{"id":5539,"date":"2021-05-04T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/?p=5539"},"modified":"2021-06-23T17:09:06","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T21:09:06","slug":"recording-supporting-the-autistic-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/recording-supporting-the-autistic-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Recording: Supporting the Autistic Community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In honor of Autism Acceptance Month, this special edition of Meetup Live sheds light on some of the issues facing the autistic community. In this installment of the Dismantling Social Injustice series, learn about ways that we can all be more inclusive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lydia Brown, (they\/them) of <a href=\"https:\/\/cdt.org\/\">Center for Democracy &amp; Technology<\/a>, and Carol Greenburg, (she\/her) of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thinkingautismguide.com\/\">Thinking Person\u2019s Guide to Autism<\/a>, discussed neurodiversity and the autism rights movement. They discussed the limits of autism research, testing, and legislation, as well as the impact of remote learning for autistic children. They also shared ways that we can take action to support the autistic community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Supporting the Autistic Community\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nYeJtqr8CpQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Main Takeaways about Supporting the Autistic Community:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Lydia:<\/em> Ableism is so entrenched in our society that laws that are supposed to protect us are not sufficient to address or eliminate the problems that disabled people face.<\/li><li><em>Carol:<\/em> There\u2019s no way to predict when an autistic is going to suddenly acquire a skill. Autistic people often have a punctuated learning style, where we have spikes in learning. It\u2019s upsetting when someone pities autistic people, claiming that we\u2019ll never do something. Who knows what could or couldn\u2019t happen, given the right circumstances and respect as full human beings and full citizens.&nbsp;<\/li><li><em>Lydia: <\/em>Autism is a developmental disability. It affects everything about a person\u2019s life. It affects the way in which we communicate, experience our senses, and the way we interact with others. It affects our thinking, our language, and our emotions. There isn\u2019t one definition of what autism looks like for everyone\u2014we are not identical to each other.<\/li><li><em>Carol:<\/em> Educational needs are not being met for autistic children. It\u2019d be great if school systems supported inclusionary education, where all children have access to an education that is appropriate for them. Autistic children end up overwhelmed in large classes, where their sensory needs are ignored and they\u2019re often not comfortable enough to feel baseline safe. The less privilege we have, the less likely we are to have access to an appropriate education.&nbsp;<\/li><li><em>Lydia:<\/em> The neurodiversity movement believes that our brains are not bad, broken, or wrong, and that all people deserve to be supported. That support should be on our own terms and respect our agency, autonomy, and humanity.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Top Q&amp;A:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>What is \u201cmasking\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Lydia: <\/em>Masking means when a disabled person attempts to hide being disabled. This can include mimicry of nondisabled people\u2019s ways of moving, speaking, or socializing, for instance.<\/li><li><em>Carol:<\/em> Masking is trying very hard to appear as non-autistic as possible in order to blend in for some perceived benefit. It happens most frequently in group settings and at work. Sometimes employment depends on being able to mask.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>How can people support the autistic community?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Carol: <\/em>Listen to us and take us seriously. When we say what we need, that\u2019s what we need. If you don\u2019t understand, then ask us questions and assume that you are capable of understanding our answers and continuing the conversation in whatever way suits the autistic person best.<\/li><li><em>Lydia: <\/em>Presume competence. Assume that we know about our own preferences, needs, and desires, even if sometimes we\u2019ll make bad decisions or be irresponsible (just like non-disabled people). Communication is always a two way street: what one person is expressing and what the other is understanding. This is especially true in the hardest, most uncomfortable, or confusing situations, and especially when a disabled person is in distress, experiencing difficulty, or is overwhelmed. They should not be treated as a problem or something to control or manage. This is the most important time to presume competence and enable the dignity of risk.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"post-excerpt\"><p>Explore issues that the autistic community face alongside ways we can help create a more inclusive and equitable society.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":5541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136,127],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Recording: Supporting the Autistic Community - Meetup Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore issues that the autistic community face alongside ways we can help create a more inclusive and equitable society\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/recording-supporting-the-autistic-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Recording: Supporting the Autistic Community - 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