Turning the lights blue goes beyond the usual fauxgressive charitable stunts to raise awareness of autism. It goes beyond silly stunts like posting your bra colour on facebook to raise breast cancer awareness or something similar. It's much more insidious, because it implies support of the message of Autism Speaks. The message of Autism Speaks has been consistently this: That autistic people are doomed without a cure, that our lives are meaningless, that an autism diagnosis is a catalyst to lifelong misery, divorce of the autistic person's parents, and turning an otherwise happy, white, upper-class family into a clusterfuck.
Nothing could be further from the truth. My life is not misery, I don't need a cure, nor does any autistic person, and I am not doomed by my autism.
If you see a blue building tonight, take a moment to remember that the blue light doesn't represent anything less than the worst of neurotypical presumptions and arrogance. That blue light doesn't illuminate, it casts shadows on the lives of every autistic person who has ever been told they're not good enough because of their disability.
Nailed it. Just shared this on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteThanks K. The month ahead is going to be... interesting, but I'm ready to go.
ReplyDeleteDamn, me too. I love blue. Are they just doing this tonight, or is there longer that I have to avoid dressing in my favorite color for?
ReplyDeleteIf you see a blue building tonight, take a moment to remember that the blue light doesn't represent anything less than the worst of neurotypical presumptions and arrogance. That blue light doesn't illuminate, it casts shadows on the lives of every autistic person who has ever been told they're not good enough because of their disability.
Beautifully said.
"My life is not misery, I don't need a cure, nor does any autistic person, and I am not doomed by my autism."
ReplyDeleteThank you for this.
I found this via Tumblr. Thank you so much for posting this.
ReplyDeleteThanks everybody! I love all the great feedback.
ReplyDeleteHayley, which Tumblr linked me? I'm honoured I was put on Tumblr, and curious as to who linked me.
Wow, it's been a while since I came here.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that "Autism Awareness" events are almost always "Autism is a Bad Thing and People With Autism are Unhappy and a Burden on Society" events. I used to just cringe when I heard "Autism Speaks," but now I'm starting to react the same to "Autism Awareness."
By the way, I was wondering...Would you be willing to change the link to my blog in your profile so that it just say says "Obsessive-Compulsive Daydreamer"? The "| Just Another WordPress.Com Site" was the default subtitle. I replaced it with another subtitle, but I may change that one again, so I'd rather just the main title be on links: "Obsessive-Compulsive Daydreamer."
I'm hoping to add more links to my own blog soon.
Hey, ocdaydreamer: I'd like to change the link, but I'm genuinely not sure how to do that. I'm not very good at the fine details of blogger, and don't know how I would change that.
ReplyDeleteOkay, it doesn't matter. :) Thanks anyway.
ReplyDelete