Tag: autism linkspam

June 18 was Autistic Pride Day. Nobody ever tells me these things until it’s the actual day. Here is an Autistic Pride Day message from Ari Ne’eman and ASAN!

Lately Dani Alexis Ryskamp has been making all sorts of really excellent posts so I’m just going to lump them all together awkwardly into one part of the list.

• On autism and community
• On self-care after a conference
• On being indistinguishable from peers
• On how to choose a career while autistic (and why “special interests” are not the whole story
• On dating guides for autistic people

Here are some long but really interesting academic type posts:

• Emily Morson on special interests among neurotypical children
• A report on IMFAR 2015 (an autism research conference), with links to lots of interesting abstracts, by Shannon Des Roches Rosa
• Jim Sinclair (in Disability Studies Quarterly!) on being autistic together

Some potentially sad/upsetting social issues posts:

• Feminist Aspie on autism and gender violence
• Kerima Cevik on police violence
• Liam from Yetanotherlefty on how the social model of disability applies to mental illness

Misc:

• Feminist Aspie on disregarding normal
• Steph from Socially Anxious Advocate on leaving ABA practice
• Kate Corbett Pollack on why there are more disabled children in schools than there used to be (TW for talk about institutionalization and eugenics)

Wow. So much happened during/after Autism Month, I’ve been having trouble keeping up with it all! But here is your vaguely-sorta-monthly-ish dose of autism stuff that has happened online.

Since it’s Acceptance Month (to many of us), here is some acceptance stuff:

• A big collection of Autism Acceptance 101 posts
• Shannon des Roches Rosa on how people with autistic loved ones can honour Autism Acceptance Day
• S.R. Salas on autistic parenting
• “Protestina“, a poem by Dani Alexis Ryskamp
• Emily Morson on quality of life

An autistic 11-year-old named Kayleb Moon-Robinson was arrested and charged with felony assault for knocking over a trash can and struggling against a policeman.

• ASAN statement on #justiceforkayleb
• David M. Perry on why this is not an isolated incident
• You can sign a petition to pardon Kayleb
• Lydia Brown on racism and intersectionality in disability justice

Disability in Kidlit’s Autism On the Page event was very cool. And VERY relevant to my interests.

• If you are interested in representations of autism in fiction (so… like… 4/5 of my readers) then I highly recommend that you read the whole thing, but if you do not have time for this and would like links to (what I thought were the) highlights, here are some highlights!
• Reviews: “Rogue” by Lyn Miller-Lachmann; “Anything But Typical” by Nora Raleigh Baskin; “Isla and the Happily Ever After” by Stephanie Perkins
• Articles: Jessica Mulqueen on autism as a fad; Bogi Takács on intersectionality; Elizabeth Bartmess on behaviourizing and humanizing descriptions; Jacqueline Koyanagi on undiagnosed autistic characters; Corinne Duyvis on the “autism voice“; Corinne Duyvis on overcoming autism [read this one even if you think you already know the problem with cure stories; it goes further than that]
• An interview with Lyn Miller-Lachmann
• Also, here is Corinne Duyvis in the news explaining the importance of representation

Other stuff in the actual, newspaper-y news:

• Microsoft has a plan to hire autistic people for full time jobs (but frustratingly few details?)
• Research (by an autistic researcher!) into autism and sexuality
• An autistic boy whose school did not want to let him attend graduation
• A 15-year-old autistic girl and her family were kicked off a plane for requesting accomodations

Misc:

• Emma Dalmayne on meltdowns
• Real Social Skills on watching the same video over and over
• Joel from Evil Autie on problems with stored phrases in communication devices
• An overview of M. Kelter’s posts about Asperger’s and depression
• #ICanDoMoreThanRequest
• M. Kelter on proprioception and perspective

Today is Autism Awareness Day or Autism Acceptance Day, depending on who you ask. It’s also Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month, for the same reasons.

