Thread by @shannonrosa

Autistic distress behavior is then perceived as non-compliance & the kids get punished for "misbehaving." And THEN the parents publicly complain about the kids, focusing on how awful autism is for the parents—rather than on the tragedy of autistic kids' needs being overlooked. 6/

I can't blame parents of autistic children for being pissed off in general, because our kids' and families' rights, supports, and services needs are rarely sufficiently addressed: We ALL feel disenfranchised, because we ARE all disenfranchised. 7/

But this sorry state of autism & family supports is also why, as non-disabled parent, I look to developmental disability organizations like @autselfadvocacy and @TheArcUS for their insider disability experience and knowledge about how to address disability disenfranchisement. 8/

@autselfadvocacy @TheArcUS I am grateful to these organizations for how long and hard they have been fighting for rights and services for autistic and other disabled people of all ages and abilities, and in ways that we non-disabled parents need to recognize, respect, and get behind. 9/

@autselfadvocacy @TheArcUS It’s important to note that autistic self-advocates don't claim to be able to "fix" anyone or everything. What they do want is to ensure that every autistic and disabled person who needs accommodations for their brains gets those accommodation from day ONE. 10/

@autselfadvocacy @TheArcUS Self-advocates want basic rights for all, with the full understanding that some autistic people may still be self-injurious, or remain non-speaking—even with the most understanding parents and all of the accommodations possible. And even when things are hard for everyone. 11/

@autselfadvocacy @TheArcUS Parenting is never going to be a pony party, no matter how easygoing kids are. But the baseline is that, whether our autistic kids have intensive support needs or not, *we parents need to be on our autistic kids’ sides*.

Fin.

12/12