In 2009, a colleague and I huddled in my office to hatch an idea based on a hunch. Today, I just saw an ad for @ONgov’s digital service (led by @hillary Hartley) that touted how it was inspired by the White House programs which were inspired by that hunch.
I may have just cried.
That hunch snowballed into a lot of things, including the first innovation lab in the federal government and then innovation labs throughout the federal government. It collided with other ideas to help form the White House Innovation Fellows and the U.S. Digital Service...
I don’t say those things to say “Look at the great idea we had!” (I always kept a quiet profile about it and most of my colleagues were unaware of my role). However, I now share that story as an autistic teacher when I teach my autistic students. The reason is this...
Autistic professionals can be very reluctant to claim credit for our accomplishments (which can accidentally penalize us in the workplace). However, I find we are often more comfortable discussing the impact we’ve had a hand in creating...
I help my students focus on the impact they’ve created in their work. It’s a way for them to sell themselves to employers where they might otherwise be very reluctant to. Take the focus off us and place it on those we’ve helped (I also find employers really respond to that).
A benefit is that autistic thinking can often see more clearly patterns, the big picture, the interconnected web of everything. Once I show a student how to map out their impact, they often begin to see it EVERYWHERE. A job stocking shelves suddenly reveals a #ButterflyEffect.
Anyway, every now and then I’ll see an ad or a news article that I can trace back to my work. I’ll ask myself “Wait, is this real?” It’s still a hard thing to grasp (It’s still a hard thing to tout!). But, I’ll always be proud of the impact.
So, I guess I’ll take this rambling thought thread and leave you with this: Whether you work or not, consider how your actions and efforts impact others. I guarantee you the scale of it is much bigger than you think.
Reflect on that. You’ve done amazing things.
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Someone wrote that Judge Amy Coney Barrett would bring “heart” to ‘special needs’ if confirmed to the #SupremeCourt. After showing my respect for the person who wrote that, and understanding of where they were coming from, this was my response:
“Disabled people don’t need lawmakers or jurors to bring “heart” to ‘special needs’. That’s what has led to patronizing policy which has f%¥ked over the exercise of our equality and marginalized our full participation in society over-and-over-and-over again...
It’s one of the greatest things we organize and fight against and we will continue to fight against it until the law and policy makers recognize that we are just like everyone else...
The whole #BobWoodward thing reminds me that our better politicians understand the press will try to ‘get’ them, and that’s a good, healthy thing for our democracy. They respect and welcome that.
—> It’s a BS check.
Bad politicians think the press is there to serve them.
*I should say it’s not as much that the press tries to “get” politicians, but that they don’t regard a politician’s messaging priorities when they are reporting stories. That’s an amazing thing, and when I was a press officer it drove me up the wall.
I hated it, but I loved it.
And the #BobWoodward tapes remind me of #LouChibarro of the @WashBlade. When I was a press officer, he was so masterful in asking a question, letting you answer, then NOT SAYING ANYTHING.
The subject felt compelled to fill the silence with more information.
👨🍳💋
So, while I very much *feel* #SpoonTheory in my being, it all falls apart when trying to use it as a metaphor with others (or as an accommodation strategy for myself). I constantly miscount and lose them.
When speaking, or in meetings, I’m often asked by folks to explain spoon theory. I usually just turn to someone I trust and ask “Could you explain it?”
For myself, I’ve learned to just make myself stop, slow down, or turn down requests when needed — and to be ok with that.
I mean, I’m a huge supporter of spoon theory as a metaphor to explain things to others and as an accomodation peoole can use themselves. It just all gets tangled and anxiety-inducing for me.
I love to laugh at that, though. You kind of gotta.
I often think on how research, medicine, and psychiatry approach and ‘treat’ autistic people today in the exact same manner they approached and ‘treated’ homosexuality until 1972.
Then, thanks to #LGBTQ advocates, homosexuality was suddenly ‘cured’ by @APAPsychiatric overnight.
Where are the endless research papers about the genetics and epigenetics of gay people?
Where are the warnings of “risk factors” for lesbians?
Where’s the pleading for “early intervention” for bisexuals?
What about environmental factors?!?!
We probably know less about gay people now than autistic people. But, we know enough not to funnel everything about LGBTQ people through a pathological frame.
All the questions we ask about autism are still there (and largely unanswered) for LGBTQ people.