...

“This is the crux of AS--our challenges are very real but not always obvious to others. Therefore our behavior is not understood.” 

~ Rudy Simone, Aspergirls

...a true authority on the subject...

“Counselors, psychologists, doctors, and educators are trying their level best to get their collective heads around Asperger's, and offer valuable therapies and tools we can use. They have a bit more catching up to do where female AS is concerned. If you are an Aspergirl, you are a true authority on the subject.” 

~ Rudy Simone, Aspergirls

...self-taught...

“Most of the Aspergirls I interviewed were self-taught readers and many had similar experiences with maths, music, and design.” 

~ Rudy Simone, Aspergirls

Autism Acceptance Month: 'Smile' - Autism & Feminism

I've been an autistic feminist since birth. Sounds a bit hyperbolic, doesn't it? After all, one can't make decisions about their philosophical ideologies as an infant, and you'd be right to be skeptical of anything said by anyone who really believed they had. No, what I mean is that I was part of a feminist household. My mother is a feminist, and she raised me with the ethics and philosophies of feminism. Long before I knew what philosophy was, or that feminism had a political presence, I believed that everyone is, and should be perceived as, equal, despite any differences, real or imagined. Today, I proudly state myself to be a feminist.

Likewise, while I didn't know growing up that I am autistic, I was already expressing myself as an autistic person. I tended to be tomboyish, not in a sports way, but in a climbing trees and collecting rocks kind of way. I generally disliked wearing skirts and dresses, preferring comfortable pants and overalls which had pockets to put random weird shit into that I found on the ground. I was fascinated by science, especially astronomy. I had numerous special interests. I had food sensitivities that sometimes resulted in dramatic scenes (I recall an incident with a macaroni and bean salad). I had a lisp, which I viciously corrected on my own. I became so stressed in middle school, that I got ulcers, and generally suffered from other stomach issues. I was rather solitary. I didn't have a lot of friends. And I had the distinct sense that I was different. The list goes on. But I had no idea that some of the things I experienced could turn out to be a link between autism and feminism.