kammo for short

This is absolutely stupid. According to Trump:

“The autism stat—and you hear different numbers, but it’s thousands. They say between 10 and 20 thousand,” Trump said Friday during a National Governors Association meeting at the White House. “If you go back 15 years ago, we had, like, nobody. It was one in 20,000. Now we have one in 34 … kids have autism.”

“The Pennsylvania Dutch, they don’t do anything and they’re amazingly healthy,” Trump said, offering the Pennsylvania ethnic group’s lifestyle as a potential model to avoid the disorder.

Autism isn’t rising or anything. It’s called better testing, better understanding, and better education/sources. And oh my god, the Pennsylvania Dutch (whatever that is), has autistic people too I’m willing to bet.

What does autism have to do with anything political?

On February 13th, the president issued an Executive Order saying that the administration would be establishing a commission to attempt to lower the prevalence of autism and chronic health conditions in the United States. The proposed plan is full of attempts to research thoroughly debunked science, states goals that run counter to the actual actions taken by the administration, and spreads misinformation about autism. ASAN disapproves of the proposed plan, and will be joining efforts to push back against its harmful ideas, as well as the harmful policies proposed by the current administration.

The proposed plan refers to autism and other disabilities as “a dire threat to the American people and our way of life.” This is fundamentally inaccurate. Autistic people have always been here, including before America existed. We aren’t new. The document cites the increase in autism diagnosis since the 1980s as evidence of an “epidemic.” This ignores the fact that healthcare access has changed dramatically in the last forty years.

…The order also refers to autism as a “disease.” Autism is a developmental disability—and disability is a natural part of human diversity. Autism is something we are born with, and that shouldn’t be changed. Autistic children should get the support they need to grow up into happy, self-determined autistic adults. For many people, diagnosis is the first step towards accessing those supports. Increased diagnosis is a positive thing; it indicates the many, often multiply-marginalized, autistic people who are gaining access to autism diagnoses and receiving the supports they need.

Oh my god I can’t put into words how awful this is. I just can’t. We do not have a “disease”. Autism is a neurodevelopment disorder that makes them have difficulty with social interaction, sensory issues, and other things. And there is nothing wrong with that. This is absolutely disgusting and dehumanizing to the autism community. What’s next? ADHD?

This includes those who:

Are too cognitively disabled to understand politics

Find that politics triggers serious mental health issues that interfere with daily life

Have had their carers/therapists/support workers tell them that politics is bad for them and they need to not read about it

Political participation is hard and not everyone can handle it.

Some people feel guilt or shame about not being able to help more. Cognitive and/or mental health limitations don't make you less of a person. And if you care about helping others, it's okay to find ways to do that that don't cause you great distress.

I have had both a caregiver (my dad) and my therapist strongly advise me not to read about politics because I get way too upset. Listening to their advice is not a sin. I can make a difference in my own way.

Being too disabled to handle politics doesn't make you bad. It's not a privilege. It's okay to focus on things that don't hurt you.