Thread by @AutSciPerson

Something people don't tell you:

Acquiring a PhD doesn't immediately make you successful or happy.

Like sure it's a huge accomplishment but it shouldn't feel like the be-all end-all of your life. Cause if it is, you probably have some things to work through.

1/16

Whether or not I become a "Doctor" isn't going to determine whether I feel successful or not, or at the very least, it shouldn't. Academia is toxic in that you're convinced that "once you do this" you'll be accomplished, or "once you do this" you'll have legitimacy. 2/16

If I continue to be an openly autistic person, I'm not sure how much legitimacy I will have even when I graduate with a PhD, eventually.

That's just the truth. Being autistic trumps any professional credentials you have. And it somehow makes NTs ignore all of your knowledge 3/16

Maybe that's why I'm not very motivated to finish it. Because no matter what I do, neurotypical people will try to delegitimize my experiences, my education, and my knowledge.

Non-autistic people keep telling me it will help me in the future but all I see is NT invalidation 4/16

It's not going to change the way society treats autistic people. It's not going to change the way neurotypical people gaslight us. It's not going to change a lot of things. And outside of academia, people must be very good at marketing their skills to be deemed useful. 5/16

Deciding to be an openly autistic person is deciding to play on Hard Mode in society. Many people have to be open for their health and for accommodations they need. But dealing with other people's assumptions constantly is not easy. 6/16

The real truth is, neurotypical people will weigh the words of other neurotypical people (especially any "profesionals") more than openly autistic professionals. And that's a really sad reality. 7/16

Most autistic people do not have the marketing skills or NT communication skills to get parents' attention. It takes so much effort from autistic advocates to get parents to understand why ABA therapy is bad.

It's not easy. It doesn't come naturally. It's hard work.
8/16

Autistic people are constantly asked to do inaccessible activism. To cater to neurotypical learning and neurotypical communication. To cater to people using ableist language who don't know anything about autism. To be in inaccessible environments.
9/16

If you wonder why the progress is so slow, this is why. Most neurotypical people don't think it's important for autistic people to be there, or to listen to them. No matter whether they have a PhD, or have clinical credentials, or is an "autism professional."
10/16

Do you know how many non-autistic people, who I had never met before, who knew I was autistic, asked me to do a zoom meeting to just get information as to what they wanted my input for?

Instead of just writing it in the email?

So! Many!

11/16

Autistic people have so much difficulty with drawing boundaries with other people because non-autistic people never have boundaries with us. They don't listen to our needs. They don't listen to our experiences. And they do the absolute bare minimum to help when they do help 12/16

We are called "rude/blunt/defensive" when we give our thoughts or actually set boundaries. When we have to ask for more specifics, when we have to say "please put this in an email" or ask for another mode of communication. We are the ones who always have to ask. 13/16

Autistic people asserting boundaries with non-autistic people feels like An Attack to allistics.

You know why?

Because our interactions are rarely ever on our own terms.

We accommodate allistics all the time and they simply have no idea. 14/16

Non-autistic people are not used to having to communicate on our terms, or listen to our "blunt" advice. So when we assert them, we are the bad ones. Because they have the privilege to be accommodated on their own terms 90% of the time.

That 10% is uncomfortable for them. 15/16

We're still asking for the bare minimum because of we ask for more we are going to get shut down, ignored, or called aggressive.

Getting a PhD isn't going to fix that.

I want more for autistic people. I want our accommodations to be seen as regular, rational, no big deal. 16/16

Also to remind allistic people:

It is hazardous to autistic people's mental health to go into autism research.

One more time:

It is hazardous to autistic people's mental health to go into autism research.

Think about that.