Square 8

Autism Acceptance Challenge 20: Executive Functioning

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Fri, 01 May 2015 13:55:00 +0000

I often get stuck in a loop. Having a good organized list can help, but not always. Sometimes my inbox has 431 unread messages. I struggle with how to return a phone call, never sure how much access I'm going to have to speech. I start a project with enthusiasm and get derailed when the next big thing comes along, demanding 100% attention. Deadlines are my best friend and archenemy. I sometimes need help with staying on task and I resent that I need help and I resent the people who help me. It's all part of the package.

Challenge 20 is for me. You can share it if you want to. It's not an easy one. I need to find better ways of balancing acceptance of my autistic style of tasking with actually delivering work while it is still useful. Taking on fewer tasks is not always an option. I'll be checking in here (eventually) to let you know what happens.

I did pretty well with this, coming through with 90% of the promised challenges by the deadline. I'm counting this as a win.

Speaking of winning, the winner of the Squawkers McCaw Autism Acceptance Challenge is Jennifer Vail, who completed 15 of the 18 actual challenges (#19 was not a challenge, and #20 is a day late.) 30 people participated in the official challenge, and many others took part without ever posting a comment. I noticed those people who signed petitions and liked pages without entering the competition. I appreciated these responses every bit as much as those who made themselves known here.

Squawk.

Jennifer Vail, please send me your mailing address. Your parrot will be released on Monday.

Squawkers McCaw telling his friend that he
is soon to be released to a new home.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 19 Cannot Happen

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 01:27:00 +0000

This can’t happen. Not today. Not yesterday. I made a commitment to write 20 challenge posts this month and there is only one more day. Maybe tomorrow.

Should I ask you to watch Wretches and Jabberers or Citizen Autistic? Participate in scripts? Respect boundaries? Yes. I should. None of this is trivial. But today, they are not the most important things.

Supporting acceptance of autism and autistic people matters and will always matter to me. The truth is that our lives depend on it. On another day, I will talk about what that means.

Today I have to look beyond autism, beyond myself, beyond the people I know best. Other people are hurting more. Other lives are in danger, immediately and always. I don’t have a lot to say about it, except to other white people. Some of you won't like it. I don't like what I've been hearing from some of you either.

Stop saying “thug.” Stop saying “like animals.” Stop saying “but they are destroying their own neighborhoods.” Stop saying “violence is not the answer.” Stop hijacking hashtags to include yourselves. Everyone already agrees that your white life matters. Stop it. Stop acting like you know something. Stop saying anything and start listening to and boosting the messages of Black people.

Think about why this should matter to anyone who cares about justice for autistics/disabled people/people with disabilities. Think about how empty and meaningless our advocacy is if it doesn't. Talk about that. But first, listen. Listen more. Support and boost. If you came here looking for a challenge, let this be that. But don't think this is part of some contest or game. Freddie Gray deserves better than that.

#BlackLivesMatter
#JusticeforFreddieGray

Autism Acceptance Challenge 18: Take Back April with Stimtastic

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 15:30:00 +0000

Being autistic in April is not usually a happy experience. Every year, we are surrounded by reminders that we are not welcome on the planet. The lit up blue buildings and puzzled lapel pins and endless parading of “tragic” statistics and “devastating” costs contribute to an already toxic and willful misunderstanding of what autism is, denying our very right to exist. There have been Aprils when leaving the house was nearly impossible. What could I say that would not be met with scorn or derision? I have felt truly alone in the world.

This year has been better (for me, anyway.) Autistic people have made it better. From #WalkInRed to ASAN’s #AcceptanceIs campaign to the A-Z postings of Unstrange Mind and the Autism Acceptance Month events hosted by Autism Women’s Network, Ed Wiley Autism Acceptance Lending Library and many others, autistic people have worked together and separately to take back April.

Squawkers peeks through a chewable
"donut" necklace from Stimtastic.

Today I want to highlight a month long promotion that has been going on at Stimtastic. Stimtastic is an autistic owned company that makes fidget toys, chewable necklaces, spinnable rings and other cool stuff. Throughout the month, Stimtastic has been giving away items via social media outlets including Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook.

Today’s challenge is to “like” Stimtastic on Facebook and comment on the post there offering a free item to a randomly chosen commenter. That’s it! Let me know that you did this, what item you requested and why. It can be something you want yourself or a gift for an autistic person in your life.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 17: One Sentence Stories of Acceptance

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 15:46:00 +0000

Acceptance happens sometimes. When it does, I like to acknowledge and celebrate it. Here are a few of my one sentence stories about autism acceptance:

On April 2, everyone in my office was wearing red.

The cake said “Good luck Bev and Squawkers.”