• Here is the Autism Acceptance Month official website
• And an Autism Acceptance Month master post from The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism, including sales on assistive technology and AAC from a number of vendors
• There’s an autism acceptance pledge you can sign
• Autism Speaks is running a Light It Up Blue campaign for Autism Awareness. Amythest Schaber explains why autistic people aren’t Lighting It Up Blue.
• The #WalkInRed campaign encourages people to wear red, not blue, to promote acceptance.
• The Mocha Autism Network has taken a different tactic: they advocate Royal Blue to promote awareness of autism among underrepresented communities, especially Black and Latino children.
• A poem by Emma Zurcher-Long
• Emma S. on why she is wearing neither red nor blue today
• A message of hope from Real Social Skills

Some posts about acceptance, in keeping with the theme of the month:

• A roundtable hosted by M Kelter on how to foster radical self-acceptance in autistic teens
• Juniper Russo on learning that autism runs in her family
• An Autism Acceptance FAQ by Feminist Aspie

Some posts about ableism and advocacy:

• Lydia Brown lists 5 ableist reasons why autistic bloggers have more trouble finding an audience than non-autistic bloggers who write about autism
• Dani Alexis Ryskamp proposes the #AutisticBlogChallenge
• Lisa D. on the future of severely disabled children
• Aspergia Jones on why you shouldn’t say that autism “isn’t a disability“

Some posts about ableism in other contexts:

• Feminist Aspie explains the problems with functioning labels
• M Kelter on making friends
• A graphic about Whole Body Listening
• Also, an essay by Berenice Olivas on autism and Child Protection Services [REALLY LARGE TW FOR THREATS TO TAKE ONE’S CHILDREN AWAY in this one kthx]

Also! Posts about autism in books, which is Relevant To Our Interests here:

• Chrysoula Tzavelas on autism and accidental representation
• It’s Autism on the Page month at Disability in Kidlit.
• And here’s a cool Kickstarter for an anthology of stories about disabled characters in post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction.

Misc:

• We Are Like Your Child on being a kinesthetic learner
• Lynne Soraya on grocery shopping
• Amy Allnutt on just saying “hi”

Today, the Sad Things come first, because March 1 was the official Day of Mourning for disabled people who are killed by their caregivers. Vigils were held in many cities, mostly in the US but also in a variety of other countries.

• For those of you not sure what happens at a disability day of mourning vigil, here is a detailed description of one from Vancouver
• A eulogy by Ari Ne’eman
• Kerima Cevik on the role social media plays in this violence
• Zoe Gross on copycat crimes
• ASAN has an Anti-Filicide Toolkit here
• Lisa D., who maintains the Autism Memorial LJ, has opened a Memorial Annex as a side project  – this lists other disabled crime victims she comes across in her autism-related research.

With recent measles outbreaks in the US and Canada, there has been even more talk about vaccines than usual.

• It’s pretty well established that vaccines do not cause autism, but here is The Belle Jar with a critique of why just saying “vaccines do not cause autism” and stopping there can be ableist
• And Chavisory with a critique of The Belle Jar’s critique

April is coming up, and in many places April is Autism Awareness Month. Here is a post by Kerima Cevik about reclaiming the month from Autism Speaks

Some posts on the benefits (and pitfalls) of diagnostic labels:

• by Nightingale of Samarkand
• by Emily Morson

Some stuff about stories and media:

• A.C. Buchanan on why autistic authors should do research when writing their own autistic characters
• Luna Lindsey in defense of “Benny & Joon“

In “what is it like to be autistic” news:

• The Aspie Antiquarian on rigid thinking in adults
• Feminist Aspie on translating phrases
• Lynne Soraya on grief and loss

Misc:

• Real Social Skills on ABA
• Autistic Valentines
• Lydia Brown on institutions
• Autism Science By An Autistic Scientist! Autistic people are often said to be bad at interpreting body language. But by giving the autistic subjects clearer instructions, Dr. James Cusack made most of their apparent deficits at this task go away.

March 1 is the official Day of Mourning for people with disabilities who are murdered by their caregivers (yes, there are THAT many). Vigils will be held in many cities. Most are in the US, but a few are elsewhere. You can find out here if there is a vigil being planned in your area.

This news cycle, there was a lot of talk about the idea of “high-functioning” autistic people dominating discourse about autism, and about whether or not this is acceptable.

