Thread by @JenniAgitator

What is occurring in Fairfax VA in response to the latest scandal of a school board member using R slur is perfectly illustrative of why the mantra of disability rights movement is #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs w/a whole lot of talking over & dismissal of neurodivergent pain 1/25

I'll start w/response of activists on right. Folks who have done nothing for neurodivergent kids, were never involved w/advocacy for NDs, now feigning outrage over the use of the R slur. @AsraNomani, w/out bleeping out the slur, has disseminated the painful video far & wide 2/25

In doing so, with tens of thousands of followers, and her media influence, actually said in a tweet, that her proving the hypocrisy w/which her parent friends have dealt is why she decided to risk causing NDs further pain, all while spreading the pain for more NDs to see 3/25

She claims to have thought long & hard about whether to inflict more pain onto intellectually & developmentally disabled people by this. In the end, as she condemned the use of the R slur, she decided to spread it all over because ND pain is of no real concern for her 4/25

In interview after incident, after she decided to traffic in our pain & exploit it, then she promoted the Shadowboard w/a panel of 4 vicious ableists, now infamous in our community for mocking an autistic student. This rocked ND community nationwide.

https://twitter.com/NickMinock/status/1562218675108732931?s=20&t=o0fSC-eTkP9MjS3tEWbrUg

5/25

Enter @HarryJ4Justice, one of the 4 bullies, featured in the above story. He claims he didn't know at the time the student he publicly ridiculed was autistic. But he's known for months now and continues to publicly malign and belittle him. A tweet of Harry's from YESTERDAY 6/25

@HarryJ4Justice, you've known for 4 months the student whom you ridiculed is autistic, yet you continue to demean him. You continue to imply those of us w/autistic kids should never let them be seen or to perform, or we risk people like you bullying and laughing at them 7/25

He also told me that "the special needs kids," a term we hate in disability rights community btw, need anything other than academics removed from their education, when the majority of accommodations for disabled students, esp for those w/high support needs, are non-academic 8/25

Yesterday @HarryJ4Justice proved again he doesn't talk to disability advocates, acting shocked by fact that neurodivergent students fall into discipline gap. This is a nationwide issue. The criminalization of neurodivergence must end. Read more here: endseclusion.org/articles/educa… 9/25

The right are spreading a petition calling for head of KKG. Neurotypicals, who don't care about ND pain, who aren't involved in our issues, who've never advocated for NDs, who don't talk to us, but over us, deciding a course of action w/out ND input. #ToxicNeurotypicality 10/25

While hypocrisy & faux outrage of RW over this issue is far more extensive, I think I've sufficiently made my point and illustrated the exploitation of neurodivergent pain and tragedy porn about our very existence coming from the right #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #TakeaSeat 11/25

Let's talk about the left's reaction now, bc from many, it's been dismissive of our pain, overtalking us. We've got the, "let's just move on from this" crowd, which is easy for them, when they aren't the people onto whom this pain was inflicted. There are a lot of those. 12/25

We have Fairfax NAACP statement, shared by Mt. Vernon Dems, who decided to accept an apology on our behalf, an entirely unsatisfactory apology. KKG has since changed it & felt much better for most of us. She spoke to us directly, and removed excuses. We needed that; thanks 13/25

Then went on to smear the victim of R slur, Rachna Sizemore-Heizer, mom of aut son, in what looked like some kind of personal vendetta. It felt like making excuses for the R slur to most. MANY in ND community are very offended. Settle personal matters elsewhere please, thx 14/25

I commented under their statement, maybe 5 tweets, because I was very hurt and angry by their take, and they removed the initial statement and reposted it, completely erasing my voice explaining why their statement was causing further pain 15/25

The silence of far too many on the left has been deafening, where it felt like we were entirely alone...again. Where the right was exploitive and feigned concern for our pain, the left told us our pain was of no consequence, gotta stick together, no matter what. #Erased 16/25

Sticking together means we shut up, get erased & dismissed. Disabled people are great as poster children of tragedy & pity, but when we are truly in pain, too many are nowhere to be found. This is hardly the first time I've experienced this from Team D, just the most recent 17/25

So what now? What do I want to happen as an neurodivergent person? What are others I'm talking to in our community saying? First, we need to be seen and heard. We need our pain to be justified. We will not sit down or shut up. We were harmed and we are experiencing pain. 18/25

Children in school, teachers, admins, if caught using R slur, are punished. Most w/whom I'm speaking want KKG to be censured for this, not discarded, but a signal to the public that hate speech, which is what the R slur is to us, is not acceptable. 19/25

We think most importantly, neurodivergent children need this justification for THEIR pain. The need to see that saying any kind of cruel slurs to NDs is met w/ swift action and given no quarter. Kids who bullied me as an ND child were the voices in my head for decades after 20/25

I could not read until late 4th grade. I was demeaned with the R slur from K-6. My family had to move across country for me to shake it. My son is intellectually disabled. The R slur is viscerally painful and personally offensive to me, NDs like me, and parents of NDs. 21/25

I don't believe in discarding people, esp a person as good as KKG who has been a Guardian Ad Litem, and dedicated her life to the uplift of children. I don't need her burned on a pyre for making this mistake. I need her to listen to a panel of NDs on the pain of the R slur 22/25

Dems want NDs to just move on; they want to restrain us and we're not here for that. We can heal, but we need restorative justice. We need to be heard, seen, and justified, in the form of dedicated advocacy for neurodivergent rights. We need the praxis more than preaching. 23/25

We can't let that word from a member of the school board be the voice in our neurodivergent children's heads; we just can't. If we do nothing and just sit down and shut up about it, I promise, it will be the voice heard in too many precious ND heads for a long time to come. 24/25

#NothingAboutUsWithoutUs Disabled inclusion means more than where we sit. It means where we are impacted, in policy or pain, WE must be seen & heard. WE must be centered. We are worthy of a world that doesn't dehumanize us & are demanding it now. 25/25

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