Share your one sentence stories of autism acceptance in the comments to complete this challenge.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 16: Ask an Autistic

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 23:59:00 +0000

Not long ago, I sat in a meeting composed of parents and professionals. The group was interested in learning more about what supports autistic people need. How would they find out? You can probably guess what their solution was: Let’s survey all the parents! Not one person suggested talking to autistic people themselves. I wasn’t having a good speech day and it didn't get any better from there. I wish I could say that I quickly and diplomatically pointed out the error in their groupthink. Some days I can. Some days I just…can’t. It left me feeling all powerless and Twilight Zoned. My identity as an advocate/activist was a joke. There was no point to my presence in the meeting and I was never going again.

And then it was another day. I remembered that being autistic sometimes means not being able to get words out and I made a plan to communicate with the group in a way that would work for me.

CHALLENGE: What do autistic people need? Ask us. Ask an autistic person in your life these questions:

1. What would you most like people to know about autism?

2. What supports do you need to do the things you want to do?

IMPORTANT: The person you ask is under no obligation to answer you. Do not go out there demanding responses and tell them I sent you. The point of this to get used to seeing people as the experts on their own lives. Any time or information the autistic person gives to you is a gift. You have no idea what it may be costing them.

If you are autistic, complete this challenge by answering the questions in the comments here. But only if you want to and have the spoons to do it.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 15: What's Your Squawkers McCaw?

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 11:47:00 +0000

Why do you have that bird? Lots of reasons! See below.

What's your Squawkers McCaw? What is uniquely yours that helps you get through the day? Is your chosen support seen as acceptable? Age appropriate? Weird? Controversial? Do you even know that you have it?

Discuss.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 14: (Neuro)Queering the Conversation

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 14:49:00 +0000

Today’s Challenge is to interact with puzzle pieces in the wild. This goes for other offensive images and rhetoric too. Here’s an example where a graffiti artist decided not to let Autism $peaks have the last word.

Image from HockeyDrunk

Photoshop? Maybe. But there are plenty of more accessible targets around, especially during April.

You can NeuroQueer any reachable flyer or poster by adding your own text or art. Here’s Squawkers covering up a puzzle piece ribbon for the Unpuzzled blog.

Squawkers should have added a link to an informational website.

And this is a more recent conversation entered using a Post-It.

Before picture shows a person with Down syndrome and the caption: Because my boss encourages me...I am a valuable employee. After picture says: Whether or not my boss encourages me...I am a valuable employee.

There are many ways to do this. A transparent “no” symbol on a sticker can quickly flip the meaning of any image. I have also been known to place informational flyers like this next to A$ advertising. Nothing is destroyed or defaced and no one is harmed using these methods. I’m not saying I've never used a permanent marker. Not saying I have. But for those of you taking the challenge, that’s not what I’m suggesting.

Let me know in the comments if you have used any of these ways of interacting with symbols and rhetoric. What other methods have you used?

Note: I am using the word NeuroQueer in this context to mean subvert. I am using it as a corollary to “queer” as a verb. For more on the basic or actual meaning of NeuroQueer, here is some reading.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 13: Explore the Archives

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 19:22:00 +0000

It had been a long time since I’d visited the archives at autistics.org. If you have been around for a while, you may remember when autistics.org was still being updated regularly. You may remember when it was one of a very few places to find writing by and about autistic people. There were not a lot of autistic bloggers in the early 2000’s. There was no ASAN. There were a couple of online communities where there was way too much talk of functioning labels and separatism for me to stomach. autistics.org was one of the first places I could go to read the stories of like minded people.

In revisiting the site in preparation for this post, I expected to find some outdated language and perhaps problematic ideas. Given the number of posts on my own blog that I would not have written today (or would have written very differently) this seemed a reasonable expectation. There are a few broken links, but fewer than I'd expected. The page about autistics.org's presence on Second Life is still intact. What surprised me a little was the number of articles that are still so very relevant.

From The Conference Presentation I Won’t Make (But Want To) by Laura A. Tisoncik: “The experience of being one of three autistics at a large conference dedicated to autism is somewhat like that of being one of three mothers at a large conference dedicated to Motherhood.” Have we made any progress in this arena? Enough?

Mel Baggs’ How to Become an Autism Expert instructs would-be authorities to study their vocabulary words, including “divisive,” “infighting,” and “unity.” Didn't I just have this argument last week? Are we still fighting the same warped definitions of “community” all these years later?

Joel Smith reminds us that we do not need to discount the experiences of others in order to have pride in ourselves and our community in Autistic Pride Day: Do We Celebrate it Right?

From autistics.org

autistics.org is just one of the places to start exploring the history of the autistic rights movement. Here are some others:

Oops, Wrong Planet

neurodiversity.com

Autistic Advocacy (Frank Klein)

Please post other links to Autistic history in the comments.

CHALLENGE: Read some of these articles. Don't limit yourself to the ones I listed here.

