Pardon me, I am not celebrating yet.

One of my Fudgebook friends shared a news item. In it, the commercial entity known as Build-A-Bear Workshop announced (apparently to a mailing list) that they were ending their partnership with Autism Speaks For Normie Assholes. Great news by itself. But a wider context must be considered.

How you do not talk to an autistic adult. (Again.)

Let us get this out of the way first: compared to when it started, I am adding things to this journal at a very slow pace, and I do not anticipate that changing any time soon. Part of the reason has to do with simple loss of morale. Some of it has to do with feelings of exclusion from the mainstream “autistic community”. But much of it has to do with a simple feeling of it not being worth the effort.

An autistic person just mouthed off at you? Really? I wonder why.

If there is one thing I hate more than a curebie, it is people who go into an autistic adult’s space and proclaim their support of curebies. And then act surprised when that autistic adult or adults respond with anger and hate.

Neurotypical slurs.

Read this article. Three paragraphs in, the author slurs autistic people twice in just one sentence. This sentence being

He suffered a severe form of autism and was unable to communicate verbally.

But really, you can cut this down to 

He suffered a severe form of autism

And it is two slurs in just seven words. Now, before the jump, I am going to warn in advance. I have not one fukking thing to say about Avonte Oquendo. I am sure his family is suffering terribly, but this is completely irrelevant to what I have to say.

Hate crimes against the autistic. Why they should be prosecuted.

Very recently, it came to my attention that some very big, brave person delivered an anonymous letter to the mother of an autistic child. This letter spared no effort in stating to said mother that the author wanted her to either move or euthanise her child.

The meaning of awareness. The real meaning, in the real world context.

Autism Awareness. Autism Awareness. Autism Awareness. Autism Awareness. Autism Awareness. Diabetes Awareness. Cancer Awareness. Spina Bifida Awareness. Down’s Syndrome Awareness. Retardation Awareness. Being born without limbs Awareness.

See where I am going with this yet, normies?

How I spent the second half of February

(A note before I begin: This entry is going to talk a lot about the goings-on inside an acute-care ward within a mental health facility. For that reason, I am going to use aliases and flat-out mess-ups of names in order to protect anonymity and privacy. Please do not ask me who is who, because even if I do remember, I am not going to tell you. Similarly, if you recognise yourself in these writings and would like to be completely blanked out, feel free to comment.)