The Standard Review

Pretense be Damned

Society has always demanded a standard language and a degree of polite mannerisms that cover many inappropriate deeds and practices that are done against those we pretend are our members of "the" community but really aren't.

Whether it be an attribute or (as some claim) a deficit, the exchange of pleasantries for pleasantry sakes may not be a priority for autistics. Unfortunately, as individuals (and certainly not as a group), autistic people have traditionally not been taken seriously nor have they been given the benefit of the doubt when their message has disrupted the comfort levels of the more sophisticated and refined socialites.

Many injustices and much mistreatment is hidden and even encouraged by the demand for niceties at the expense of the more vulnerable and unprotected citizens. It is often said that "ideal" circumstances place too much of a burden on the sound structure that supposedly provides for the less fortunate for change to be practical or even beneficial for them.This often leads to the radical winds of change to become very strong and very loud before the discourse that has been caused by these luxurious attitudes is even recognized.

It's understandable that the first services that were offered to an oppressed and unrecognized minority would follow the already established course that keeps them in their "place". The societal structure is often seen as more important than the liberation of minorities.

The most recognized societal structure is determined by politics and too often minorities are taught that they must make so many sacrifices to "earn" their place among politicians that they lose sight of their goal and end up supporting the same exclusionary standards that they needed to stand against.

Autistic people are not without a history, but we are a part of the population whose expressions have been discounted and whose accomplishments have been tarnished with the belief that our abilities come with the price of our lacking empathy and having a disregard for others. Our willingness to accept how we are misunderstood is not a compromise that we can afford to make.

Look here for a bold view of part of our history and the courage to express what we actually *should* be cautious of. Look here for an example of the expressions that are too often described more radical than necessary.

Expressions of truth for the sake of liberation that have been suppressed are not only important but they are necessary for society to exist. It's important that we start recognising where those expressions are coming from and giving them more respect.

The Spoils of Victory

The term democracy is too often used with little regard of how far from anything democratic people actually are. While it is certainly the noblest ideal, the claim of being closer to the ideal than people actually are can give people a sense of liberty that hasn't been earned.

Liberties that have been stolen rather than earned are not only temporary, but they create a dangerous illusion that becomes more difficult to disguise over time. Those who actually provide liberties for others by the trade of slave labor or the domination achieved by abuse (which in turn actually makes them the slave of their victim) are never a part of any true democracy. Instead they are the ones who create the opportunity for the elite to delude themselves by falsely claiming that they somehow earned their freedom and the laws they enjoy were democratically achieved.

The good news is that sometimes when someone is politically, financially, and/or otherwise socially oppressed, they may have the opportunity to express their thoughts, which can in turn change minds. The opportunity to change minds is a powerful liberator. It should never be underestimated.

Unfortunately, the power to negatively label a person is a powerful tool of oppression. Some common oppressive labels are incompetence, insanity, or the deficit that causes people to not behave "properly". Of course an equal method of exclusion is to demand unreasonable standards of inclusion, which is often disguised as "the assumption of competence". Extreme labels of capable and incapable supports and maintains the already oppressive standards.

The identification of autistics can and should provide opportunities for liberation. Given the history of how this population has been treated, our liberation will of course be met with resistance. It is, however, very important to remember that this resistance is filled with very old and very impractical aspirations.

Autistics have not only been institutionalized, drugged, beaten, sexually molested, and unduly punished, but they have been killed for not meeting standard societal expectations. We are accused of being a burden on our families and a burden on society. This is not simply a historical account but this describes what is happening today.

Watch and listen here to how autistics are being described by "autism authorities" who claim to be "aiding us" with our relationships. Look here at the extreme and dangerous methods people are now using with the goal of teaching socially accepted behavior. Look here at the people who are creating the biggest political stir over the future of autistics and consider how afraid they are of having autistics involved with their organization.

Left to their own oppressive devices, these people will continue to become more indebted to those who are hurt by their actions (the autistics they claim to serve). I believe they should be relieved of this debt by ensuring a better and more liberated future for the autistic population.

More Misleading Images of Autism displayed by Autism Speaks

AUTISM SPEAKS VIDEO

In the video here, Autism Speaks again promotes more misinformation using a misleading description of autism and how the goals and methods of inclusion are actually being approached.

Such claims that promote the need for normalizing behavior therapies continue to also support negative stereotypes, dangerous treatments, more abuse of autistic people, and ultimately the devastating view of autism that leads to all of this. Unfortunately, Sullivan at LBRB is part of the group that chooses to promote these ads and their goals.

What Autistics Think

Any categorization of humans that has been subject to speculation from commercial enterprise and scholarly theorizing the way autism has been is bound to be completely misunderstood.

This exploitation has defined the diagnosis and the media hype that followed, and it continues to attempt to define autistics themselves. This attempt with such motivation will always be unsuccessful and only autistics can accurately define how the definition of autism relates to us and who we are.

