Autism Women’s Network wants to share with you an important sentiment from the Boycott Autism Speaks Page, as it also reflects how we at AWN feel about success, achievement, and ableism. AWN recognizes that if we’re not careful, those of us on the Autistic Spectrum can gravitate toward a specific way of defining ourselves in order to prove we are not “less than” the general population of people who do not have an autism diagnosis. In turn, this too often leads to explanations which focus upon achievements, secular success, elite careers, college education and all around acknowledgements of some form or another which society considers the marker when determining whether a person is valuable. AWN applauds success, so please don’t mistake this status for denigrating accomplishments, as nothing could be farther from the truth. However, we would like to share our concerns with how putting emphasis on success stories as a way to promote Autistic people’s worthiness can lead to discrimination against the greater community of Autistic people, as well as the greater disability community. Those of you who regularly follow our page understand why AWN does not subscribe to functioning labels. They are not accurate and do more harm than good as it relates to what constitutes “high functioning” and “low functioning” people. From BAS Page: “When many try to prove how not disabled they are or how able they are… we begin to walk a fine line between pride and ableism. We begin to place a divide in our community.” –via Boycott Autism Speaks (read full post: on.fb.me/1miXYCG)
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:00:02 +0000
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