fyeahdisabilityrights

Somewhere I read that a symptom of autism/ ASD is a tendency to feel victimized. Feel. And I couldn’t get that out of my head because there is a difference between saying that and saying “a tendency to be” victimized. Saying “feel” carries the implication that the victimization is in one’s head. 

There’s probably a reason people with ASD feel victimized:

1. Autistic children are more likely to be bullied. 

2. Autistic children are more likely to be abused.

3. Autistic children are more likely to experience sexual abuse and the abuse is less likely to be recognized because symptoms of being abused are often misinterpreted as “normal” autistic behavior. 

4. Autistics are more likely to be sexually assaulted because they are often taught compliance from a young age in therapies like ABA.

[Edit with more links on this topic]: Info On Autism & Sexual Assault Personal Essay On Why Autistics Are Vulnerable ABA Teaches Compliance Not Consent

5. Autistics are more likely to be unemployed.

6. Employers discriminate against autism, autistics are more likely to be bullied by their coworkers, and many autistics lose their jobs because of it.

7. Schools find loopholes to discriminate against autistic children. 

8. Autistiscs have a higher risk of experiencing police brutality. 

9. Autistics are being murdered by their own caregivers, and the murderer is often given a lighter sentence because the victim was viewed as a burden.

10. Autistics suffer because they are not given effective medical care.

with people who do not have medical/economic/carceral power over you:

walk away/physically remove yourself rather than engage

"i am not interested in your thoughts on my lunch"

"I am not interested in your thoughts on my [or someone else's] body"

"did she gain weight?" "it isn't our business/it isn't relevant to you."

"why are you eating that?" "because i'm hungry."

with doctors:

"i choose to decline my weight" (you can always choose to decline your weight as an outpatient)

"i am requesting a larger blood pressure cuff in order to receive an accurate reading"

"i am here to discuss [x]. my time and yours would be better spent addressing my present concerns, rather than speculating on others."

"i am not interested in discussing my eating habits, because it is not currently a priority to change them."

and like. first of all even for people with partners that's assuming they're abled themselves and can handle all that. you can't assume that. secondly: what about people who are single, who live alone, who will probably always do so

"get someone to keep an eye on you when you start this new medication" who. "don't over exert yourself" nobody else is going to do the tasks. "this can be a walker or a transit wheelchair so your partner can push you when you get tired" my what

disabled people have had their benefits torn to fuckin shreds under this administration, both from being disabled and simply from being poor as most of us are.

remember those that have fucking died from it. remember the ones still surviving it.

“You get used to it” true but misleading because someday your back problems are gonna inexplicably cause stomach problems. And then you get used to the stomach problems but your thumbs start hurting because you had to do so much work on your phone lying in weird positions while waiting for the stomach problems to go away. And there are way more distractions on your phone too so while you always had adhd this just makes it more annoying/prevalent-

I dont care if 9/10 of the people who use the wheelchair ramp arent actually in wheelchairs. As long as the 1 person who needs it has access to it.

I dont care if 9/10 people who use the automatic push button on the library door can actually push the door open themselves. As long as the 1 person who the door is too heavy for gets to use it.

I dont care if 9/10 people who buy the can tab opener, or the little guitar clamp that holds the chords for you, or the hand grip that helps you hold chop sticks, don't need any of it and just get it to "be lazy". As long as the one disabled person who needs it gets access to it.

I do not care. Oh my GOD I do not care. As long as there's a disabled person on this planet who the accessibility device will benefit, the accessibility device is necessary.

We have got to stop using it to imply "malingering".

And yeah, the curb cut effect is great.

My credentials on this topic are that I have decades of lived experience as a chronically ill disabled psychiatrized person, and also that I have read hundreds of thousands (maybe millions?) of words of medical studies, research articles, legal frameworks, human rights initiatives, essay by activists, advocacy organization platforms, and the history of disability rights.

Your credentials are that you are a Person Who Thinks They Knows Stuff.

We are not the same. Your opinion is irrelevant to me, because the degree to which you possess less information than I do makes it laughable that you would have anything new or of value to add to this conversation.

The degree to which this is my area of expertise makes any discussion we have about it which does not first acknowledge the disparity in our levels of expertise inherently disrespectful to me as a person.

And you can't even tell, because you are so ableist that you don't see my experience as expertise to begin with.

And for those people who have access to mobility devices but might benefit from a second chair they can abuse without risking expensive damage…

Erik Kondo has made a website, Open Source Innovations, that details plans for DIY wheelchairs. These wheelchairs can be made from common materials like wood, plastic, and pvc. They are lightweight and can be custom fit to the user allowing from the same degree of movement you would get from a custom chair. And they are durable and easily repairable. (he has been stress testing his latest design by dropping it down stairs, dropping it out of a car, launching it across a driveway, and throwing it off a deck). Its 12lbs and I think he said its was in the $200 ish range for parts.