• Here is a good post about this by Dani Alexis
• And by Lysik’an, a non-verbal autistic person
• Relatedly, Sparrow Rose Jones has a good post about potential

Some interesting lived experiences:

• Zoey from Jumping Out of the Fishbowl on what it’s like to be diagnosed young but not told until later
• Nightingale of Samarkand on the joys of not being offered help
• Iamshadow21 has a really good account of what stimming looks and feels like for a late-diagnosed, “passing” autistic person – and how autism rights rhetoric can unintentionally mix people up about this
• M Kelter on personality screensavers
• Feminist Aspie on the frustrations of trying to socialize in NT spaces

Some posts about forms of treatment and research:

 

• Lysik’an on guilt and on occupational therapy
• Kerima Cevik on Facilitated Communication
• Dani Alexis on the Sally-Anne test

 

Misc:

• Autistic Abby on safety rituals
• Real Social Skills on inspiration porn vs. pride in one’s accomplishments
• Cats for autistic rights, in case you need a supportive cat today. (I do.)

Stuff about the theory of disability activism:

• A conversation about ableism getting left out of social justice conversations, why it’s still a thing, and why it’s much more than a list of words not to say
• Lisa D. on what an autism rights movement could give us besides words
• Dani Alexis questions the distinction between disability and impairment

Shared experiences:

• S.R. Salas on being an autistic empath
• Cynthia Kim on scripting and nonfunctional language
• Ariane Zurcher also on scripting
• Deanna Niles on homeschooling with a hand puppet
• M. Kelter on how to work with an autistic person who hates autism

Pan-disability stuff:

• Real Social Skills on people who can walk but use wheelchairs
• Amanda Forest Vivian on the role ego dystonia plays in ableism
• Lenzi Sheible on how ableist rhetoric plays into reproductive justice discussions on both sides
• s.e. smith on the need to discuss disabled teens’ sexuality (TW talking about sexual abuse)
• Abby from goesbycaptain on disability and anti-rape activism
• Lisa D. on inconvenience as a barrier to services

Misc:

• In the US, ASAN and others successfully got the Combating Autism Act renamed as the Autism CARES Act, but substantive problems with the actual policy in the act still remain. (Letter to Congress about the implementation of the act)
• Eric from Autistic SHS on problems in biases with how comments are moderated at The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism
• Real Social Skills on the basic problem with social skills education
• A video made by non-speaking teenagers
• Open source autism diagnostic tools
• AASPIRE health care toolkit

Finally, we have Sad Things, Special Kelli Stapleton Edition because apparently this topic simply will not stay out of the news:

• If you are new here and need a recap, Kelli Stapleton is one of many parents who have tried to murder their autistic children. Her daughter, Issy, survived the attempt. Her case is getting more media attention than most because she was a popular “autism parent” blogger before this occurred. Recently it was back in the media because the case went to trial and she was found guilty of first-degree child abuse.
• Kelli Stapleton appeared on the Dr. Phil show. Many autistic people felt that Dr. Phil’s coverage was much too sympathetic, or that it shouldn’t have happened at all. (ASAN statement)
• Other ASAN statement on the case
• Also some people were making blog posts saying that anyone could snap and try to kill their autistic children if they were under enough stress. In response there was an #IAmNotKelliStapleton flash blog.
• There were some good posts that I’ve decided not to link to because I’m really tired of this topic, including posts very strongly making the points that have already been made in other posts about Kelli Stapleton I have linked to, and posts by mentally ill mothers who had far fewer resources and supports than Kelli Stapleton did and still never considered harming their children. However, I will link to a couple of other posts that showed up in the flash blog:
• Anonymous poster makes important points about how media attention & excuses for KS encourage other abusive parents (TW physical abuse)
• Anonymous poster turns “I am autism” rhetoric back around on itself
• Also, if you are not convinced yet of how damaging ABA therapy can be, even without aversives (Issy was in an intensive ABA program for most of her life), ischemgeek has the most harrowing post on the topic I have yet seen

The autism news this month is a doozy; there are several different unrelated Sad Things making the rounds. First, though, some miscellaneous non-sad news:

• Leah Kelley interviews Lei Wiley-Mydske about the Ed Wiley Autism Acceptance Lending Library
• Jim C. Hines on writing his autistic character in the Libriomancer books, Nicola Pallas
• M. Kelter on proprioception and the sense of self
• Real Social Skills on how to accept disability without putting pressure on yourself to like everything about it
• Corina Becker on autism and grief
• Alyssa Hillary on why Tumblr has an #actuallyautistic tag

In the wake of Ferguson, a lot of people have been reflecting on interactions between disabled people and law enforcement – particularly for disabled people of colour.

