[My main Tumblr can be found over at myasphyxiatedmind]
If you want your ask replied to privately, just put '****' before you start typing.
My name is: Michelle, but most people call me Dark online.
My gender-pronouns are: They/them/their.
I am: 26 years old, a feminist, liberal, an atheist, an omnivore, and an ISFJ.
The Feminist: Intersectional, body positive, pro-choice, and sex positive.
My privileged identities include: Female assigned at birth (trans* privilege), white, able-bodied, allistic (?), dyadic, monogamous.
My non-privileged/oppressed identities include: Gender-fluid, fat, gray-a, neuroatypical, and gay.
I have: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder.
I like: Pets & animals, animal welfare, pet care & pet care education, ~*SCIENCE!*~, anatomy & physiology, roleplaying, anime/manga, computer & video games, rock & metal music.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Adventures of a Girl Janitor: Why I am against Autism Speaks (and you should be, too!)
(TW: Ableism) Autism Speaks is the most well-known autism charity. They have the most media coverage and are endorsed by many celebrities, but this certainly does not make them a good organization.
- Autism Speaks does not have a single autistic member on their board.
- Autism Speaks only spends 4% of their budget on “family services”.
- Much of Autism Speaks’ money goes toward research, and much of that research centers on finding a way to eliminate autism, and thus, autistics (which will likely be done through a prenatal test, in the same way that the Down’s Syndrome test is conducted).
- Autism Speaks produces advertisments, small films, etc. about what a burden autistic people are to society.
- Autism Speaks was responsible for “Autism Every Day”, which featured a member of their board talking about contemplating murder-suicide of her daughter in front of her daughter. This has now be removed from Autism Speaks’ Youtube channel.
- Autism Speaks is responsible for the atrocity known as “I am Autism”, a short film produced by the same person who directed the 3rd Harry Potter movie (yes, really) and features an ominous voice saying things like “I am autism…I know where you live…I work faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer, and diabetes combined…I will make sure your marriage fails.”
In short, Autism Speaks is part of the problem; they create a stigma that makes it far more difficult for actual autistic people like myself to be heard, to have our opinions matter, and to fall anywhere outside of the “autistic angel” and “screaming, violent, rocking in the corner autistic” stereotypes. In addition, for them, as well as many other organizations (and the media), autism is considered to be a child’s disorder/disability, and you will often hear people say “where are all the adult autistics?” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that in the past 5 years or so. The answer to that is simple! We’re right here in front of you. We may have been misdiagnosed as children with learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities and the like when the diagnoses of autism, PDD-NOS and Asperger’s weren’t as precise (or even existent) as they are now. We may not have been diagnosed at all and simply treated as though our difficulties are our own doing. We vary in where we fall on the spectrum, though functioning labels are gross and you shouldn’t use them.
For further reading, here are a few resources about Autism Speaks:
I’m Autistic, But Autism Speaks Doesn’t Speak for Me.
An Autistic Speaks about Autism Speaks.
A Chart Regarding Autism Speaks’ Allocation of Funds
ASAN’s flyer regarding Autism Speaks (this is easily printable and is good for distributing information quickly).
Here are a few other terrible things that Autism Speaks has done recently.
- This woman’s job offer was rescinded after she asked Autism Speaks for accommodations in caring for her autistic son. They refused, and she made necessary accommodations for childcare, but they withdrew her offer anyways.
- Autism Speaks shared the news of Google removing hate speech regarding autistics from Google’s autofill feature, completely erasing any mention of autistic people’s flashblogs having anything to do with the change. It was only after a member of the autism community (and not a parent, but an autistic person themselves) spoke with a reporter about the flashblog and a statement was released to the media that Google decided to make this change.
- Autism Speaks highlighted AAC use, while erasing those those who actually use AAC devices to communicate. The focus was on the caretakers, not on the autistic people themselves. (The attached link has a link to a rebuttal by a nonspeaking autistic person, Amy Sequenzia).
