ableism – Page 3

But, someone realised there was a way to say that there is Big Money in ‘fixing’ us so we’re not autistic any more. And Big Business likes Big Money.

So, the myths started. About cost, about danger, about tragedy. Who wouldn’t pay a fortune to fix a tragedy? Also, about disability. It’s a fault, a deficit, something’s gone ‘wrong’, you’ll be told. Except it isn’t, any more than being gay is a fault and a deficit and an opportunity to cure. Groups tried that, too. Remember that being gay was in the mental health books, and people made a fortune out of ‘gay cure therapies’. Now those are being banned after the gay people said how much damage those therapies did. Guess what some autism ‘therapies’ are based on? Same techniques. But now used on people who can’t say that it hurts, or aren’t believed when they say it hurts.

Meantime, we have made society so bad for autistic people and the scaremongering so effective that our quality of life is often really awful. That’s not ‘autism’ that did that.

Instead, if you must hand over money, ensure that actual autistic specialists receive it. Or our allies. People who understand how to actually help your child, because we were once pretty much the same as your child. And we have spent decades in this trade, learning things that help.

Autistic people are not lab rats who exist so that shareholders can make money.

Source: Ann’s Autism Blog: Let’s look at why “Autism is the most expensive disability” is untrue.

White supremacy and ableism are tight. They share the politics of resentment. The Onion highlights that by invoking the language of ableism and accommodation in this piece.

https://local.theonion.com/picky-refugee-just-expects-to-be-reunited-with-exact-sa-1827449946

I live in a world that fears my skin color and doesn’t want to understand how my brain works.

Source: What It Feels Like To Be An Autistic Person of Color in the Eyes of the Police

Beach and her research colleagues found that physicians-in-training who read the stigmatizing patient chart notes were significantly more likely to have a negative attitude toward the patient than those who read the chart containing more neutral language.”

And not only did their attitudes change—so did their treatment plans. Those physicians-in-training who had read the stigmatizing chart note decided to treat the patient’s pain less aggressively.

Source: Stigmatizing Language in Medical Records Affects Patient Care – Mad In America