Thread by @erikaheidewald

Maybe my feeble autistic brain just doesn't get it, but how could any organization legitimately committed to helping autistic people not have included us from the beginning? Why would such an organization support a “therapy” we say is abuse and doesn't work? #ColorTheSpectrum

https://twitter.com/nextforautism/status/1384251795132665859

Maybe I am being a little shit, but neurotypical people don't think about these things because it doesn't occur to them to see autistic people as human beings. The autism industry hasn't been put on the defense until pretty recently and they don't handle it very well

My one talent for reading neurotypicals is I can always tell when an insecure person is talking shit out of their ego. Everyone around me makes excuses for them but I keep poking them in their ego until they melt down spectacularly and reveal what’s underneath. Every fucking time

I guarantee you, most people genuinely believe that charities like this actually want to help autistic people. They will make excuses for these orgs & how they are trying and they mean well so we have to keep putting them on the defensive so they keep showing they don't mean well

You don't ask them questions expecting genuine answers. They're never going to give you genuine answers. You ask questions you know they don't have good answers to and make them say things out loud that make them look bad. Making NTs look bad is the only thing they respond to

you have to keep going because at first you seem mean because you're the only one who knows what they're hiding, so you keep making them defend themselves until they reveal what they're hiding. they can't help it because they can’t control their ego when they're angry

This is the pearl-clutching part where they are horrified you could ever accuse them of not caring about autistic people. they're manipulating you into feeling bad so you will stop criticizing them, so you just don't let it work and keep making them defend themselves

I know this seems shitty but it's just recognizing when people are emotionally manipulating you and not letting them do it. Yes, people get mad when I don't let them emotionally manipulate me, but it is the only trick in their book. It's all they have. So don't fall for it

I'd prefer a genuine exchange of ideas but that's not on the table. If they valued our voices and lives, they wouldn't be promising to start including us as a PR afterthought. They are used to us being easy to walk all over so all you have to do is stop making it easy.

I just say all this to their faces. You don't have to learn to lie and manipulate, you just have to learn to call people on their bullshit. Telling someone to their face that you think they're insecure and that's why they’re being a dick is extremely effective. Honesty works.