Thread by @AutSciPerson

So I found this video about diversity in ABA therapy.

It's the most hypocritical/ironic thing -

"However, bare in mind that those who perpetuate overt hostility as well as microaggressions towards marginalized groups are often absent from these conversations."
#SayNoToABA

And no, I'm not going to post the video because there's really no reason to watch it. This person talks about sexism, racism, xenophobia, a lot of other -isms..

and they of course leave ableism off that list and never talk about it. It's stunning.

They also talked about how good they were in life because they challenged when people said "No" to them.

Wonder how they treated autistic kids who challenge "no"... The whole thing was just filled with hypocrisy.

"Get support, get advice. Don't negate the impact microaggressions may be having on you. Don't ignore that feeling you get."

"Recognize the absence (or lesser presence) of marginalized individuals in politics, movies, companies, business owners, co-authors, mentees."

I can't..

So I have found another talk from that same conference - it looks like they had 1 autistic person have a talk.

And it's like I'm watching "Pray Away" on netflix again -

"I used to bang my head against the door and all this other weird stuff"

"I thought I was just like any other little boy, but I didn't make friends easily, I wasn't learning things the same way, and then my mom put me in all these medical studies...that was the mentality back in the early 1980s. I did really advanced computers."

"I didn't play well with other kids. I was left out of things. I was..a very, weird childhood having autism in such a way that you didn't always get to do the same things that everybody else did."

Slide that says "Other challenges in school - terrible handwriting, behavior issues, tantrums, allergies, bad days."

"I didn't have Theory of Mind as a child"

"Even the TV shows I watched were strange for a kid."

Growing up in the world of pathologization around autism means having no other way to talk about yourself without othering yourself. It's quite sad to listen to honestly.