Isn't Autism Awesome: Newsletter Disability Article of the Month.

RantWoman are you SURE you don't want to rethink that title?

WANT to is one thing. Whether or not it might be a good idea is another. As RantWoman has been known to say, "...not required to like..."

But RantWoman aren't you a little afraid someone will feel attacked or intimidated or squelched?    

1. It doesn't seem like Friend M intimidates or squelches easily, except when RantWoman is trying to have a conversation in email, with help of a clearness committee....

2. RantWoman could be a little bit worried. And RantWoman would find it easier to worry about this Friend feeling squelched if this Friend had not been helping edit a whole bunch of concepts important and relevant to RantWoman out of community conversation for...

3. RantWoman wonders what if anything anyone else has to say about disability in general or this topic in particular.

4. There is a whole ton of terminology here that RantWoman thinks might be unfamiliar to many readers. So...?

Joyfully Autistic

Mackenzie Barton-Rowledge

So many people associate disability with pain, shame, being kept out or held back. And of course, disabilities often include those things—but that’s like saying that being a woman means being objectified: true in some sense, but nowhere near a whole truth. There’s a lot more to disability (and womanhood) than that.

 I have been enjoying reading articles about being joyfully disabled, or brilliantly disabled, or queerly disabled, or revolutionarily disabled. I’d like to share with you all the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network (AWN), which is a fabulous organization run by autistic people, for autistic people. In paticular, I enjoyed their article, “12 People On What It Felt Like To Discover Autism.”

 Autism is a type of neurodiversity that can be disabling in a world that does not accommodate divergence from one so-called “normal” way of being, thinking, feeling and inter- acting. For many years, it was primarily thought to be something that affected boys and men, but more recently it’s been discovered that autism presents differently in women and girls. Many autistic folks who were assigned female at birth grew up not knowing that they were autistic.

 This article relays twelve people’s responses to figuring out that they were autistic as adults. These two reactions really stood out to me:

 “I finally had an answer: I wasn’t WRONG for being the way I was[,] not a broken version of a “normal” person. I was just different. After discovering, I was able to forgive and go easier on myself. I understand now when not to push myself too hard. It was like putting the key in a lock and opening a door to a world where I made sense.”

 “… being autistic isn’t a disease—it’s a beautifully made puzzle-box. I still struggle with finding a place in the world that suits me, but now I feel less like I’m a badly-made neurotypical and more like a half-open bud with a beautiful neurodiverse future.”

The full article is a five-minute read on the AWN Network website. 12 women on what it feels like to be autistic

 

OKAY RantWoman, and so...?

Do you have to identify as non-binary to be a proud autistic?

Does anyone think they have enough information to answer the question "What does accessibility mean ...?"

But never mind. The answers especially to the second question are much too much for one blog post and RantWoman insists on thinking about more pieces of the picture anyway.

Worried about terminology? How about a whole lot MORE terminology?

Wikipedia article on autism spectrum disorder

By amazing coincidence as a result of RantWoman permitting Twitter to guess at things RantWoman might find valuable, here is an awesome list of tweets and blogs by non-speaking autistics

Thread

See new Tweets

Tweet

Tania 

 Autistic Strategies Network

@ekverstania

·

Feb 13, 2019

I have undertaken to post a piece of writing, or a video or some other artefact every day from a nonspeaking autistic person who uses words or word-linked symbols to communicate.

21

484

795

6 more replies

Tania 

 Autistic Strategies Network

@ekverstania

·

Feb 6

"So the fundamental question remains - do meltdowns, whether it is due to sensory overstimulation or any other reason, define the entirety of the nonspeaking autistic who is still a living, breathing and thinking individual?" (Cont'd)

1

2

13

Tania 

 Autistic Strategies Network

@ekverstania

·

Feb 6

"If such sensationalized scenes are the only images being flashed over and over, in movie after movie, what impression is being cemented about the members of this group to the rest of society?" (Cont'd)

1

2

14

Tania 

 Autistic Strategies Network

@ekverstania

·

Feb 6

"What kind of opportunities can this group hope to have if society deems them incapable or is even fearful of them at the door itself?" (Cont'd)

1

13

Tania 

 Autistic Strategies Network

@ekverstania

·

Feb 6

"Will they ever be allowed to be included and visible in mainstream society? What about the potential internalized harm and trauma of this stigma for members of this group?" Read the full text by nonspeaking autistic activist Hari Srinivasan:

A Boy Like Me

A Boy Like Me Hari Srinivasan    One morning in late November 2020, I woke up to find that my rather modest twitter account had somehow gained around 1500 followers overnight. The final exams …

disabilityvisibilityproject.com

1

91

192

Tania 

 Autistic Strategies Network

@ekverstania

·

Feb 8

I'm not going to ever be able to give up sarcasm while the people I admire keep setting me this kind of example! Here's nonspeaking autistic activist Ido Kedar:

I’m Feeling Snarky

I might be autistic, but they understand the disability better. I have to give credit to those experts in the noble field of autism treatment who bravely stand up for the rights of nonspeaking auti…

idoinautismland.com

1

6

13

Show this thread

lazy perfectionist

@kazADHD

·

Feb 24

being neurodivergent is inherently traumatic because from the moment we start developing our own personalities we're inundated with messages that we are wrong or flawed in some way. we internalise these messages and our inner dialogue adopts the voice of the criticism.