There are a number of corporate partners — big businesses (for the most part) who align themselves with Autism Speaks. This can take many different forms, but in general, you should consider that a purchase to any of these companies may benefit Autism Speaks. The list is as follows (thank you, austryzor):
- ATA Martial Arts
- Bachman Pretzels
- Bob’s Red Mill
- Build A Bear
- Capital One
- Casey’s General Stores
- Continental Accessory
- Dollar General
- Dover International Speedway
- eTrak
- Fashion Bug
- FedEx
- Fox Sports
- GAP
- Joe’s Crab Shack
- Kid Natural Hero
- Landscape Structures
- Lindt and Sprungli
- Mattress Warehouse
- Med Claims Liaison
- Modell’s Sporting Goods
- Panera Bread
- Pump it Up
- Queens Flowers
- Scentsy
- Shoprite Supermarkets
- Sprouts Farmers Markets
- Stadium NEST Fragrances
- Stella & Dot
- The Home Depot
- TJMaxx
- Total Wine and More
- Toys R Us
- White Castle
- Zales
Some people have contacted me with requests for what organizations actually do help autistic people. There are a few, in fact, that actually focus on autistic people, and not just autistic children. The final two are actually general disability organizations, and not specific to autism.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is pretty much the best choice.
Edited 3/6/13 to add — someone on my Wordpress blog posted a link to this GIGANTIC resource, bigger than mine here (obviously).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Autism_Speaks/Controversy_links
I have a really hard time with loving myself sometimes,
and when all else fails I take to drawing on my body and trying to rely on what I know to be true rather than what I think I see.
Even if those things were true, “I’d still be worth loving”
Want to be an ally to your nonverbal/mute partner(s)? Here’s how!
Find a way of communication that works for you partner(s). If this is sign language, writing, typing, texting, or another method, work with them to learn it well. It’s important to be able to communicate to be sure everything is consenting and everyone is happy.
Don’t shame your partner(s) for their difficulty with talking. Learn about why they can’t talk. Help them in any way you can.
Invest in safe signals!
Ask them what makes them feel comfortable. Do they like it when you talk to them a lot? Do they prefer you are quiet? Is there anything you can do to make them feel more comfortable?
Learn their body language. If you aren’t sure what something they do means, ask! If they can make noises or sounds, listen closely and ask questions to be sure you can understand what the different ones mean. Pay attention and LISTEN. Just because they can’t speak verbally, doesn’t mean they don’t speak at all.
Click for larger size.
The Koch brothers — conservative billionaires — have funded the Tea Party, anti-gay organizations, super PACs, and conservative candidates around the country for years. They’ve funded reports of bogus science to debunk climate change, and would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those pesky scientists.
Police in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and San Francisco are confiscating condoms from sex workers and transgender women, undermining health department campaigns to reduce HIV.
Don’t take away people’s condoms!
Read more and watch our interviews of sex workers here.
© 2012 Human Rights Watch
Where’s the logic in this?!
Carrying condoms has actually been used against people as “evidence” of prostitution.
It’s really fucked up.
500 Free Online Courses from Top Universities
Get free online courses from the world’s leading universities. This collection includes over 500 free courses in the liberal arts and sciences. Download these audio & video courses straight to your computer or mp3 player.
these are fun because you can download a bunch of course packets and readings
(Source: hincky-finger)
New York teen Lia Neal is the second African American woman ever to make the US Olympic swim team. The seventeen year-old will swim on the 400 freestyle relay team. 2012 is the first time in history that more than one African American represent the United States swim team.
Reblog and spread the message please. Ugh.
HEADS UP FOLKS
Scam going around.
”One day we must ask the question, ‘Why are there forty million poor people in America?’ And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I’m simply saying that more and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life’s market place. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised. You see, my friends, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, ‘Who owns the oil?’ You begin to ask the question, ‘Who owns the iron ore?’ You begin to ask the question, ‘Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that is two thirds water?’ These are questions that must be asked.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