If you've read them before, choose a couple to read again. Respond by answering one or more of these questions:

1. What has changed for autistic people since these pieces were written?

2. What still needs to change?

3. Why does our history matter? Or does it?

Autism Acceptance Challenge 12: Public Displays of Autism

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 16:01:00 +0000

This is a tricky one to talk about. I believe strongly that greater visibility is one of the keys to acceptance. I have been openly queer most of my life and openly autistic since I found the name to describe my neurological differences. I also recognize that there is a load of privilege in this. There are people for whom passing as non-autistic is never a choice. There are also those who pass in order to protect their jobs, families, or even their lives. It is not for me to decide that everyone should be “out.” I do believe that changes in societal attitudes will emerge from the recognition that we are here in the families, communities, and workplaces alongside the puzzle wearing crusaders. I do believe that it becomes more difficult for people to unthinkingly proclaim that autism should be eradicated when faced with the reality that this person would not exist in such a world.

Think of this as less of a challenge, then, more of an invitation. Be autistic in public. Go somewhere and refuse to suppress your own natural expressions. Flap, pace, rock, bounce, squawk. Repeat things. Take an animatronic parrot to lunch. Be yourself.

If you are not autistic, think about the things you do that soothe you. Do you twist your hair? Click your pen? Tap your foot? Talk about the weather? Why have you not been shamed for these things or been told or trained not to do them?

Also, if you are not autistic, go out with people who are. Don’t correct them when they say or do something autistic. Observe how that feels, and how other people around you respond.

Come back here and tell me your story. You have the rest of April to complete this challenge…er…invitation. If it is not something you are able to do, you can participate by explaining why it isn't possible. What would you need in order to feel safe? And if this is something you already do every day, of course that counts too. Just leave your comment to be included.

Squawk.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 11: Choose Your Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 11:24:00 +0000

We are halfway through the Squawkers McCaw Autism Acceptance Challenge. Over the next 2 weeks, I’ll be posting challenges about stimming, scripts, history, community, and several other topics. I have at least one post that is still undecided. For today’s challenge, let me know what else you would like to see included. I will choose a comment from this post and use it to create a future challenge.

Here are the results of the contest so far:

If you think I have missed a challenge you completed, let me know. All challenges except for number 1 (Walk in Red) will remain open through April 30.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 10: Turn it Down

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 15:56:00 +0000

You wonder why it’s so hard to have a conversation with me. I have no idea what you are saying. Way before the trouble with dual meanings and taking things literally and the time it takes to process spoken language and the time it takes to formulate a response that will make sense to you, the first barrier is the noise. I asked you to slow down, and you tried to slow down, and you maybe did a pretty good job of it—not doing that thing people do to Deaf and Autistic people and people with intellectual disabilities and speakers of foreign languages, that thing where you lean in and double down on eye contact and enunciate as though lives depended on it— but actually slowing the pace of your conversation. Thank you for that. But what about the noise?

More than one person speaking at once or a TV on in the background or that terrible sound coming out of the tiny speakers on your phone or iPad can prevent an autistic person from hearing what you are trying to say. Too many sounds at once can lead to a meltdown. My brain is not sorting these things the way non-autistic brains do. I cannot efficiently weed out what you might think of as background noise. Each piece of information is as valid and important as the next.

What would help? Turn it down. While you’re at it, please turn down the lights. Textures, tastes, and smells also need to be dialed back for many of us to function well.

Squawkers in a calm, quiet place.

The last time you saw someone having a meltdown, was it in a calm, quiet environment? Did you or anyone think to take the person immediately to such a place (preferably before their tolerance level was exceeded)?

Acceptance is a quiet room (dimly lit) where people talk slowly and make sure everyone has a turn communicate in whatever way works best.

To complete this challenge, pay attention to the environments you live in, work in, move through. In the comments, discuss how you can make these places more autism friendly. Whether you are autistic or non-autistic, share your story about turning down sensory input.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 9: What Will You Do?

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 17:32:00 +0000

No fun and games today.

Once again a young Black autistic man has been victimized by those who were charged with protecting him. Kayleb Moon-Robinson kicked a trash can at his middle school. He was subsequently arrested, handcuffed, charged with and convicted of a felony. Yes, he tried to resist. What would you do? What would you do if you were Black and autistic and therefore conditioned to being treated as less than human?

He kicked a trash can.
Not a person.
Not a computer.
Not another kid's favorite toy.
A trash can.

Go read this.
Read the links on this post.

I'm not going to try to say this stuff better than it's already been said.

Think about this.
What does our community do in cases like this? Do we do enough?
What did you do to support Neli Latson?
What will you do for Kayleb Moon-Robinson?

Will you sign the petition?
Will you share this story with everyone you know?
Will you write or call a legislator?
Will you demand that the organizations claiming to support autistic people take a stand?

Think about what you will do.
Tell me.

Kayleb Moon-Robinson
#justiceforKayleb

Autistic Acceptance Challenge 8: Responding to Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 11:54:00 +0000

What would you say?