• A statement on police violence by Sins Invalid
• And one from the Washington Post by Harold Braswell
• Kerima Cevik explains why training autistic people on how to deal with law enforcement, and vice versa, isn’t working
• S.E. Smith on disabled people judged incompetent to appear in court, who are held for years without trial

Kelli Stapleton, an “autism parent” blogger who attempted a murder-suicide of her 14-year-old autistic daughter last year, recently pled guilty to first-degree child abuse. This has renewed the debate online about how to discuss this and similar cases.

• Landon Bryce talks about problems with the autism parent community
• Shannon des Roches Rosa talks about changing these conversations
• Meanwhile, since my last news post, four more people were murdered for being autistic; three by their parents, and one by law enforcement.

Meanwhile, a new study reveals what disability advocates have been saying for years – that a lack of sex education puts disabled people at risk in multiple respects, including a heartbreakingly high rate of sexual victimization.

• Michelle Diament sums up these results
• S.E. Smith has a more detailed explanation of the problems with sex education for disabled people
• Autistic Fandom Things reminds us that, in addition to its other problems, a great deal of “rape prevention” advice is inaccessible or inappropriate for disabled people

Other sad things:

• Real Social Skills on a basic underlying problem with all ABA techniques
• A Labor Day reminder about sheltered workshops
• Germany recently unveiled a memorial for the tens of thousands of disabled people killed during the Holocaust

That’s it for this post; now go have some chocolate, if you made it to the end, and cheer yourself up!!

My last post about language was prompted by some of these interesting posts about language.

• Real Social Skills has the most informative and contextually sensitive post about person-first and identity-first language that I’ve yet seen.
• Meanwhile, Neurodivergent K reminds us how often autistic people get yelled at (by abled people) for not using person-first language
• And so does Unstrange Mind (Content warning: lots of talking about abuse)

There was an article recently in New York Times Magazine about children who “recoered” from autism by reducing their visible signs of autism to a certain level after therapy. I’m not going to link to the article, but here’s Chavisory taking it down by explaining what life ends up being like for children who go this route.

• Steven Kapp has another response, with more methodological detail.

Meanwhile, here’s some interesting “what it’s like to be autistic”-type posts:

• Dani Alexis on animism
• Feminist Aspie on the myth of autistic people being unable to lie
• E from The Third Glance on disclosing without disclosing
• Alyssa from Yes, That Too on understanding mental states

Some intersectionality:

• The Autism Women’s Network is Kickstarting an anthology on the topic of autism and race. This is awesome.
• Speaking of autism and race: a while back I posted a link to an article about undercover cops in the US preying on developmentally disabled teens by pressuring them into agreeing to a fake drug deal, then arresting them. Turns out it’s even worse for developmentally disabled Muslim Americans; the FBI entraps them into agreeing to help with fake terrorism.
• On a completely different note: Virginia Hughes on the sexual politics of autism. (Note: This article is pretty medical-model-y, and is exclusively about researchers rather than the viewpoints of autistic people. Proceed with caution. I’m linking mostly because I find it interesting to see what the researchers are arguing about these days, and because it might be useful for newbie/NT readers who have seen gender-related research claims and want context for them.)

And some pan-disability stuff:

• Real Social Skills on what disability acceptance means
• Everybody is talking about mental illness and depression now following Robin Williams’ death. I’m not going to post much on this topic since I’m certain it’s already been plastered all over everyone’s social media feed in great detail. However, if you’re interested in this topic, here is a much-needed post by Jo from Ether Drift Theory reminding us that it’s not only about depression.
• Here is a Disability in Kidlit roundtable about what not to do when writing disabled characters.

Misc:

• Here is an ASAN toolkit for managing health care during the transition to adulthood.
• Cynthia Kim on backstopping: a useful skill for our close friends and caregivers
• A shout-out from Mel Baggs to atypical Aspies. (Oh man. I fit, like, six of these.)

