Autism is a developmental condition that can make both verbal and non-verbal communication more difficult.
Psychiatrist Leo Kanner first coined the term “infantile autism” in 1943, but autism symptoms were documented and recognized as far back as the 1700s.
Autism diagnoses are increasing among both boys and girls in the US, but that is not necessarily an indication that autism is “on the rise.” It could just be a condition that is more frequently diagnosed than it used to be.
Everyone with autism is a little different, and symptoms can range from subtle to debilitating. Here’s what to know about the reality of autism, and how it’s actually diagnosed.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all autistics & autistic cousins are created equal; that all are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Agency, Acceptance, & the pursuit of Happiness; that the pursuit of happiness can take many forms, including but not limited to Stimming both with & without Toys, seeking and avoiding Sensory experiences, & interacting with Special Interests & HyperFixations.
– That to secure these rights, Advocacy groups are instituted among Men, deriving their just missions from the consent of the affected,
– That whenever any Form of Advocacy becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Forms of Advocacy, laying their foundation on such principles and organizing their powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Advocacy Groups long established should not be abandoned for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that autistics and autistic cousins are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism and Eugenics, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Advocacy Groups and provide new Advocates for their future security.
–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Autistics and Autistic Cousins; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to overthrow their externally imposed Systems of Advocacy. The history of the present Autistic Awareness Movement, as embodied by its largest proponent, Autism Speaks, is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute removal of Atypical Traits from these Autistics and Autistic Cousins.
To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. among many concerns, we draw attention now to chiefly the following:
They have refused to acknowledge the opinions and intelligence of actually Autistic persons and Autistic cousins.
They have refused to respect the agency of actually Autistic persons and Autistic cousins, except wherein those persons make the choice desired of them.
They have supported and continue to support such barbaric forms of ‘intervention’ as ABA therapy, despite knowing the horrific roots of such strategies and its close relation to the nearly universally denounced torture of conversion therapy.
They have supported and continue to support measures of eugenics, such as funding research into the 'cause’ of such atypicalities and funding research into possible 'cures’.
They have contributed to stigma and fearmongering among the general population, furthering a narrative that tells society that autism is a monster stealing their children away, a narrative that lends itself to despair, pity, and increased sympathy for such evils as filicide.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Advocacy Group whose character is thus marked by every act which may define an Enemy, is unfit to be the advocate of any people.
We, therefore, the Nebulous Masses of Autistics and Autistic Cousins, Assembled and Connected via the Internet and Blogosphere, appealing to the Moral Arc of the Universe in the Belief that it Shall Bend toward Justice, do, in the Name, and by Authority of Our Own Minds and Will, solemnly publish and declare, That these Autistics and Autistic Cousins are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent Self-Advocates; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the Autistic Awareness Movement, and that as Free and Independent Self-Advocates, they have full Power to lobby Legislatures, make their Own Decisions, protest Indignities and Betrayals, and to do all other Acts and Things which Living Persons may of right do.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the belief in the Inherent Human Desire to Do Good, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Sharing this headcanon I have in honor of Autism Acceptance Month ♡
Disclaimer under the cut
Disclaimer: I’m aware that the disabled villain trope is problematic in itself and Venable is kind of a jerk, so I’d like to make it 100% clear that this hc’s come from a place of love and care, it is something that brings me a lot of comfort. Also I’m not demonizing these autistic traits (some of which I present myself), nor am I trying to use them to excuse any of Venable’s actions.
since it’s lesbian visibility day and autism acceptance month, all autistic lesbians are now extra powerful. i don’t make the rules sorry, that’s just how it works.
Remember that not every Autistic presents in the same way, we aren’t a monolith, and ADHD shares 80 percent comorbidities to the point where advocates are seeking deeper connections. So many of us have ADHD that everything is sliding around a Mobius Strip Spectrum.
