I have no power here.

Everything that we call civilization is just humans making prosthetic adaptations instead of waiting around for mutations. We get some advantageous mutations too, but we’re so reliant on the artificial ones that all the wetware upgrades are hackish as fuck and often do things like kill you if you get a double dose of the gene. And then humans invent more artificial adaptations so it doesn’t actually have to kill you.

This is basically a post for people who think that the world is accessible for those who are disabled, although this is centred around those who use a wheelchair. 

And this doesn’t include when people park in disabled spaces without a badge, or question those who park in disabled spaces who don’t use a chair.

The first picture is of a disabled parking space, where the snow has been pushed into that space whilst people were clearing the car park. This also happens when snow ploughers push the snow to the side of the road and onto the pavement as it blocks the dipped down pavement where wheelchair users can get on/off of the pavement and most wheelchairs struggle to be able to push through the snow.

The second picture is of a lift/elevator in Boots a store in the UK, where there are baskets and cases in front of the lift, which block wheelchair users from using it and accessing other levels in the store.

The third picture is of a zebra crossing with a lowered pavement for wheelchair users, and there is an island in the middle with a normal height curb, which blocks wheelchair users, and it means they have to go around, along with having bollards near the entrance which don’t look wide enough to fit a wheelchair through.

The fourth picture is that of a ramp, which has a step in order to get onto the ramp. (I’m pretty sure they didn’t even try.)

The fifth picture is of a ramp with a tree in the middle, which doesn’t have enough room on either side for a wheelchair to get through.

The sixth picture is of a very very steep ramp, which even if you have someone pushing your chair you probably won’t be able to get up it!

The seventh picture is of a disabled parking space, which has a ramp leading to the entrance, which again has steps in order to access the ramp.

The eighth picture is of ‘disabled parking’, where non of the spaces have room to allow chairs to get out of the car, except at the back. They are just normal spaces where a blue sign has been placed in an attempt to make the parking ‘wheelchair accessible’.

The ninth picture is of a reception desk which is too high for wheelchair users to access, as they can’t be seen, due to the fact that they are smaller than the desk.

The final picture is of a ramp which only goes halfway up the curb, essentially meaning there is a step at the top of the ramp.

Wwx: Aw you kneed me, Lan Zhan.

Lwj: I do need you, Wei Ying.

In middle school biology, we did an experiment. We were given yams, which we would sprout in cups of water. We then had to make hypotheses about how the yams would grow, based on descriptions of yam plants in our books, and make notes of our observations as they grew.

Here’s what was supposed to happen: we were supposed to see that the actual growth of the plant did not resemble our hypotheses. We were then supposed to figure out that these were, in fact, sweet potatoes.

What actually happened was that every single student in every single class lied in their notes so that their observations perfectly matched their hypotheses. See, everyone assumed the mismatch meant they had done something wrong in the process of growing the plant or that they had misunderstood the dichotomous key or the plant identification terminology. And, thanks to the wonders of a public school education, everyone assumed the wrong results would get us a failing grade. We were trying to pass. We didn’t want to get bitched out by the teacher. Curiosity, learning, science - that had nothing to do with why we were sitting in that classroom. So we all lied.

The teacher was furious. She tried to fail every student, but the administration stepped in and told her she wasn’t allowed to because a 100% fail rate is recognized as a failure of the teacher, not the class. It wasn’t even her fault, really, though her being a notorious hard-ass didn’t help. It was a failure of the entire educational system.

"oh nooo ☹ we aren't trying to cure autism, we understand it's very important to some! We are just going to take away every interest a child has and give them back in small doses as rewards for communicating and acting in ways that are painful or uncomfortable when the alternative autistic ways were just fine! And then your child will lose the sense of identity one gains through their interests because they will either hide them or give up on having them. And they will grow up believing happiness & love is something you have to earn by hurting yourself rather than something a parent should automatically give to their child!"