I’m readjusting my habits (again) and we may actually have a small and on-time news post for once. First, here are some posts about social skills and social coping:

• The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism on how to avoid becoming hateful when people are cruel
• Real Social Skills on the idea of NTs “instinctively knowing” social rules that autistic people don’t, and why this idea is not actually correct
• Emily Brooks on learning to date while autistic

Some pan-disability stuff:

• A list of tips for interacting with disabled people
• Maria Yagoda on girls with ADHD
• Liam from Yet Another Lefty on what depression looks like

Misc:

• The mobile phone company Sprint has launched a Neurodiversity ID pack with AAC, language and educational games, and other content specifically geared towards autistic children and others with neurodevelopmental disabilities. [ASAN statement about the ID pack]
• Autmystic on adulthood
• Dani Alexis on “paying attention“

Sad things:

• Lisa Daxer has some kinda-good news on a very sad topic, with a couple of people who murdered autistic teenagers being brought to justice.
• A new law to help prevent organ transplant discrimination
• Real Social Skills on a version of ABA that doesn’t use punishments, and why there are still problems with this version
• A safety warning for people who post pictures of their autistic family members
• I missed this when it was first posted, but lately this article by Stop Hurting Kids, and an accompanying myth-busting fact sheet about seclusion and restraint in schools, have been making the rounds again.

This one is a long one, and a somewhat-overdue one, and a sad one.

First, there was the (utterly unscientific) study that claimed to show a link between autism and serial killing. Unfortunately, this was not what the study actually showed. It measured autism by looking in media reports about criminals and seeing if anyone speculated that they might be autistic, or that they behaved oddly or had strange social skills. So the correct conclusion isn’t that “autism and serial killing are linked”; it is “people in the news tend to speculate about the mental health and/or neurotype of killers”.

• ASAN statement on this and related research
• Lisa Daxer looks at the numbers in more detail
• Emily Willingham on other problems with the study

Second, of course, there was the Isla Vista shooting. An #AutismIsNotACrime flash blog happened in response to this, organized by Gretchen Leary, but it was not properly archived, and I dropped the ball and missed it at the time. However, here are a few posts, both from within the flash blog and from elsewhere, which relate to the shooting and the complex social issues which sprung up around it.

• Amy Sequenzia explains what the problem is with blaming crimes on autism, in general. (This is a good post to read if you’re sort of staring at things wondering what is going on and what the big deal is.)
• Cristiana Bell describes the impact that this blaming can have on autistic people’s families
• Morénike from Just Being Me describes another kind of impact that it has
• Dani Alexis on autism and misogyny, on what can happen when a person is both autistic and misogynistic, and why using autism to excuse misogyny creats a double standard

Since aggression, in the form of extreme violent acts, has been such a hot topic this month, here are some helpful posts on dealing with more everyday aggression and meltdowns in general.

• Chavisory on identifying sources of aggression in autistic children and teens
• Autistic Drift on what to do when you are having a meltdown

Meanwhile, here is some stuff about research:

• Google (yes, that Google) is helping Autism Speaks compile a database of the genomes of many autistic people and their families, called AUT10K. Many autistic people have reservations about this database (and not just because Autism Speaks is involved). ASAN explains the issues here.
• Here’s an example of autism research that could actually be useful: a simulation that helps autists build job interview skills.
• And some not-so-nice, but interesting, genetic research
• A company called My Ambrosia is planning an app to help autistic adults with cooking and grocery shopping, and they are running a survey to determine what is needed. If you are an autistic adult, you can take the survey here.

Posts about other issues and differences:

• You may know about synesthesia, but did you know about mitempfindungen?
• Chavisory on awkwardness
• Dani Alexis on different types of difficulty talking
• Shawna from Not the Former Things on what it’s like bringing an autistic child to (Christian) church
• M. Kelter on autism and self-medication
• A slide show about sensory overload by Recovery Community

Misc:

• No More Puzzle Profits on the ice cream sundae theory of autism
• Vituki on things to remember if you are a social justice person whose posts are read by disabled people (i.e. all social justice people)
• Amanda Baggs on the idea of advocacy as a “package deal”