Some autistic adults I know take a month-long break social media during April. April is a month of inspiration porn and martyr mothers, autism cures and absurd ABA success anecdotes. Others take the opposite approach, making it their mission to respond to every article, blog post, tweet, or discussion about autism they can find. They set Google alerts and track autism hashtags. Those avoiding April and those attacking it are all responding to the trauma of how the world around us responds to autistics. Check out this episode!
At birth, doctors suggested I would be mentally disabled, in addition to the physical injuries I suffered. I have never been described as normal. “High-functioning autism” (HFA) is just another way to describe a few aspects of “me.” The autistic me is the creative me, the curious me, the complete me.