For Challenge 8, practice your responses to the kinds of things we hear all the time. From "You must be very high functioning," to "stop making excuses," we've heard them all. Watch this video and leave your best response to one of these questions in the comments here. Responses can be educational or snarky. No slurs against any group permitted.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 7: Support Autistic Bloggers

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 23:14:00 +0000

Autism Acceptance Challenge 7: Read More Blogs. Win your own Squawkers McCaw.

Who are your favorite autistic bloggers? Do you have a favorite post, old or new, that celebrates autism acceptance or calls out anti-autistic rhetoric or actions? Leave a link in the comments and let me know why you chose it. This challenge is about autistic bloggers only. If you would like to recommend a non-autistic blog for its posts on autism acceptance and support of autistics, please do that in the comments on Challenge 4: TrueAllies.

Okay, I'll go first.

These are two of my favorites:

Julia at Just Stimming doesn't post much these days (we have this in common), but when she does the writing is so achingly good and true and original. Two excerpts:

From Dangerous Assumptions (2014)

"And it’s a big problem, because the way they talk…..they think the problem was that they treated their child like they were intellectually disabled, and they weren't. But that’s not the problem. The problem is that they thought their child was intellectually disabled, and so they didn't treat them like a person."

From Metaphors Are Important: An Ethnography of Robotics (2012)

"Echolalia is metalanguage.

Echolalia is an unexpected treasure hunt. You can be watching a bootleg musical you never thought would be any good, but turns out to be beautiful, and suddenly they’re going up the scale singing hot hot hot hot, and you’re back with Kimba, and he’s saying hot hot hot hot–only he’s got this elaborate metaphor about fire and anger going on right now, and here it means I think you’re mad at me, so I’m mad at you, don’t touch me.

And then you’re back at your laptop, wondering when he started watching musicals and rethinking half the things you thought you knew."

Kassiane writes at Radical Neurodivergence Speaking. She says the things other people won’t say in the ways other people won’t say them. She speaks the truth, she is neurodivergent with flaming arrows. She gets death threats and other terrible stuff for her efforts. Everyone who reads this needs to go thank her right now for her commitment to speaking the harshest truths while some of us get to keep our politeness privilege and be seen as the good, or at least less awful autistics.

Some must-read posts from Radical Neurodivergence Speaking:

The tyranny of indistinguishability: performance.

Here, try on some of my shoes.

There is blood on your hands.

There are so many other bloggers I could mention, but it’s your turn now. If you are not familiar with many autistic bloggers, check the blogroll in the sidebar here for more suggestions. Go to their blogs and see who’s in their blogrolls. Read stuff. And then get back here and tell me about it.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 6: Work on This

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 14:24:00 +0000

Use your network to find job openings. Get an interview. Choose what to wear that is appropriate to the workplace you want to be hired into. Make sure your grooming is perfect. Get to the place. Wait until you are called in. Meet the interviewer (shake hands, look in the eye.) Figure out where you are supposed to sit during the interview. There will be a minute or two of small talk. Then answer open-ended questions about why you want the job and why they should hire you. There will probably be a question that starts, “Tell me about a time when…” or “What would you do in this situation…” You will not know what the questions are, but try to prepare in advance. Try not to look at the wall/ceiling interface too much.

If you have made it this far, there may be an additional test for you. This will be a personality inventory that is not designed for the way you think or process language. The first time I had to take one of these, I was well into adulthood, and had had lots of years to figure things out. If the test asks if you have ever stolen anything, say “no” even if this is not entirely true. You remember that toy elephant you took from the girl who sat in front of you in second grade, but that doesn't count. I still managed to get a few wrong, and had to account for my answers. One was something like, “I believe that I sometimes know more about how to do my own specific job than my supervisor does.” Well, of course! Why would they need me if I were not a specialist in what I do? Why would a supervisor need to know every detail of what each person does? This was the wrong answer.

CHALLENGE:

Everything in the first paragraph above is likely to be challenging for the autistic job seeker, but the personality inventory is most odious to me. They are ethically suspect and not that great at identifying good employees.

For non-autistic readers: Whether or not you are currently employed, it is likely that you know someone who knows someone who is in a position of power. Someone who owns a small business. Someone who works in HR for a company, someone who is in some way connected with the hiring process. For Challenge 6, identify one such person (or more…more is good) and talk to them about this. You might want to forward this post along with a request to consider whether such policies are 1) discriminatory, and/or 2) keeping their companies from finding some well qualified workers. Or have a one on one talk with the person or people you have identified. Ask if exceptions can ever be made for people with disabilities, and what the requirements would be for determining who qualifies.

Okay, maybe you really can't think of anyone who knows anyone. You can still participate in this challenge by starting a conversation about barriers to employment for autistic people. Talk about it on Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking sites.

Comment here on what you said and what response(s) you received.

If you are autistic, here is an opportunity to advertise yourself. In the comments, tell me what your skills are. What qualities make you a good employee? What supports do you need to succeed in the workplace? What has your experience with job seeking been like? If you have an online resume, you may link to it here.

