>I have become aware of an'autistic'community on the
>web and am interested in this. In some ways people
>accessing and using such resources remind me of the issues
>which used to get raised about the development of
>self-advocacy for people described as having learning
>disabilities. It was clear that there was/is a wedge or a
>difference between those who could (and managed to get the
>support) and those who were not self-advocates( because of
>the limitation imposed on them by their overpowering care
>regimes).
I'd like to involve less-empowered people with disabilities in
self-advocacy-- people still living in institutions, people in
community residential units, people in adult training and support
services, people in sheltered workshops, people at home with
over-protective parents. Other self-advocates would like this too.
We've talked about it amongst ourselves.
It's so hard, tho, to reach some people. The services they use often
don't want us to spend time with them. And even when we do-- some
people have been so disempowered for so long, it's hard for them to
see that things could be different. They can have choices, and
*should* have choices. That they can and should be able to speak up.
It sometimes takes a long time for people to realise that.
I saw the same sort of thing in the psych system. I would go into day
programs, and talk about the power of consumer groups. Or about
campaigns that were being run. People would just look at me blankly--
or they'd go to the staff, and ask *them* for help.
It's not about disability, really. It's about learned helplessness,
and learned powerlessness. And it's soooooooo hard to break thru. Even
when you get to talk to people, it's hard. And many people within the
disability and/or psych service systems-- even getting *that* far is
difficult. Staff lock you out.
>At the risk of an overlong reply I remember recently being
>brought up smart by a parent (and subsequently by someone
>with Aspergers Syndrome) when I described autism as part of
>the disability movement. Having mostly experienced work in
>learning disability I had perceived the struggle to be
>similar and I saw autism within that framework. I have to
>accept my mistake and the challenge to my understanding.
>
Many Deaf people don't seem themselves as disabled, either-- instead,
they see themselves as linguistically and culturally different.
And I've heard people within the mental health consumer/survivor
movement say things like "we're different, not defective".
Autistics and Cousins are better than NeuroTypicals at some things;
they are less good at others. Most NTs see only ACs "deficits", and
not our strengths. They expect us to adapt to *them*-- and not vice
versa.
Are AC struggles dramatically different to those of other groups of
people with disabilities? In some ways, maybe. In other ways, not.
- Ria (a brain injury survivor since early childhood, with a
non-verbal learning disability, CAPD and "autistic tendencies"; I'm
definately *not* NT, and usually identify as a "Cousin")
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Ria Strong
Melbourne, Australia
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