So much of this is appalling nonsense

“correct source of stimulus control” you mean he finally figured out what you wanted from him? Water, water park are completely accurate a plausible responses to that photo! How’s he supposed to know what you want? Has this child developed their knowledge about swimming pools through this? No, he clearly knows what one is and is able to talk about it (it’s wet, you go swimming in it, you need a bathing suit) he’s just finally figured out what you want. This is a WASTE OF TIME! 

challenging assumptions more like declaring random shit and claiming that anyone who disagrees is not using evidence

“core vocabulary” by the way, means words that aren’t nouns, basically. Words like stop and no, and, go/going, to, because, etc. This isn’t how the burden of evidence works! if you think autistic people develop language in a way that doesn’t involve core language, present your fucking evidence. Especially if you’re proposing teaching language (via AAC, ususally) by denying a child acess to key elements of language. What the fuck.

You shouldn’t need evidence that it “increases language exponentially” to realise that learning the most common words in the english language is important!

Not just arguing that trauma from ABA is rare, arguing that if it caused trauma, it wasn’t ABA, because it’s somehow impossible for ABA to cause trauma? This is patronising as shit, and please remember that there’s now a study showing that children exposed to ABA are traumatised by it.

“more importantly” it’s what parents want? No, the evidence base is much more important that what parents want. Not as important as considering the best interests of the child, but jesus

You don't want to eat that food? It must taste terrible and have the yuckiest texture. But your vitamins are important. Here's a food similar to the one you liked before but with the same nutrients. We have plenty more. And there's always vitamins and supplements if needed.

You don't like the shower? How about a bath? Too hot? Too cold? Let's adjust the temperature together to your liking. We can use wipes too. There's always different ways to clean yourself.

Nonverbal? That's alright. There are many other ways to communicate. Let's work out a system. Writing, signing, text-to-speech, pictographs, yes/no gestures. Here is a sign or a tag you can carry on you that tells others how you talk. It'll be especially useful for emergencies.

Your stims? They're wonderful. Flap your hands! Hum along! Click your tongue! Jump up and down! Pick your favorite stim toy. Use it during quiet times of your routine, such as meetings.

Do you hurt yourself? I'm sorry. Please don't bang your head against the wall. What stim feeling are you looking for? Is it the pressure against your head that you like? Use this towel instead. Or message your temples. Whatever it is, you need a stim that heals you, not hurt.

Did you have a meltdown? Shutdown? That's okay. Those experiences are valid. I don't believe they're tantrums at all. I know you're going through a lot of pain. I'll make sure you're safe and comfortable. We'll use the communication system we worked on to make sure you can tell me how you feel and what you need.

Lights too bright? Sunglasses or hats. Bad smells? A mask could help, or a different smell. If you need to, we can walk out of the room. If they want excuses, we'll say you're not feeling well and need a place to recover. Bad food? You don't have to eat it. Bad noise? Headphones or an excuse to leave. There's no shame in leaving.

Little eye contact? Excessive eye contact? No eye contact? That's okay. It's not necessary. We'll learn better, more functional social rules that make sense and help you communicate, such as "thank you."

We won't punish you. We know and understand you operate differently. We won't yell at you. We won't suppress your stims. We won't hit you, restrain you (unless you're in immediate danger, I'm sorry if this happens). We won't force you to undergo painful sensory experiences. If we ever make you feel uncomfortable or scared, tell us. We'll listen.

You're not weird. You're different. It's alright. We won't change your routine. We won't change what you love. Your special interests. How you feel. How you think. We appreciate you and accept you. You're autistic and we'll help you learn how to function in a neurotypical world in your autistic ways.

(TL;DR good intervention therapies teach the child how to function while allowing them to be neurodivergent. Teach them skills and teach them to love themselves, dammit! Don't be mean, okay?)

I'm getting a lot of notes on this// thanks so much!!

[Edit 12/31/2019 (happy new year!)]

I've been reading the reblogs because tbh, I've never gotten a post this popular before so I'm very flattered// There's been mentions of institutions and therapists trying to integrate this and that makes me very happy and hopeful for the future! At the same, I can't deny myself feeling a little offended. As if people are trying to downplay the trauma ABA therapy causes. Of course, that can't be it but I still end up feeling that way.