For my part, I will do my best to make sure your messages are seen. The first post in the Squawkers McCaw Autism Acceptance Challenge has had over 5000 views. For subsequent posts, the numbers have been lower, but still substantial. For this post, if I receive comments from autistic job seekers, I will make an extra effort to promote and share the post so that the maximum number of potential employers will see your comments.

IMPORTANT BONUS INFORMATION: Microsoft is specifically seeking autistic employees. To apply, send your resume to msautism (at) microsoft (dot) com

Poster from my 2010 post on Late Interventions with updated numbers."1 in 68 Adults may be autistic. Don't Panic. It has always been this way. Some interventions have been shown to help us achieve success. One of these is called EMPLOYMENT." Picture is an autistic person with a small stuffed parrot between a wall and staircase. Photo by Darling Clandestine. Poster by Square 8.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 5: Slow Down

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 13:57:00 +0000

Slow. Down.

Square Talk: Processing originally posted here in 2009

If you are not autistic, work on including autistic people in your conversations, especially when you are talking in a group. This does not mean trying to force anyone into conversing. Please don’t do that. “Interviewing” is probably a bad approach unless you know the person likes that. What I am asking you to do is to slow down. Pause. Leave spaces between your sentences. Listen.

Possibly, the conversation will feel somewhat unnatural to you. There may be stretches of silence. Accept this as part of the conversation. Have some paper and pens nearby. Even Autistics who use speech to communicate may have more to express through writing, drawing, or other methods. Maybe you will too.

What if the autistic person in your life does not use speech to communicate? The same rules still apply. Slowing down your interactions allows everyone extra time to process. Learn the language in which the person communicates best. Skype, IM, or email your conversation if that works better. Be open to the conversations that happen without words.

As you pause, if you are afraid you will forget what you wanted say, jot down a note to say it later. I do this. Other autistic people I know do this. Give it a try. Also, it is probably not going to hurt you to accidentally leave something unsaid.

The key to this is to be open, but non-intrusive. Your conversational partner may not respond in the ways you hope. Keep leaving space, but don’t fill it with expectations.

What if the autistic person in your life talks a lot, and you are thinking, well he or she is the one that needs to slow down! Slow yourself down anyway. Think about what the person is really saying to you. Even if you've heard all this before, don’t tune the person out. Respond authentically.

Leave a comment here about slowing down.

You have the rest of April to complete this challenge. No rush.

If you are autistic, leave a comment about a time you were well included in a group conversation. If this has never happened for you, forward this post to someone who needs to know. Come back and let me know what happened.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 4: True Allies

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Sun, 05 Apr 2015 22:27:00 +0000

Autism Acceptance Challenge 4 is a companion to challenge 3. This time, suggest links to posts by people you consider true allies to autistic people. These are the non-autistic people who are carrying the message of acceptance to their peers, amplifying autistic voices or speaking out to support us while never claiming to speak for us.

You may also nominate a true ally by quoting a Facebook status or tweet, with the author's permission.

Twist: You will receive one point for posting your nomination. The author of the nominated blog will also receive a point.

Here are a couple of recent posts to get you started. I'll add more as they are nominated and vetted. Posts containing content that is damaging or derogatory to autistics or any other marginalized group will not be accepted.

In defiance of gentle opposition at Respectfully Connected

"It is awareness that causes people to sigh in sympathy with parents who abuse and murder their Autistic children rather than condemning them for violently ending the innocent life it was their responsibility to protect."

The reason I blog at Autism Wars

"His cause is the ongoing battle for his civil rights, because he and his peers are marginalized from the moment of their diagnoses and that ableism continues throughout their lives. This is society's fault NOT the fault of their neurologies."

Autism Acceptance Challenge 3: Stand Up to Bullies

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Sun, 05 Apr 2015 01:48:00 +0000

Sometime during the month of April, you will find an opportunity to stand up to bullies. If you use social media, you will probably find lots of opportunities.

If you are not autistic, the next time you see an autistic person being told they are too high-functioning, don’t understand real autism, are being divisive, lacking empathy, blowing things out of proportion, Not LikeMy Child, being giraffe-lamped or walk-in-my-shoesed—say something. Don’t grab the popcorn and watch, collect your people and call out the bully. If you are not autistic, there are people who will listen to you who will not listen to us. Do this and then comment here to tell me you did it and where (Facebook, Twitter, a blog, Tumblr, the physical world, whatever.)

Some of you do this all the time. Some of the people I consider true allies are named Ben, Liz, Martha, Steve and Sharon. There are plenty of others, but these are a few of the non-autistic people who have often shared my posts and added their own voices to the mix. Thank you.

If you are autistic, use the comments here to talk about standing up to bullies. How often do you do it? What does it cost you to do it or not to do it? Who are your allies? Who can you count on to stand with you?

This is the third of 20 challenges this month. The person who completes the most will win a "Squawkers McCaw."

