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--- autism_related_reading_notes [2018-06-21 15:06] – rasa
+++ autism_related_reading_notes [2018-07-02 14:35] – rasa
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 ==== Autism Related Reading Notes ====
+**"Don't mourn for us" by Jim Sinclair from the book "Loud hands/ autistic people speaking"**
-**Na de regen by Eva De Groote**
+<blockquote>Is it always correct to view differences between the behaviour of autistics and NT's as "symptoms" of some "disorder" in autistic people? Is it necessarily helpful to respond to such differences by trying to teach autistic people to emulate NT social behaviours so they can "fit in" with NT culture? What alternatives might there be for addressing social difficulties between autistic and NT people?</blockquote>
+<blockquote>...typical autism conferences, run by and for NT parents and professionals, do not tend to be very good places for autistic people to connect meaningfully with each other. There's simply too much going on --too many people, too much movement, too much noise, often fluorescent lights, and above all, the overwhelming onslaught of speakers and articles and exhibits all stressing that there's something terribly //wrong// with us, that we're a horribly defective type of human, and that our very existence is a source of never-ending grief for our families.</blockquote>
+<blockquote>Any attempt by a group of disempowered people to challenge the status quo -- to dispute the presumption of their incompetence, to redefine them selfs as equals of the empowered class, to assert independence and self-determination -- has been met by remarkably similar efforts to discredit them. The discrediting tactics used most frequently are:
+) If at all possible, to deny that the person mounting the challenge are really members of the group to which they claim membership. This tactic has been used against disability activists with learning disabilities and psychiatric disabilities as well as against autistic people.
+) If there is incontrovertible evidence that the activists are members of the affected group, to aver that they are rare exceptions who are so unlike typical members of the affected group that what they have to say is irrelevant to the group as a whole.
+) If it is not possible to deny that the activists are authentic representatives of the affected group, to appeal to the very prejudice and stereotypes the activists are seeking to overturn, and use those prejudice and stereotypes to claim that the activists are incapable of fully understanding their situation and knowing what is the best for them. Often this approach incorporates the belief that disabled people need to have their freedom restricted for their own good, to protect them from coming to harm through their inability to act in their own best interests.
+These strategies to undermine credibility are not new, nor are they limited to situations involving disability.
+</blockquote>
+<blockquote>I believe all persons with Autism need the opportunity to become friends with other Autistic people. Without this contact we feel alien to this world. We feel lonely. Feeling like an alien is a slow death. It's sadness, self-hate, it's continuously striving to be someone we're not. It's waking up each day and functioning in falsehood. (French, 1993)
+</blockquote>
+<blockquote>I looked around the room and, in keeping with our frequently shared experience of having always felt like aliens on Earth, i remarked that we could use the radio tower to send a message to the "mother ship", telling it that we were all together now and it could come retrieve us and take us home.
+But i'm glad there was no spaceship to come get us back then. We've found so many more of our people since that day, and there are still many more wishing and searching for a community to come home to. We've come a long way toward creating home for ourselfs right here on Earth.</blockquote>
+<blockquote>Autreat 1996:
+Here people who could paint and draw equally shared experiences with those who can't hold a pencil or a brush. People who are very articulate equally shared experiences and understood those who could only jump or clap their hands or point to the letters on a letter boards or picture board to respond to a question.
+</blockquote>
+<blockquote>
+The first year, other than a workshop introducing concepts of self-advocacy to non-autistic parents, all sessions were presented by non-autistic people. I think this decision was an instance of backlash against the "self-narrating zoo exhibit" phenomenon -- the perversive use of autistic people  at conferences as resources to be used  for benefit of parents, and as source of raw data the meaning of which was to be determined by NT's. ("Give us the facts, we will take care of philosophy.") This time at //our// conference we invited non-autistic presenters to provide information for the benefit of autistic people. At subsequent Autreats 50% or more of the presenters have been autistic people. Topics have included disability politics, practical issues in autistic people's lives, and social/interpersonal issues.</blockquote>
+<blockquote>We do not expect you to "act normal" or to behave like a neurotypical person at Autreat. It is perfectly acceptable at Autreat to rock, stim, echo, perseverate, and engage in other "autistic" behaviours. The only behaviours that are not acceptable are actions that infringe on the rights of the others: by violating their personal boundaries or their property boundaries, or by preventing them from participating in Autreat activities, or by causing undue distress through physical, verbal, or sensory assoult. (Autreat orientation materials)</blockquote>
+**"Na de regen" by Eva De Groote**
 <blockquote>Nur springt op en loopt naar het loofbos toe. Mensen komen hier niet, maar er is wel een hertenpad. Ze zorgt ervoor dat ze netjes het smalle pad volgt zonder dat ze op de boomscheuten trapt, of op de struikjes die groeien naast het hertenwegje. De knoestige eik die ze passeert moet volgens Jacques meer dan honderdvijftig jaar oud zijn. Ze legt even haar hand op zijn bast om hem begroeten. Dan rent ze verder langs het hertenpad, om uit te komen bij haar favoriete plaats in het bos. Net onder het pad staan twee bomen op een stukje aflopende helling die is afgezoomd met struiken. De bomen hebben er een dicht gebladerde, ze bieden beschutting tegen weer en wind. Onder de bomen is geen begroeiing, enkel een soort van poederige aarde, het is als een zacht zandig bedje. De herten slapen er, zo weet ze. Zelfs als het regent, blijven ze er droog. Ze springt van het pad af de holte in om zich nestelen tegen de boom zoals ze meestal doet.
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 </blockquote>
-**Van een andere planeet by Dominique Dumortier**
+**"Van een andere planeet" by Dominique Dumortier**
 <blockquote>Mensen denken dat autisme aan de buitenkant zit. Dat je kunt zien. Maar dat is niet zo. Autisme is onzichtbaar. Het kan aanwezig zijn zonder dat het opvalt. Het zit aan de binnenkant.