Awareness can be a good first step to fixing a problem (like the problems including Autistic & NeuroDivergent people in NeuroTypical society).

You see something’s broken (like many of our society’s systems are) and you may even take note of some the problems you have become AWARE of within the faulty system. You are now aware BUT awareness only goes so far.

Being AWARE of something is not the same as taking action. Awareness is very limited, in that it doesn’t move further, into taking actions as to what’s needed to truly include, empower, and accept Autistic people.

In the past Autism Awareness campaigns, in general, have been especially problematic, because they have a history of proving fear and stigma, around NeuroDivergence.

Transcript:

Autistic Acceptance, Empowerment, & Inclusion – Moving Beyond Awareness

Hey everyone, NeuroRebel here, and this week, continuing in April,  topics that are  targeted to Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month. This week, we’re talking about Autistic acceptance, empowerment, and inclusion, and why we really need to move beyond awareness for Autistic people this April.

Awareness can be a good first step to fixing a problem.

Let’s underline that word problem .

You see, we’ve got something that’s broken, like many of our society’s systems are and you may even take note of some of the problems that you have become aware of within these faulty systems.

You are now aware, but this awareness only goes so far.

Being aware of a problem and being aware of something is not the same as taking action.

Awareness is very limited, because it doesn’t move further into doing the steps that are needed to truly include, empower, and accept Autistic people into a society that wasn’t set necessarily set up with us in mind.

This is not the only issue.

In the past, Autism Awareness campaigns, specifically, have been, especially, problematic.

This is because they have a history of promoting fear and stigma around NeuroDivergence.

We’ve spoken about how awareness can  be helpful because it can point us at problems, helping to gain sympathy for causes that may be underserved, but Autistic people are not a problem.

We are human beings and autism awareness campaigns  paint us as things that need to be fixed, despite the fact that we don’t need fixing.

These campaigns, don’t help Autistic people. They help make money for companies in the medical industry that served profit off Autistic people – the autism industrial complex.

It’s time to move beyond awareness.

We all aware of autism, now. We know Autistic people exist.

It’s time to start thinking about the human side of things, what Autistic people need and how we can fix society’s systems, so that NeuroDivergent people can be fully included and empowered.

There’s a Brene Brown quote. I really love, I really love Brene Brown in general, but this particular quote, as it applies to NeuroDiversity and my life is a lot for me.

And the quote is that:

“True belonging  doesn’t require you to change who you are. It requires you to be who you are.”

his is what Autistic people need. We need for society to stop asking us to change who we are and allow us to be who we are.

Acceptance is the next step.

Autistic people need the freedom to accept and appreciate themselves.

I’m Autistic. I’m asking you not to make my birth, life, and, eventual, death as an Autistic person into a tragedy, so people can be aware of my struggles as an Autistic person.

Many of my struggles are, actually, by society’s design; the society that was set up without my needs in mind. Telling me I’m the problem – that I need to straighten up and fit in to a system that won’t bend.

It hardly seems fair that autistic people have been doing most of the bending for many years now. Is it really that horrible to ask for some flex that we might meet in the middle?

Accept that some of your systems are, in fact, broken and they’re going to need to be modified, to make things equitable for NeuroDivergent people moving forward.

Accept the human  side of the Autistic experience, instead of the very heavily medicalized story that’s been told. Start accepting, and even appreciating, Autistic people and experiences.

Accept our strengths, our weaknesses. Accept the duality, that is in our human existence.

Thank you so much for hanging out with me this week.

I know these videos, this month, are a bit serious. I’m really grateful.

Help  spread this information. Give it a share.

If you learned something new today,  drop a comment- what did you learn today? Or did this inspire any of your own thoughts?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments and ideas, and even video suggestions below for future topics because after April, we will get back to our regularly scheduled content.

I want to give a quick shout out to the subs, not the sub sandwiches, the subscribers, the subscribers who are subscribing on Patreon, Facebook, and now YouTube.

I am very grateful for you giving that little extra, to subscribe to the Neurodivergent Rebel Blog and help me to continue to create and put out quality content on a regular basis.

I couldn’t do it without you. Thank you so much for your help.

Whether you are subscribing or sharing, interacting, commenting, or giving video ideas, I am very grateful that you are here each and every one of you.

Thank you so much. I will see you next Wednesday.

BYE!!!

Help me get the word out!!! – If you like what I do, and would like more, please consider subscribing on Patreon. This blog is made possible by support from readers like YOU!  (Sharing my content is also, equally helpful!)