Autism Acceptance Challenge 2: Sign the Pledge

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 00:25:00 +0000

Many thanks to all of you who chose to #WalkInRed today, whether or not you participated in the Autism Acceptance Challenge here. For me, this was a much better day than April 2, 2014. I knew I was not alone today, and it made a difference.

Challenge 1 was about community, solidarity, and taking a stand against the damaging rhetoric of Autism Speaks. Challenge 2 is about making a commitment to meaningful inclusion.

This is an easy one. To participate, follow this link to sign the Pledge for Autistic Inclusion. Then come back here and let me know in the comments to this post that you did it and why. That's all! Have you already signed the pledge? That counts too, all you have left to do is leave a comment.

This is the second of 20 challenges. The person completing the most challenges will win a parrot like Squawkers McCaw.

From the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network:

"Too often, our national conversation on autism is something that happens about us, without us. Organizations, conferences and panels on autism somehow fail to include Autistic voices. We are asking you to be part of the solution. Help us send a message to event organizers across the world - if you want our business, involve self-advocates. It's just that simple. Take our pledge today and share it with your friends."

This is what you will be signing:

"I pledge to only attend, speak at or otherwise participate in autism panels, conferences and events that meaningfully involve Autistic people. I choose not to give my business or my time to settings that fail to include Autistic voices in conversations about autism."

Why Autistic Pride

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 14:21:00 +0000

The idea of “Autistic Pride,” like the concept of “Gay Pride,” is often misconstrued. Pride can sound like self-congratulation to those who accept neither autism nor the inevitable evolution of language. Maybe you think “pride” has to reflect some sort of accomplishment. If that is the case, then what right have we to be proud of something we haven’t worked for?

For more than half of my life, more days than not, I wished I were dead. At sixteen, books about suicide lined my shelves. I knew I would do it one day. The reason was shame. I was, in too many ways, not like the others, somehow broken. I heard it at home and at school. I overheard it at the doctor’s office and in the shops. I didn’t have to work for shame, it was just mine.

When I talk about pride, I mean that I survived.

I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of young autistic people. So many of them hate themselves. They have been placed in segregated classrooms. They have been subjected to hours of “normalizing” therapies. They have rarely heard anything positive about autism or being autistic. They have seen themselves represented by puzzle pieces.

I wonder what is on their shelves.

I wonder if any of them sneak into their parents’ room and hold a loaded gun to their heads while watching in the mirror. Getting used to it. Wondering when. Do you think my parents ever knew or suspected?

When I talk about pride, I mean to tell every one of them, there is nothing wrong with you. You are as valuable as anyone. It is okay to flap. It is okay to pace, to rock, to repeat, to communicate in whatever way works for you. You are not broken. Not broken. Not broken. Not broken.

When I talk about pride, I mean as in lions. How we need a group of others like us, to support us, help us grow, show us the way. It takes a lot more than one voice to push back the blue light brigade (“broken, broken, broken,”they say.) That’s why I pick up the pride flag. I wave it. I roar.

Autism Acceptance Challenge 1: Show Your True Colors

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 01:16:00 +0000

April is coming, and with it the torrent of blue lightbulbs and puzzle pieces. For the next month, it will be even more difficult than usual for autistic people to walk around in the world without confronting reminders that we are considered tragic and unwanted by the organizations that claim to speak for us. #WalkInRed is an autistic led initiative to make the world a little less blue this April.

Participating is easy:

1. On the second day of April, put on a pair of red shoes, socks, a red shirt, skirt, pants, necktie, headband, whatever you have.

2. Post your photo to the #WalkinRed Facebook page or to any page of your own.

3. Post a link to your photo in the comments here. To paste a link, use this code:

<a href=“http://Internet URL goes here.”>Title the visitor sees.</a>

You have now completed part one of the Autism Acceptance Challenge. Thank you for your show of solidarity and/or support. Seeing you out there may give someone a moment of hope or relief on a day that is difficult for many of us.

For this challenge, orange is an acceptable alternative to red. No blue, please, except for jeans. Jeans are neutral. These are the rules.

If you are reading this, and you still don’t know what’s wrong with blue puzzle pieces and lightbulbs, please read this and this and this and this and this.

Visit the WalkInRed website here or follow WalkInRed on twitter.

Part 2 of the Autism Acceptance Challenge will be posted April 2. Complete them all to win your own "Squawkers McCaw!"

Celebrate Autism Acceptance Month and Win Your Own "Squawkers McCaw"

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 18:44:00 +0000

Readers of this now mostly silent blog will know that Squawkers McCaw is an ambassador of Autism Acceptance. Since 2007, the animatronic parrot has accompanied me to work, speaking engagements, meals “in the community” and pretty much anywhere else I go. Sometimes we talk about autism, but I like even better the times we just are what we are. Squawkers is all about making the world a more friendly place for the neurodivergent.

