Advocacy vs. Assholery

In the Autistic community, there is a difference between being angry about injustice / advocating hardcore for change, vs. being an asshole to your own people.

Getting angry at corporations partnering with Autism Speaks = Good ✔️

Gently educating non-autistic parents about the harms of ABA = Good ✔️

Policing the preferred language and identities of fellow autistics = ❌ Bad

Harassing helpful autistic advocates off the internet due to a single disagreement or mistake = ❌ Bad

We are all humans

It helps to avoid having an "us vs. them" mentality and recognize that we are all humans with strengths and flaws, unique circumstances, different upbringings, and all kinds of traumas.

Harassment ≠ Change

Harassment does not help educate or make change, unless the change you want is to scare the other person into a corner.

It's totally reasonable to request removal or alteration of harmful content or statements. It helps to explain why it is harmful too, if the person is genuinely ignorant.

However, if a fellow autistic advocate is doing tangible good, a small mistake should not warrant complete removal of that person from the internet.

On language policing...

If an autistic person is seeking help, validation, or sharing their story with others, but you disagree with their use of functioning labels or how they identify, consider whether it's useful or not to correct them.

You may have a strong opinion on how someone identifies, but their identity is ultimately their own choice. They may be coming from a different perspective.

Your feelings are valid, and it's okay to vent when you need to. We've faced so much abuse and trauma and it's not right. Just don't harass or invalidate others in the process.

The cycle of abuse stops with us.

Educate, do not force.