Just read. The Autism Speaks meme is going around a lot and while funny jokes are fine I feel like it might be more persuasive to explain why Autism Speaks is bad than to just make jokes about it. That way supporters of autism speaks can know what their company is actually doing, and thus autism speaks, which the goal is to make go mute, will have less supporters. This is my source for the amount of money they doate to their "Family Grants": https://autisticadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/AutismSpeaksFlyer2020.pdf
What is autism: Quoting the Autism Acceptance Studio's description: The official diagnosis of Autism in the DSM-5 (the most recent diagnostic manual used in Canada and most of the USA as of writing this) is ASD which stands for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Despite it being classified as a disorder, many autistic people prefer to call it ASC (Autism Spectrum Condition) because the word "disorder" is pathologizing. It's often also just called Autism. So what is Autism NOT? - a disease - a mental illness - a disorder (depending who you ask) - deadly - an epidemic - contagious - a linear spectrum - something to be "cured" or "fixed" - caused by vaccines - caused by bad parenting - a problem - inherently negative - a tragedy - a curse - a superpower/gift (referring to a toxic positivity sort of mindset) - being a genius - something that can be "grown out of" - "high functioning" or "low functioning" - "severe" or "mild" - a "different ability" or being "differently abled" and "special needs" or "special abilities" (in replacement of disabled) - the same as ADHD or OCD And the list goes on... So what IS Autism? - a different neurotype - a disability (mostly social model) - part of natural human neurodiversity - a circular/non-linear spectrum (more like a colour wheel) - different for every autistic person - caused by genetics - lifelong - something you're born with - a different way of experiencing the world - something to be accepted Simply put, it's a neurodevelopmental disability that can greatly affect social interaction, sensory processing, and strengths and support needs. Every Autistic person has different challenges that affect them different amounts. -------------------------------- Autism should not be talked about only negatively because that creates a false narrative that autism is all bad and a tragedy. Autistic people have many challenges and struggles but we are still people and deserve accommodations. We also can have many strengths, like any other person. It's better to talk about Autism in a neutral way, because while we can have bad days and a lot of challenges, we're still human and shouldn't be seen as lesser because of being Autistic. We're just humans trying to exist in a neurotypical world that was not made for us.