Of course there is only one Squawkers McCaw. But now you have the opportunity to adopt a parrot like Squawkers who is looking for a home. If you are the winner of the Square 8/Squawkers McCaw Autism Acceptance Challenge, the bird you receive will look just like Squawkers (only much, much more gently loved) and will come with his own perch and remote control. This bird talks, squawks, sings and dances, and can learn to converse with you or tell anyone who will listen that autism is not a tragedy.

This is how it will work: During the month of April, no fewer than 20 posts will appear at Square 8. Each post will contain a challenge, something you can do to promote acceptance of autism and autistic people. Some will be very easy, like watching and sharing a video or commenting on another site where Autism Acceptance is being promoted. Other challenges will be more difficult.

To participate, leave a comment whenever you have accepted a challenge. Let other readers know how it went or what you did to fulfill the mission. You will score one point for each challenge you complete. To be counted, you must leave a meaningful comment (not “I did this thing and I hope I win” but something to demonstrate that you thought about the challenge or helped someone see autism differently.)

The winner will be the person who completes the most challenges. In case of a tie, a tie breaking question will be posted, with the parrot going to the best response. Yes, that’s subjective. The first challenge will be posted early because it requires a little preparation. Look for the first challenge here in the next couple of days.

Squawkers in his younger years with fruit and flowers

Links to each part of the challenge:

Challenge 1: Show Your True Colors

Challenge 2: Sign the Pledge

Challenge 3: Stand Up to Bullies

Challenge 4: True Allies

Challenge 5: Slow Down

Challenge 6: Work on This
Challenge 7: Support Autistic Bloggers
Challenge 8: Responding to Stuff
Challenge 9: What Will You Do?
Challenge 10: Turn it Down
Challenge 11: Choose Your Own Challenge
Challenge 12: Public Displays of Autism
Challenge 13:Explore the Archives
Challenge 14: (Neuro)Queer the Conversation
Challenge 15: What's Your Squawkers McCaw?
Challenge 16: Ask and Autistic

Blue Light Special on Awareness in Aisle 5

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 15:53:00 +0000

You want awareness? Here are some things to think about. Autistic people are at extremely high risk for unemployment and underemployment. Some of us have a hard time getting jobs or even interviews due to differences in social interaction styles. Others have been shunted into sheltered workshops where they are paid wages that would be illegal if the worker did not have a disability. Some of us have been beaten down by a lifetime of being told we were worthless. When we get a Nickel and Dimed type job, we are grateful, sure it’s the best thing that could have happened.

I stayed at Kmart for fifteen years. I couldn’t imagine my way out, not having gone to college, not having the sorts of skills employers looked for. I never would have lasted so long had it not been for a manager who noticed that I was very efficient at sorting things. She saved me from the sales floor where constant customer interactions threatened to tear me apart, and found me a place in the stockroom where my tasks revolved around organizing and categorizing. While my coworkers haphazardly unpacked items and threw the individual packages on carts, I did my best to make the job of the shelf stocker easier by sorting the many brands of aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen onto separate shelves of the rolling cart. Lining them up in perfect rows.

In the stockroom, I was in a good position to notice when certain items began to pile up. One summer, there were more than 30 cases of orange and black wrapped peanut butter candy. These were left over from last Halloween, waiting for October to roll around again. Sometimes the overstock wasn't the merchandise manager’s fault. Some special sale items were sent as “general orders” by the home office. People who had never been to our state would make decisions about what we could sell. A lot of this stuff was made of wicker for some reason. It was dusty and it smelled bad. Then there was the “Dollar Days” merchandise. Dollar Days was the big sale that came only 2 or 3 times a year, with lots of things nobody needed priced at 2/$1.00, 3/$1.00, etc. Markup on these items ranged from 25% to 400%. Half of the gadgets and doodads were probably broken and thrown away within a month.

Whenever we had too much of a particular cheap and useless item, an associate would be required to roll out the blue light and announce a surprise sale. There was a strict script for the Blue Light Special: “Attention Kmart shoppers, for the next 15 minutes in aisle X, we are having a Blue Light Special on Y!” Then the light would start to strobe while making a sound like Thing from the Addam’s Family when the mail came, casually putting people at risk of epileptic seizure for the sake of commerce. The clerk would stand by with the pricing gun, ready to label each chosen item at its new temporary price as customers rushed over to see what the fuss was about.

In those years, when Kmart lit it up blue, most people walked away with nothing for something, a scratchy t-shirt, mildewed dish towel, stale candy, a wicker tchotchke. Nothing they wouldn't survive. The excitement of blue lights flashing and other customers swarming must have seemed worth the inevitable letdown when the toy broke on the way home. Everyone who worked there knew that while bargains could sometimes be found at the store, those items that made it to blue light status were well beyond redemption.

The Blue Light Special Autism Speaks (also beyond redemption) will run all through the month of April, is not so harmless. If you go to this sale, the gap between what you are buying and what you meant to purchase will be more extreme. Most people still seem to think they are helping autistic people by supporting these “awareness” efforts. But groups like Autism Speaks have cheapened the very concept of “awareness” to the point that many self-advocates cannot stand to hear the word. Autism Speaks has discounted autistic voices for many years now, refusing to hear us when we have said that their dehumanizing tactics are harming us.

