Seeing a whole lot of people declaring victory.

Maybe think about the queer folks who aren't in a major NDP city and didn't get the support they needed and were outnumbered by fascists?

Maybe don't alienate those people by pretending yesterday was a total success?

https://twitter.com/FunFactsLulu/status/1704562498001572028

Pretending for the media won't help us. It'll only make people disengage bc they think everyone's safe hearing ppl on TV say "ya we won they're a tiny minority" meanwhile NOT in Toronto there's queer defenders who had to go home via 5 extra routes to avoid being followed by fash

Navigating being treated really badly by a friend whose personality and memory changed drastically after covid infection has revealed a lot of internalized ableism but once I started tackling that it made me really hate how we talk about anyone with dementia or alzheimers tbh All I had for reference going into this was dehumanizing garbage.

And that's what a HUGE swath of our population will be stuck with when this all sinks in.

We need massive public education campaigns abt supporting people with memory loss and navigating changing personalities.

People don't wanna hear this, but government capitulation to ableist parents, especially those demanding behavioural reprogramming (like ABA/IBI) for their kids, have set up this "parental rights" situation and prepared legislators to approve deadly and dangerous practices. "But the parents say the kids NEED this"

"But the parents are the ones who KNOW their children"

"But the parents are the ONLY ones who know kids needs"

"But the parents LOVE their children more than you know anything!"

Get used to regular reminders that this summer the American Medical Association officially recinded their support of ABA "therapy", for reasons including documented harm it causes to children + the lack of meaningful evidence that it is helpful.

this was a 1st reminder✨️ There will be many. Many more.

Trying to build intergenerational bridges from young badass activists to older advocates, who insist that young people don't know or understand anything and have never experienced true struggle, is one of the worst parts of organizing. So many older people just hate youth. There are so many times that an old disabled person has said something so fking offensive abt young disabled people I have nearly given up + decided to never work w old people ever again.

I've never had a young advocate throw anything near the disrespect old ones do constantly.

Really hate "AuDHD" cause it is sending us BACKWARDS making people call themselves a disorder again. Hate it. I don't think anyone "has" autism. They "have" autistic brains. I'm opposed to pretending autism is something a brain "has" rather than how a brain is. And yall proudly calling yourselves "having a disorder" are setting us the fuck back

I am not a bridge to ableist parents. Not all autistic people have to go around pandering to parent lobbyists all day.

Some have to, certainly, and luckily some people are actually able to handle dealing with shitty parents! So they're the right people for that job. Ain't me. Some people also have to be focusing on politicians. Some have to focus on educators. Some have to focus on doctors. Advocates.
And we're all gonna talk different and approach it different.

But bubble-wrap handling angry ableists for free shouldn't be demanded of any of us.

As an autistic communicator it's important for ppl around me to understand that if you agree w something & then I keep explaining why I suggested it, it's not because I don't think *you* understood.
It's because I am worried that *I* have not provided sufficient "why" answers. Just let me run myself out of reasons to do the thing, I'm processing and making sure all the information everyone needs is out there.

I've done so much and grown so much and learned so much and my brain trained by my parents to believe nothing I ever do is good enough is still mad at me for not being like a whole established researcher in the field I am currently still professionally entering Human brains and trauma are fuckin ridiculous

That I love you all so dearly is not changed by the fact that i think you're foolishly letting the government expose you to a pathogen that's gonna make the rest of your life considerably more difficult and expensive.

But my love and respect for people have become... disjointed. There are people I used to follow the advice of, or go to for guidance, who I will never respect or trust with anything important again.

I love them still as family members or friends, but I have no respect or trust left for them. It feels so weird to hear someone talking &

Happy Monday, anyone telling you that autistic children "need" intense behavioural intervention has no idea what autism is or how autistic brains work and you should ignore their nonsense 💜 [Autism is not a behavioural condition. Autism is a type of way the body and brain experience things; which means when people complain about "behaviours" autistic kids "have" they're focusing on 100% the wrong thing & neglecting whatever is actually important for the child]

Hey white autistics:
When you get called out for doing something colonial as hell,

You don't have to pretend what's going on is you're being oppressed for autistic traits.

You can say "Shit, you are right. This idea was rooted in colonialism, I'll read up on better frameworks" Yes, Autistic people make mistakes. Autistic people also absorb the prejudices and discriminatory frameworks they are raised with. Autistic people can learn and grow away from those cruel and dangerous frameworks. But only if they acknowledge them and commit to doing better.

I actually despise the very common adage "autism isn't all sunshine and rainbows"
because sunshine burns me on sight + gave two of my grandparents cancer. rainbows are only visible from some angles and in some conditions.

Nothing is whatever yall think sunshine and rainbows are. My autism is absolutely all rainbows and i'll thank you all to f off about it

Sorry but owl city's new song about working in the grocery store might be the most autistic attempt at an inspirational song I have ever heard lol I love him so much. And this song. It's a marvel of autisticness.

Maybe it is the philosophy degree, more likely it is the autism, but the encompassing range of information I am constantly tryna fit into things -so that people will understand that I'm certain about what they've asked me and there's a ton of good reasons why- is sometimes Loud. But I cannot have people walking around thinking I haven't bothered considering parts of this stuff.

Bc I actually work in groups and on collaborative projects. And if they think you haven't thought of something they sometimes tank your shit without ever asking you if you did.

Absolutely breaks me when a parent/ sibling of autistic person asks how to "handle challenging behaviours", autistics respond that it's actually not random or inherent, there are causes for distress in what we are experiencing, & the family says "never thought about it like that" These are sometimes adults, full life lived w their family not ever considering what they're going through; only reacting to physical behaviour. Sometimes kids who've only been presumed incompetent for 5 or 10 years.

All the same weight of heartbreak for these trapped autistics.

If your autism advocacy doesn't include nonspeakers it's not what we need I don't really care what you have to say about autism at all if you haven't been actively seeking out and learning from nonspeakers.

And it's painfully obvious some of you are not doing that.

Okay time to try to not catch covid during a required medical test at hospital.

I hate so much that getting any kind of healthcare is so terrifying right now. All because of people who won't wear proper masks. If you're one of the folks who's been posting maskless selfies with politicians or in crowds, you have contributed to me and other disabled people being in danger when we try to get medical care. Congrats.

Thinking about my friend Jake this morning. He had the brightest smile and he refused to let anybody feel alone, in times when it really mattered. He died due to toxic drug poisoning.

Limiting folks' painkillers wouldn't have saved him. Providing him painkillers could have. It's that simple: people are dead because we've denied them painkillers, we've denied them the care they need.
Countless people.
But still, there are those who think cutting off any chance at pain management somehow won't lead to more people finding their kids dead on the ground

That fucker back abt the "prognosis" for his kid. the way these people talk.

Autism isn't deadly. It isn't a disease, and it isn't some kind of moral wound.

When parents are pushed into marketing for an industry as soon as their kids are diagnosed, it's not for the kids. Autism doesn't require therapy.

There's no inherent need for intensive intervention when a kid is autistic.

If a kid is struggling, it tends to be because they don't have access to communication, they have undiagnosed apraxia, or because their environment is hurting them.

The horrific video of the Indigenous autistic boy in Vancouver is shattering & I need you to know it is not abnormal.

Cops, social workers, "special ed teachers", ABA workers, & parents all restrain disabled children that way often. Restraining autistic kids like that is COMMON. Now that you know this, will you start to listen when we say we need a radical shift in how we talk about, and approach, disabled kids?

Will you listen when we say the presence of cops inherently endangers disabled kids?