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Category: Disability

Person-First or Identity-First? It’s Simple; Both!

Person-First or Identity-First? It’s Simple; Both!

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The debate over whether to use person-first language (PFL) (e.g., person with autism) or identity-first language (IFL) (e.g., autistic person) has been ongoing within the autism community, and while many identify with and use PFL, the majority seem to identify with and use IFL. I’d like to end this debate by pointing out one simple thing: it’s a red herring! In other words, it should not be a discussion of one versus the other (as the argument posits). This fallacy…

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What i Joke About When i Joke About Allism

What i Joke About When i Joke About Allism

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On this blog, i have joked about allism a lot, so i thought i’d take some time to identify the ironic undertones at the heart of allism’s etymology and intended purpose. Specifically, i’d like to talk about what’s not being talked about when i joke about allism. When i read out-of-context jokes about allism, they can (sometimes) seem harsh (if only slightly) from an allistic (read: not autistic) perspective. (Wait, aren’t autists supposed to be unable to empathize?) And while…

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A Brief Pause for Raisons D’être

A Brief Pause for Raisons D’être

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My pragmatic language is not a problem for me. It becomes a problem when society values attention over (and as an assumption of) intent. In addition to my ability to make consistent eye-contact (despite finding it uncomfortable in certain contexts), i have an impeccable ability to interpret others’ levels of comfortability and attention based on their body language. For example, i was greeting dogs properly since i was a child; their fear of direct eye-contact/approach and comfortability with indirect eye-contact…

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(Neuro)Queering Medical Rhetoric: The Case Against Autism Functioning Labels

(Neuro)Queering Medical Rhetoric: The Case Against Autism Functioning Labels

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TL;DR appears post-script. First and fore-most, let me say that functioning labels are not formal medical or clinical terms with regard to autism. They are not formally recognized medical conditions them-selves, and the DSM (or what i ironize as “the clinician’s dictionary”) no longer recognizes “low- or high-functioning autism” as official classifications (note that they were actually never diagnoses). This distinction is necessary (in my opinion) when philosophizing about issues of “good and bad” (in this case, whether or not…

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Four Years Later, Disability Is Still Too White

Four Years Later, Disability Is Still Too White

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I am White, non-binary, neuroqueer, and disabled. I believe it is crucial to be transparent as soon as possible about my positionality (where relevant) when discussing intersectional issues related to disability (and always starting with Whiteness to highlight how my White privilege directly and deleteriously impacts the other [already-marginalized] communities i identify with). Whiteness’ vague definition, which has been (and still is) debated throughout history, is insidious in the way it de-identifies it-self with race and affords White people the…

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A Movie Changed My Life

A Movie Changed My Life

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Content Warning: trauma, suicide, death, drug use, abandonment, spoilers I have a vivid memory of the first time i watched the 2009 Australian claymation film Mary and Max. I had recently turned 18, and one of my great friends had died suddenly earlier that year from health complications they were unaware of. Mary and Max played on a relatively old CRT-TV in the basement of the house of a friend (whom i didn’t care too much for). I sat watching…

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(Self) Diagnosis and the Paradox of Pathology

(Self) Diagnosis and the Paradox of Pathology

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I used to believe that if i couldn’t understand my-self, perhaps someone more familiar with my experiences could. I still do (to a degree), but now i put more belief in my ability to gain self-awareness and the power that that self-awareness has in helping me find the support i need. Although it may also come from a place of ignorance and/or misguidance, i believe the field of psychology wields diagnostic authority as a means of harnessing and maintaining control…

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The Case For and Against The Office (U.S.)

The Case For and Against The Office (U.S.)

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The internet is rife with blog- and forum-posts on the pathologization of characters in the U.S. TV series The Office, specifically regarding autism spectrum dis-order (ASD). From Michael to Angela to (the most common) Dwight, ASD stereotypes have been applied to the behaviors of these beloved characters (by autists and allists alike) to argue for or against their likeness to autists. Indeed, every character on the show has been pathologized by internet users in one way or another. One reason…

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ABA: Good Intentions Are Not Good Enough

ABA: Good Intentions Are Not Good Enough

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Content Warning: trauma, forced compliance, gaslighting When i graduated from university with my b.a. in psychology and human sexuality, i had been in school for 19 consecutive years. By that point, and in spite of my valiant effort to avoid burn-out (by taking my higher education slowly), my candle was burnt at both ends from the oppressive “color-within-the-lines” antiquities of the draconian U.S. public school system. (Clearly bitter; i attribute much of my suffering throughout my education to the [dangerous]…

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