Short Story: Happy Autism Acceptance Month from the Autistic Heroes!
[Note One (1): Stephen is also autistic in this 'verse. However, as his MCU actor is not autistic-friendly, I have excluded him from this particular story. Sorry, readers.
Note Two (2): If this is your first time reading one of my stories, you'll notice some new original characters! As the name of this blog suggests, all of the heroes have service dogs, so the other characters you see are their service dogs!
Note Three (3): While Matt isn't mentioned yet on the blog this is written for, I couldn't resist having him here. I do hope that's alright. Also, some of the tags include Autism Speaks or similar tags. This is intentional, to try and help flood those tags with positive content instead. With that said, enjoy!]
When April arrives, so does the stigma around autistic people, and it’s not something that any of the autistic heroes particularly appreciate. On the street level, there’s only so much Wade and Matt can do; Wade spends as much time as possible trying to find and protect the kids whose families are advocating for Autism Speaks against their children's will.
He talks to as many other autistic adults as possible to encourage positivity in the streets, if not in the homes, and he of course spends as much time as possible wandering the streets himself, seeing as his suit is the very definition of “red instead.” He walks with Athanasia beside him, the service dog dressed in a bright red vest with only two patches: “Service Dog,” and “Acceptance, not Awareness.”
Meanwhile, Matt spends more time working in the courts; he meets up with autistic clients, encourages them to speak their truths and advocate for rights, acceptance, and protections under the law, provides the legal standings and precedents to back their stories and push for legislative changes. It’s difficult work, and Wade often sends the people he helps to Matt in the hopes that Matt can get their cases to the forefront.
April isn’t the only time Matt advocates for rights, of course, but it is one of the best times for changing policies around autistic people, what with the surge of terrible comments and stories and ads that Autism Speaks forces out into the world. Matt encourages his clients not to be afraid, is as open with them as they are with him, allowing himself to stim freely, without fear. Grace sits at his side, her own red vest with the patches “Handler May Experience Sensory Overload, Give Us Space,” “Service Dog,” and “Red Instead.”
Tony and Bruce, on the other hand, are working on the global scale, and they have a lot more to work with in terms of public perception; Tony paints one of the Iron Man suits solid red, and every professional suit he wears is some shade of red, never with a trace of blue. He publicly donates money to the Autism Self Advocacy Network, both national and international, and makes a show of denouncing Autism Speaks both professionally and unprofessionally.
At different times, he has tweets, Instagram videos, Facebook videos, and tumblr posts of him reacting to various Autism Speaks ads, usually with some version of gagging as his response. He reposts other autistic people’s articles and stories, posts studies and articles supporting vaccination and reassuring people that no, vaccines do not autism, and no, even if they did, that’s still not a problem, being autistic isn't a problem.
Diva joins him in almost every video, tail wagging as he stares at the phone Tony records on, usually laying on Tony’s lap on the couch because the Autism Speaks videos always put Tony on edge, and having Diva do deep pressure therapy helps more than Tony likes to admit.
Bruce is quite possibly the best in terms of public influence. When the Hulk isn’t fronting, when it’s Bruce himself, he’s the perfect image of what people expect from an abuse survivor; quiet, timid, unsure of himself, kind, and caring. Which, in all honesty, it shouldn’t matter whether he’s a “good” survivor or not, but public perception of autistic people still has a long way to go, and Bruce is nothing if not personable and agreeable.
So when April comes around, Bruce does interview after interview, internet post after internet post, press conference after press conference, and speaks the truth that he still struggles to speak sometimes, even with Smash at his side, nudging his hand with her nose in reassurance, standing between him and others when someone gets too close, when Bruce is too overwhelmed.
He tells everyone, in oral speech or other communication strategies, that he is one of many, many autistic people, Tony included; that we are not dangerous, if anything, we’re in danger. In danger of being hurt, ignored, and pushed aside, by a narrative that Autism Speaks would rather shout over autistic people rather than listen to our stories.
That if the public is willing to accept and love a Norse god of thunder, an enhanced super soldier, and two former spies, why is it so hard to accept and love the autistic people in your day to day life? If you can accept that a Norse god struggles with different cultural norms, and you can explain them to him, why can’t you explain them to the autistic people who feel the same way? If you can accept Iron Man, in all of the flashy red and gold, why can’t you accept the autistic person who flaps their hands, or hums to themselves, or does anything else that doesn’t affect you?
And at the end of the month, they’re all still going to advocate for themselves, for other autistic people like them. Wade, Matt, Tony, and Bruce will constantly advocate for acceptance, for love, for kindness and understanding, and they’re not going to limit themselves to just one month of the year to do so; but when the spotlight is on autistic people, when the spotlight is on the debate over what rights autistic people should have, they’re going to lead the way into that spotlight, and remind people that autistic people should have the same rights as you, because we’re people. and basic human rights should just be the beginning, not the end, of what we as autistic people deserve.