Please try something different this year.

If you go to your local Light it Up Blue event, this will happen: You will feel the rush of excitement that comes from moving in the same direction as the others. You will listen to speeches affirming what you already believe. You will purchase a shirt or a button or something and believe that the profits are going to benefit autistic people. You will feel good about yourself because everyone there will be saying that you are doing it right. Autism Speaks will use the money to finance its next awareness campaign or its next PSA claiming that our existence is tragic, pay its exorbitant salaries, and fund the research they believe will put an end to autistic people. People will continue to look at us with fear and pity. Autistic people will continue to be unemployed or underemployed. The research requested by autistic people will continue to go unfunded. Autistic people will continue to be shocked at the Judge Rotenberg Center. Autistic people will continue to be murdered by their caregivers. Nothing will change.

If you continue to lend your voice to the already huge and powerful and non-autistic run Autism Speaks, the things actually autistic people have to tell you will continue to be shouted over. What we have to say will continue to be ignored because we are so Not Like Your Child, the one who will maybe work at Kmart someday, the one who will struggle so hard to believe they could ever do better.

People Like You

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 17:46:00 +0000

Next week, we will have a meeting about People Like You. As the meeting leader, I will introduce myself as someone with personal experience because I have a child who is Like You. I will tell you a little of my background, including my involvement in a Major Organization that has stated its goal of removing People Like You from the population. Before the meeting, be sure to read the PowerPoint of my recent presentation, referring to People Like You as having a “multi-system disease.” The disease is the Like You-ness itself. You will also see here that one in fifty people are now Like You, and that this is very expensive to families and the general community. People Like You cost a lot. You need a lot of therapy to become less Like You. Early Intervention is the key to becoming less Like You.

This meeting is to talk about future plans for “serving” People Like You and their families. “Vigorous training programs are needed.” This will be said a lot, but the content of these trainings will not be discussed. All the people and agencies around the state who are dealing with People Like You need to collaborate. Everyone needs to be on the same page and recognize the evidence based treatments that will help you be less Like You. Once all this information is connected, it will be more difficult for outsiders [People Like (in a much more specific sense) You] to propose or defend other ways of looking at People Like You.

Some reasonable things will be said here. I will acknowledge that there are far more adults Like You than children Like You. Someone will describe as “tragic” the lack of good employment outcomes for People Like You. You will hear things about the various ways People Like You communicate, that these should be understood, maybe even respected.

As the meeting leader, I might nod in agreement, though the word “defect” will slip from my mouth when discussing the communication styles of some People Like You. I may ask directly about the IQ scores of the People Like You served by your particular project. I want to know if they are higher functioning People Like You. It’s obvious that you are in that category, even though you are sitting there with a stuffed parrot in your arms, rocking, and excusing yourself periodically to make chirping sounds in the hallway.

One thing you won’t hear is the truth about why People Like You tend to be unemployed or underemployed. We will skip conveniently over the parts about how the Major Organization has portrayed People Like You as tragic and expensive and diseased and necessarily needing therapies. I’ll shake my head in wonder. It’s a puzzle isn’t it? People Like You just can’t seem to get jobs and hold on to them.

You may wonder why you have been invited to this meeting. No one has asked you a question. I might have seen you raise your hand at one point, but I wasn’t sure. At the end of the meeting, you might make a statement. “I would like to make a statement.” But the real words will need to come in writing. The rest of us will read it, probably. When I do so, I may laugh the same nervous laugh as when you introduced the parrot. But really, I’m so glad you came. It’s important to have People Like You at the table. My colleague, your employer, wants to make a statement too: The views expressed by you are not necessarily those of this institution.

Code Blue

noreply@blogger.com (Bev) — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 17:36:00 +0000

How does it feel? You lit it up blue, didn’t you? I told you about Autism Speaks and how their primary goal is a world without people like me in it and how they have degraded and threatened and ignored and sued and plagiarized autistic people and how they thought nothing of saying we are not fully human, that our families are not really living, can never be happy, and we are the reason. I talked to you when I didn’t have the energy or resources to speak. I wrote to you when I had other plans and more constructive work to do. I answered your questions. I was reasonably polite, though I don’t think that should be a requirement.

You lit it up blue. I heard you were there. You put on the t-shirt. You made a speech. You asked for my project’s brochure. You asked for the tablecloth with the logo of the institute for which I have so proudly worked. You took a client. You worked a table. You wore the puzzle piece on your lapel or your necktie. You walked around and said hello to your friends. You felt pretty good about yourself.

When you lit it up blue, you didn’t notice the power surge, the drain you put on public resources. You turned out the light I had kept on for you, the hope that what autistic people thought and believed and said might matter, at least to those who work beside us every day.

It wasn’t because you didn’t know better. You did.

You probably think this isn’t about you. If you did this, it is.