Content Note: discussions of abuse, denial of communication, functioning “levels”
Continue reading “The Presumption of Competence”Tag: self-advocacy
A Poem for Mel
in memory of Mel Baggs, 1980-2020, autistic self-advocate, teacher, friend, and unapologetic defender of human rights and the undeniable dignity of all people.
Continue reading “A Poem for Mel”A Short Reaction to “Music” and the Reactions to It
Content Notice: discourse around the movie “Music”; ableism and discrimination against semi- and non-speaking autistics.
Continue reading “A Short Reaction to “Music” and the Reactions to It”Poetry as AAC
Content Note: mentions of misogyny, anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes, ableism, racism
this is a poem about
how i communicate and
how i think and
why that matters Continue reading “Poetry as AAC”
An Essay: “Disability is Natural”
Content notice: (reclaimed and unreclaimed) anti-LGBTQ+ and ableist slurs, mentions of anti-LGBTQ+ and ableist violence, discussions of anti-LGBTQ+ prejudice and ableism.
Dispatches from a Pandemic: On Being Socially Distant Even Before This All
Content Notice: (internalized) ableism and anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry, suicide/self-harm, cure/shiny Aspie autism politics, drug use, smoking, drinking, COVID-19, sex/relationships, (reclaimed and unreclaimed) slurs.
I wrote a thing. I haven’t written here in almost a year but I needed to write this, right now. There’s a lot of discourse from disabled people who were homebound/socially isolated before COVID-19 stay-at-home orders around abled people complaining about being stuck at home. I have thoughts. I have a lot of thoughts about this. Being at home, with my family, is not good in a lot of ways for me. I’m safe and secure, don’t worry, but I miss a lot of the things I had. But a lot of the things other people had and complain about missing are things I never had.
I hope you like it.
EDIT at 2119 hours on 11 April 2020: About an hour after posting this, I learned that Mel Baggs, whose work I cited in this post, died today. I am heartbroken. Mel was an unyielding, blunt, incredibly advocate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Hir video In My Language was the first piece of by-and-for autistic people media I ever consumed. I owe so much to Mel’s advocacy. We all do. Rest in power, Mel. We will carry your work forward.
Continue reading “Dispatches from a Pandemic: On Being Socially Distant Even Before This All”
hometown (an indictment of sunnyvale)
content notice: death, murder, filicide, death of disabled people, death of children, gun violence, Fire, suicide, ableism, ABA, murders of George Hodgins, Tracy Latimer, and Daniel Corby.
Language, Language, Language!
Content notice: person-first language, dehumanization, ableism, medical discrimination, academic discrimination
Notes on Language Around Autism
Content warning: functioning labels, discussion of person-first/identity-first language.
Medical Autonomy, Social Determination, and Self-Advocacy
Content notice: institutionalization, deprival of rights, psychiatric violence, sexual harassment/assault, medical malpractice, involuntary treatment, guardianship, functioning labels, and a description of lobotomy.
Continue reading “Medical Autonomy, Social Determination, and Self-Advocacy”
mumblings from an autistic fairy 