23

1.1K

4.9K

Emily♡

@ItsEmilyKaty

·

Feb 24

The vibrance and joy of autism is often overlooked amongst the trouble that it can cause. The hard parts do make my life hard, but people forget that the good parts are what makes my life really good. - a thread. /1

56

565

1.9K

Show this thread

And a couple more links in case people want to start from one place instead of seeding search engines with terms such as:

autism or asperger's syndrome

Easter Seals all purpose Disability resource

Autism Career Pathways

Nuclear Policy and unruly houseplants

 RantWoman just cut to the chase. 

Penn Law: the Trump Administration Secret Deal to Sell Nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia

The above law journal article about Saudi Arabia and US nuclear policy is:

1. A bibliographical moment stashed here in the realm of peacemaking. RantWoman wants to be able to find the article easily. RantWoman prefers that her other blog stays more or less on other topics. Sure, RantWoman's commitment to getting around safely, affordable housing in compact transit friendly communities is all about saving the planet from climate change, but mixing nuclear policy with campaigns to build better sidewalks might make a few too many heads spin.

2. A fairly comprehensible argument for why it would be a really good idea for the US both to return to the Iran Nuclear Deal and in general to return to respect for competent professionals in many areas of government.

3. One of Twitter's unsolicited gifts to RantWoman's media streams. Motto: God is bountiful.

4. A reminder to at least think about computer and internet hardware produced entirely using fairly traded slavery free shade grown computer and internet technology? Ummm, not that rantWoman has any way of attesting but can we tackle that another time?

And the unruly houseplants; some free to good homes:

Christmas cactus, spider plant, Mother in Law tongue

Black Congressional Staffers on Capitol Attack

RantWoman is happy to concede that this year's observance of #BlackHistoryMonth is idiosyncratic and not as intentional as she might aspire to. 

RantWoman is also happy to let African Americans speak for themselves.

Praying for you Lauren Boebert

RantWoman has been feeling a need to stage some kind of electronic protest against the continual eruption of partisan bilge disrespect and dogwhistles aimed at different politicians. Has RantWoman mentioned that she is into praying across differences? RantWoman just was not clear about who was to be the beneficiary of this nonconsensual praying over? RantWoman decided to await signs.

Parallel with that, in some Quaker circles it has become customary to make some kind of acknowledgment of which First Nations resided on the lands where one is located before settlers came. Recently questions have come up about what is the point. RantWoman deeply appreciates people taking the time to learn a little history they probably were not taught in school. And when RantWoman is on Zoom events with many people from Seattle, ancestral homeland of the Duwamish and Coast Salish peoples, RantWoman sometimes invokes the historical residents of CO or MT where she has previously lived; there is a stewardship of family resources thought behind this practice as well. Briefly, RantWoman thinks mere expressions of gratitude are probably not all people should be doing as reparations for centuries of oppression. Here RantWoman offers a digression about a training program in Canada. Hollyhock: Blind spot and blankets infected with smallpox

Recently while listening to news accounts of the shenanigans of recently elected Rep Lauren Boebert, R-CO3 RantWoman realized that Ms. Boebert probably represents the part of CO where the RantFamily lived for 10 years, the part of CO where RantMom still has many many cousins. Out onto the internet RantWoman flew to one of those look up your representative sites. RantWoman punched in the RantFamily's former street address. 

Sure enough! If the RantFamily still lived at that address in CO, most of RantWoman's immediate family would have voted against her but she would still be our elected representative. Hark. A sign. Never mind that no one in the RantFamily has lived in that part of CO in decades. Never mind whether nonconsensual praying over can be seen as a problematic step on the slippery slope toward forced conversion.

For now, RantWoman will simply begin collecting media clips, sometimes with brief but tart commentaries. To everyone who argues that RantWoman should not be propagating violent disruptive media moments, RantWoman observes that having enough of a readership stampede even in a tiny way to rival all the rest of Ms. Boebert's media presence would be a good problem to have.

Lord Have Mercy.

Fox News report on Boebert's plans to concealed carry

Rep. Boebert is the youngest person, the first woman, and the first mother (of 4 preschool age boys, not less) to represent this district.

Mr. and Mrs. Boebert live in Silk CO and operate a restaurant called The Shooter's Grill in a town truly and honestly called Rifle CO.

Lauren Boebert Congressional Webpage 

with church worked with women in jail about re-entry 

Visited the Pueblo Chemical Depot, some relation to a treaty.

Lauren Boebert Wikipedia page

Reference to various minor legal scrapes, some of which she has not responded to.

ABC news Report Open Carry at Lauren Boebert's restaurant in Rifle CO

RantWoman has skipped over Ms. Boebert providing tours of the Capitol to large groups of visitors in the days leading up to January 6.

RantWoman has skipped over the subject of guns in the House of Representatives chamber.

Oops. No. A video clip of a hearing involving among other things Ms. Boebert's second amendment rights

Hearing about guns and committee service

RantWoman is going to TRY not to let every classist alarm bell in her head clang over the fact that Ms. Boebert dropped out of high school because she was pregnant and only finished her GED while running for Congress. HOWEVER, her argumentation practices would have benefited from some honing in say high school debate.

Another clip of the Natural Resources Committee hearing about guns

but "...on January 6, the Speaker was swept away while we all were left here defenseless.."

and it's hiJABS not hiJeebs.

Can anyone think of reasons Ms. Boebert would NOT need praying over?