Thread by @AutSciPerson

Autistic people: *Makes a statement*
Neurotypical people - Question very specific and pedantic things about the statement and expect a response.

Neurotypical people: *Makes a vague statement* - Does not expect any questions, pushback, or responses that could derail it.

I'm just thinking about the absurd hoops that abled neurotypical people jump through to justify eugenics of autistic people.

The ridiculous questions we get asked, about our value, humanity, worthiness,

and the lack of benefit of the doubt we receive in return.

I mean hell, it doesn't matter that I wrote an article that encompasses a decent amount actual research showing that ABA is ineffective and even harmful,

they just refuse to read it, decide to lie, to stay in denial.

This is what exhausts me the most.
autisticscienceperson.com/why-aba-therap…

Abled NTs expect unlimited energy to be spent on helping them,

on making them comfortable,

on clarifying everything so they don't feel left out,

on making sure it's just in the right format for them when they don't prioritize accessibility.

I really can't do it anymore.

If I don't make 5+ caveats on any single thread I write I will get people coming into my mentions asking me to clarify/saying it's wrong/saying it's a generalization when I'm talking about my own experience.

NTs can't feel left out for one minute without inserting themselves.

You might want to say "no not all neurotypicals!"

Correct, not all neurotypicals. But a lot of abled NTs do this. A lot of white abled NTs do this. A lot of cis white women abled NTs do this. Constantly.

And it's worse the more marginalized/intersections you have.

Not all my threads are going to pertain to abled NT experiences.

Not all my threads are going to have caveats where I talk about abled NT experiences.

This is some advice I've been given throughout my life by NTs when I was trying to be helpful:
"Not everything's about you."

I, and I believe many autistic people on here, are given very little leniency when we write often from a place of pain and exhaustion.

It's as if our well-being doesn't actually matter, all that matters is to educate the non-autistic masses.

Autistic people are human too.

I think people forget that many autistic people do this "advocacy" (some do not like the word advocacy for many legitimate reasons),

because we Have to to survive in this world and to make it better for other autistic people.

It's not FOR you. It's so more of us don't suffer.

If you get something out of it? Great!
I'm not saying you shouldn't read and learn and make yourself understand more.

But I'm saying this content is not designed to make NTs feel better & is not purely a tool.

Most of what I write about is my life.

The demands of autistic "advocates" and autistic people in general on here to be free educators, to check poorly done or even harmful research, to advocate against practices that actively harm us,

it's a LOT.

Autistic people are struggling. I didn't think that burnout thread would get 6k likes. Not at all.

But clearly this year has been hard on us.

So, by god, I apologize if I make generalizations about neurotypical people.

But I do not apologize for being human.

I do not apologize for not having the vocabulary to talk about autistic burnout and autistic-related experiences that neurotypical people have constantly overlooked and issues important to the autistic community being overshadowed for decades.

If you don't feel seen when you read these threads,

then consider how little autistic people feel seen when they read non-autistic research, non-autistic training in SLP schools, non-autistic lecturers, non-autistic CEOs talk about autism as if we were objects or commodities.

If you don't feel seen or feel you are not represented accurately as a neurotypical person from a thread written by an autistic person,

multiply that feeling 100-fold and you get the autistic experience.

Maybe you'll even learn to empathize with us a bit more, who knows.