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Tania Melnyczuk πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡¦ AutisticStrategies.Net Profile picture
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26 May, 4 tweets, 2 min read
"Developmentally 4" πŸ˜–
This is one of my fellow disability rights activists. His school had him in Grade 1 at the age of 14 and said he wouldn't progress. Meanwhile he was dreaming of learning calculus.

He was 17 when this photo was taken.
#PresumeCompetence

Many, many, many nonspeaking autistic people are similarly underestimated, and denied the right to robust AAC.

Their extreme movement difficulties are seen as 'behaviours' and assumed to be signs of a 'developmental delay' or intellectual disability.

tania.co.za/behaviour-is-c…
Communication is a human right.

Education is a human right.

Nonspeaking autistic people need, want and lobby for both.

#ListenToNonspeakers

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More from @ekverstania

Tania Melnyczuk πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡¦ AutisticStrategies.Net Profile picture
28 May
The irony of autistic representation in the autism professions is that...
...the people who are prepared to slot in as token autistics are presented as authoritative role models (whilst being out of touch with a broad range of other autists), while...
...the intersectional activists who stand up for human rights for all are said to be representing only themselves.
Read 15 tweets
Tania Melnyczuk πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡¦ AutisticStrategies.Net Profile picture
8 May
I'm probably fighting a losing battle here, but DIVERSITY is a characteristic of items in a GROUP.

A single item can't be diverse (if you're looking at one trait).
Example:
"The biodiversity in this park is amazing!" = "There are many species in the park."

Hence, neurodiversity means neurological diversity WITHIN A POPULATION.

It doesn't mean, "I'm different from most people."

If you diverge from the norm, you're DIVERGENT, not DIVERSE.
Neurodiversity: Some basic terms and definitions

neurocosmopolitanism.com/neurodiversity…
Read 17 tweets
Tania Melnyczuk πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡¦ AutisticStrategies.Net Profile picture
7 May
[THREAD] I wanna show you an example of what presuming competence with nonspeaking autistic children means.
This is a lesson on fractals, prepared by Vicky Oettle, a teacher at a school for nonspeaking autistic children in Johannesburg. It's for use in a one-to-one lesson where the client develops motor skills by pointing to letters on a letterboard.

i-asc.org/wp-content/upl…
These children would normally have been in SEN schools where their movement issues were misinterpreted as deliberate misbehaviour, or a sign of intellectual impairment.
Read 48 tweets
Tania Melnyczuk πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡¦ AutisticStrategies.Net Profile picture
6 May
🧩 Autism politics question

You know how the ABAmongering 'experts' are happy to share a stage with Temple Grandin, Stephen Shore and John Elder Robison, because they know those guys won't bite their heads off --

So, question: Who are their favourite famous AAC users?
I ask this, because it seems to me that they are anti-AAC because of the things that AAC users say.

Seems like, "We like working with people who are intelligent yet know their place; but we can't find any AAC users who know their place now that Carly Fleischmann is gone."
And I don't even mean that Carly was tame; it's just that she had the kind of personal goals that wouldn't necessarily bring her headlong into confrontation with 'autism experts' very often.
Read 5 tweets
Tania Melnyczuk πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡¦ AutisticStrategies.Net Profile picture
5 May
Yep. And like other communities, we fight, disagree, and have divergent opinions, besides our divergent experiences. And that also means that you have to stop trying to find that one person or united voice to represent us, but listen to MANY of us, many orgs, and see the trends.
Marginalised subgroups include:

African autistic people IN AFRICA.

Do you even know the name of any Black African autistic activist who lives in the continent of Africa?

#INSAR2021
Hey, #INSAR2021 researchers, those who specialise in researching what helps nonspeaking autistic people with high support needs:

Who are your favourite nonspeaking autistic activists, and how have they informed your work?
Read 6 tweets
Tania Melnyczuk πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡¦ AutisticStrategies.Net Profile picture
5 May
Us: Listen to autistic people.

Them: No, you're adults. Our research is about children.

Us: We were once children, and we care about children.
Them: These children aren't like you. They can't go on the Internet and type.

Us: When we were children we didn't go on the Internet and type either.

Them: OK, but these children don't speak.

Us: We're not speaking now either, we're typing.
Them: These children don't EVER speak, and they hit their head against the wall.

Us: Yep, sounds like some of us.

Them: If you can type, you're too high-functioning to understand.

Us: Listen to yourself.

#BoycottAutismResearch
#ListenToNonspeakers
#NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
Read 4 tweets

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