I'm autistic.
No, really. I'm autistic.
I'm not a person with autism. I'm clear about this. I'm explicit about this, and calling me such is disrespecting me.
So. This has been happening. This has been happening by people who consider them knowledgeable about autism, and knowledgeable about social justice. Multiple people.
People. It's not okay to override how people refer to themselves. It is not okay to go up to someone and say "I know who you are better than you do, so I am going to decide how you are spoken about." This is what you are doing. Repeatedly. Multiple of you. It is not okay.
It is not okay for you to claim social justice, when social justice to you means ablesplaining. It's not okay, to use my lived experiences as a way to somehow "prove" that you know what you're talking about. And then do it while ignoring any of my words. Ignoring even the simplest request of how you should speak about me. And yet. That's what you do.
I'm autistic.
I'll repeat that again. I say that I'm autistic. I don't need any reasons, because it is my choice.
I have reasons. I have many. But none of them matter when it comes to the simple matter of if you know and choose not to use my word, that is not okay.
My identity. Autistic.
Yeah. Not even autistic, but I had a "professional" get his panties in a bunch because I dared tell him to not correct autistic people on their language choice. According to him, I was the "disrespectful" one.
ReplyDeleteNo one should correct a person on how they refer to themselves. It's a crap thing to do.
Well said....your strength in standing up for yourself is admirable to me as an Autismom ♡ People really do need to treat others like people and start listening! ♡
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