From “Unexpected” to Acceptance: Why Social Skills Programs Must Stop Vilifying Neurodivergent Behaviors

In recent years, social skills curriculum has been increasingly popular in schools as a means of teaching social skills to neurodivergent students. The Social Thinking curriculum was published in 2009, and is still being widely used today, mostly in elementary school classrooms. These programs often use colorful characters and engaging activities to teach students about […]

Comparing White House Proclamations for World Autism “Awareness” Day

Every April, the White House will usually come up with a statement or proclamation for World Autism “Awareness” Day or Month. The White House may even decide to “Light it Up Blue” for autism and call other Americans to do the same, despite many autistic people rejecting Autism Speaks for its long ableist history, and […]

Strict Compliance Does Not Belong in the Virtual Classroom, Either.

As COVID-19 vaccines are gradually rolling out, teachers in some states are already returning to in person learning or hybrid models of teaching both in person and online. While my biggest concern is without a doubt the safety of teachers and students returning to the physical classroom environment during a global pandemic, a secondary concern […]

Sia’s New Movie, “Music” is a Missed Opportunity for Authentic Disability Representation.

On November 19th 2020, Australian singer-songwriter, Sia Furler released the trailer for her upcoming new movie, Music which will debut in limited release to theaters in February, 2021 and will include stars such as Kate Hudson and Leslie Odom Jr. While many of Sia’s fans were excited about this news, there was also an outcry […]

Rosa’s Law Ten Years Later: The Road to End the R-Word

Content warning for ableism, discussion of eugenics and forced sterilization, and uncensored use of the r-word. On October 5th 2010, President Barack Obama signed Rosa’s Law, which changed the medical usage of the r-word (“medical retardation”) to “intellectual disability” in U.S. legislation. The use of the r-word was removed from federal health, education, and labor […]

Who Should We “Bridge the Gap” With in Our Advocacy?

Over the last few months, I have seen attempts from autistic people, including prominent advocates who reach out and “bridge the gap” with people who may not otherwise have found out about or been involved in the autistic community, or who we would usually advocate or fight against. Last year, Haley Moss, an openly autistic […]

Exploiting Autistic Children Online is Not “Cute” or “Family Friendly.”

Content warning: This article discusses themes such as child abuse and exploitation, as well as damage from Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). Autistic children are too regularly exploited, and are victims of abuse and neglect. To make this issue worse, this often goes unseen when the vlogs doing the exploitation are depicted as “family friendly” or […]

Is Autism Speaks Capable of Change?

For their fifteenth anniversary on February 11th, Autism Speaks unveiled its new logo and campaign, declaring 2020 to be the “year of kindness.” But aside from slightly changing their logo, has Autism Speaks really changed much at all? Or are they capable of changing in the future? It is no secret that Autism Speaks has […]

A New Decade of Autism Appreciation

As 2020 approaches, it is almost the start of not only a new year, but a new decade. It has been over twenty years since the term, “neurodiversity” was coined in 1998. How has the neurodiversity movement progressed throughout the decades, and what should the next decade look like for autistic advocacy? In the 1990’s […]

Good Autistic Advocacy Organizations vs. Bad Autism “Charities”

There are a lot of autism organizations out there, and it can sometimes be difficult to tell which ones are worth supporting, and which are worth boycotting. Some organizations appear to be autistic advocacy organizations, when they are in reality harmful to autistic people. What is the difference between autistic advocacy organizations and bad autism […]