Most autistic people, despite everything, actually like being autistic.
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Here are the references for this thread:
https://www.neurofabulous.org.uk/refs-for-epistemic-injustice-thread.html
@KatyElphinstone thank you (again
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Most autistic people, despite everything, actually like being autistic.
Not all, of course. But most of us.
And I don’t just mean ‘making peace with it’.I mean: it's bound up with who we are.
A thread 🧵
1/11
(refs at the end)
#Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent@KatyElphinstone Curing myself of Autism would be just as, if not more, disrespectful towards my ancestors than cutting off my hair.永
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Here are the references for this thread:
https://www.neurofabulous.org.uk/refs-for-epistemic-injustice-thread.html
@KatyElphinstone Fantastic thread Katy.
I've long felt exactly what you said in the first t00t and remember refusing a particular therapeutic intervention 20 years ago (EMDR) because I feared it would change who I am. That was many years before realising I was autistic. Life is bloody hard being #ActuallyAutistic but it is who I am and I love who I am.
What I do not love is how difficult it is to be me in a society that doesn't want to know who I am, let alone accommodate me.
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Here are the references for this thread:
https://www.neurofabulous.org.uk/refs-for-epistemic-injustice-thread.html
Looking into the origin of the phrase 'high functioning autistic' really opened my eyes. They want what they can use.
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Most autistic people, despite everything, actually like being autistic.
Not all, of course. But most of us.
And I don’t just mean ‘making peace with it’.I mean: it's bound up with who we are.
A thread 🧵
1/11
(refs at the end)
#Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent@KatyElphinstone I'm autistic. I like being autistic. I have skills that most people dont have.
What hurts me is the distain most people have for autism, and try to change me, boss me around, and do anything they feel will motivate me to be doing something I dont want to be doing, because "everyone does it"
I am not like most people.
I want people to appreciate me for who I am, different, not deficit.Society's general perception of autism is the problem, not me.
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@KatyElphinstone thank you (again
) -
Looking into the origin of the phrase 'high functioning autistic' really opened my eyes. They want what they can use.
-
Looking into the origin of the phrase 'high functioning autistic' really opened my eyes. They want what they can use.
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I completely agree. I wouldn't want a "cure" if where was one - but that's when referring to the condition as a whole. Certain bits I could sure do without and actively work on changing: like being able to recognize emotions by facial expression (or to be able to show my own more clearly).
Yes - I could do without my nervous system making my body go into literal agony (physical pain) when I'm distressed, stressed out, or upset by something. That would be nice to not have (although, then again, I guess it is informing me that something's amiss..)
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@KatyElphinstone I'm autistic. I like being autistic. I have skills that most people dont have.
What hurts me is the distain most people have for autism, and try to change me, boss me around, and do anything they feel will motivate me to be doing something I dont want to be doing, because "everyone does it"
I am not like most people.
I want people to appreciate me for who I am, different, not deficit.Society's general perception of autism is the problem, not me.
-
Most autistic people, despite everything, actually like being autistic.
Not all, of course. But most of us.
And I don’t just mean ‘making peace with it’.I mean: it's bound up with who we are.
A thread 🧵
1/11
(refs at the end)
#Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent@KatyElphinstone what I don't like is the inability to connect with people. There's always this wall between me and them. It's like being a different species or something. Like a cat living on dog world.
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Most autistic people, despite everything, actually like being autistic.
Not all, of course. But most of us.
And I don’t just mean ‘making peace with it’.I mean: it's bound up with who we are.
A thread 🧵
1/11
(refs at the end)
#Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent@KatyElphinstone It’s literally in my DNA for me.
(It is mentioned in the genetic diagnostic I got after my first breast cancer).
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@KatyElphinstone I'm autistic. I like being autistic. I have skills that most people dont have.
What hurts me is the distain most people have for autism, and try to change me, boss me around, and do anything they feel will motivate me to be doing something I dont want to be doing, because "everyone does it"
I am not like most people.
I want people to appreciate me for who I am, different, not deficit.Society's general perception of autism is the problem, not me.
-
I completely agree. I wouldn't want a "cure" if where was one - but that's when referring to the condition as a whole. Certain bits I could sure do without and actively work on changing: like being able to recognize emotions by facial expression (or to be able to show my own more clearly).
@jmcclure @KatyElphinstone Similarly, I wouldn't want to change my general brain operating system - or perhaps more accurately can't imagine what it'd be like to have a different one! - but wish I didn't get so easily overloaded by light and sound
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Most autistic people, despite everything, actually like being autistic.
Not all, of course. But most of us.
And I don’t just mean ‘making peace with it’.I mean: it's bound up with who we are.
A thread 🧵
1/11
(refs at the end)
#Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent -
Yes - I could do without my nervous system making my body go into literal agony (physical pain) when I'm distressed, stressed out, or upset by something. That would be nice to not have (although, then again, I guess it is informing me that something's amiss..)
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Which brings us back to those questions:
1/ Whose problem is autism being treated as?
2/ And whose interests are being served by that?And...
3/ What kind of future is being imagined??
10/11
@KatyElphinstone They ought to understand this. Half the questions on Baron-Cohen’s questionnaire, the answer is “we’re well-paid for that!”
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Most autistic people, despite everything, actually like being autistic.
Not all, of course. But most of us.
And I don’t just mean ‘making peace with it’.I mean: it's bound up with who we are.
A thread 🧵
1/11
(refs at the end)
#Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent@KatyElphinstone I like being autistic, even though it is very difficult. I don't want to be "cured".
Same thing: I like being trans. My life is better for being trans than it would have been if my parents had given me a detrans pill when I was a toddler.
Same thing: I have psychotic experiences, and I have tried so hard for so long to cure them. But I realize now that the real problem was my war against the experiences - the rejection of them, the fight to be "sane", the insistence on seeing myself as broken.
Diversity has value - both for society and spiritually for the individual.
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