Thread by @thinkingautism

Why do some parents of autistic people attack #neurodiversity advocates for appearing less disabled than their own kids? Especially when those advocates are fighting to ensure a better future for all autistic people—including those parents’ kids?

An eyebrow-cocked thread. 1/

These outraged parents say "...that those who argue the Neurodiversity position do so out of ignorance," which is not merely offensive but untrue: those who support Neurodiversity tend do so because Neurodiversity is their reality, and the neurodiverse their community. 2/

Plus many parents whose children experience a "trifecta of autism, intellectual disability, & dangerous behaviors" support the Neurodiversity movement. Including the editors of this very volunteer org. Some of these parents are even autistic themselves! 3/

These parents say Neurodiversity advocates want to hoodwink the public into falling for "a sanitized version of low-functioning autism." Which is untrue, as it is parents and the media that crave stories of non-speaking autistics having “breakthroughs," not ND proponents. 4/

Neurodiversity advocates, by contrast, understand that “functioning" can be fluid and unpredictable not just from autistic person to autistic person but over time and by situation:

thinkingautismguide.com/2018/03/the-pr… 5/

ND advocates understand that an autistic person may be able to pass for "neurotypical" yet still experience self-injurious behavior, lost speech, or meltdowns. But because these truths about autism upend parents' claims that ND is only for “elite” autistics, they are ignored. 6/

What #Neurodiversity advocates DO want is for Autistics to be the primary voices for autism rights. Which makes sense to me, when I hear self-advocates like @ANeeman argue for presumed competence and better services for Autistics of all abilities: thinkingautismguide.com/2011/09/ari-ne… 7/

Per @aneeman: "At the end of the day, [the self-advocate & parent communies] want the same things. At the end of the day, we're hoping for the same better world.” 8/

@aneeman @Aneeman continued: “…It's just that we [autsitic and disability advocates] who actually live this life, we who actually experience these challenges, are in a position to tell the world that there is not just one way to accomplish them.” 9/

By pandering to parents who see autism self-advocates as enemies with little concern for autistic kids' "real" needs, these parents create a false and needlessly bitter gap between groups who should be working together on a common goal: Better Lives for all autistic people. 10/

Autistic children will spend most of their lives as adults, after all!

11/

And parents are not wrong to be terrified about our autistic children's futures. All the editors at TPGA have 1:1 support autistic offspring, and we all fret and agitate over the lack of decent programs for autistic children and adults who need full time care. 12/

But by railing against the #Neurodiversity movement, these parents are stigmatizing and alienating the only people who care as much about her their children’s future as they do, and who will keep on fighting for those kids even after their parents are long gone. 13/

And the #Neurodiversity movement will continue to have the backs of all autistic people—ALL of them. Whether parents who spread and/or believe lies about the ND movement are able to realize this, or not. 14/14