The most blatant display of how commercial and academic pursuits intentionally attempt to define and therefore exploit autistic people is shown by the group named Autism Speaks. Their misleading name along with their refusal to listen to autistic people about who we are and what we think is the clearest way they show their contempt for autistic people.

There are very few people in the world who are being formally educated or whom are given an evaluation where they would receive any type of clinical diagnosis. Most autistic people were grown and would have few opportunities for such an evaluation before these evaluations became popular.This means the ratio of autistics who are identified as such is very small and the few that are discussing the issues that affect our lives is incredibly disproportionate of the population.

Since critical evaluations of causation theories and treatments would be a severe disadvantage to commercial and political enterprises, there is little of it being done.

Autistic people who have been fortunate enough (by the route of misfortune) to learn to identify the deceptive and abusive methods that their behavior is modified are naturally very opposed to these methods. Due to the powerful nature of the commercial interest of autism (and the general public's negative emotional response to the kind of definitions that aren't spoon fed by commercial and political spin) where people tend to seek information about autism is overwhelmingly lacking in the perception of autistics themselves. It's even more unfortunate that this results in what we have to say about how we are treated being either ignored or vigorously condemned.

If you go to where autistics are expressing who we are and what we think you will see clear evidence of how and why the public is clinging to dangerous methods of treating autistics by the abusive ways they attempt to modify autistics behavior. The commercial mainstream view perpetuates negative stereotypes, which lead to more mistreatment of autistic people. Ultimately, weather this abusive treatment continues to be mainstream will be left to the individuals who are part of our lives.

Used

Humans are able to manipulate tools and create patterns that simplify our lives. This is our best and most dangerous ability.

Investing our time and energy into helping others become happier makes us the best people we can be. However, unfortunately, since the first person began to document the study of human behavior, humans have been more interested in objectifying each other, which has made slavery our biggest obsession and our most corrupt industry.

Slavery is impractical (besides being inhumane) as it wastes our energy trying to subdue creative and imaginative behavior. This oppression is a societal staple that threatens diversity of expression. Describing the benefits of neurodiversity is a way to discourage this oppression.

Neurodiversity is not simply a political movement. Allowing it to become that can solidify and therefore, objectify the individuals who teach these values so that they as a group can be politically manipulated and ultimately ignored.

Claiming that it is justified to not vaccinate children due to the inaccurate media hype that claims that vaccinations cause autism and autism is horrible obviously counters the view that diverse populations are worthy of equal rights and equal respect.

Allowing for the ugly stereotypes that describe disability as the label of a life that is not worth living would also be in opposition to the acceptance of neurodiversity.

Claiming that the inability of parents and teachers to "manage" challenging behaviors warrants standardized, dangerously untested, and unethical behavior modification in public schools is also of course in objection to neurodiversity.

Among those who resist the benefits of accepting diverse populations, there are those who cling to the magical notions that medicine along with medical models and their treatments can create an ideal and predictable pattern in their life. The object of their unrealistic aspirations has made many of them as blind as a bear angered by hunger.

Neurodiversity is the celebration of all aspects of society no matter the uniqueness of their expression or the ways they serve or are served by others. Those who would counter such an ideal and progressive existence can't see their dependence on lives that have been isolated and objectified by their bigoted labels any better than they can recognize the unique, self-determined expressions that they themselves have to offer.

Dismissed

Unfortunately, we don't live in a world where respect is always earned and the reasons for not accepting someone's word or their opinion often has more to do with an abuse of power than it does with denying respect to those who don't deserve it.

The smaller the respect-decider group is that is in power, the narrower and strict their rules need to be, which provide them the opportunity to rule.

Behavior modification is a technique that relates to the psychology known as behaviorism (which was defined by Skinner) and was originally designed so that behavior could be more easily demanded by those in a position to do so. Those who judge people from this view of how all animals supposedly process information will naturally assume that the main achievement for people whose behavior is modified according to their belief will be that they know how to ensure for themselves the benefits given to those with the ability to comply.

This behavior modification opposes the idea of neurodiversity. The ethical claims of neurodiversity show that someone who is born with a less-than-common neurological configuration would need space to develop in less- than-common ways rather than being forced to comply with programs designed to normalize them.

When a single corporation (such as ABA's statewide PBS) seeks a government contract so that they will have the ultimate say over how, when, and where strict rules of normalcy are enforced it needs to be understood that their goal is to ultimately exclude rather than include diverse populations who see the world in different ways.
 
Having difficulty with executive functioning skills may show autistic people to be excellent candidates for programs with clearly defined guidelines. This also creates the biggest potential for abuse.

Once someone leaves a program where rewards and punishment (along with when and how they are administered) can always be anticipated, they are most prepared for another situation with a similar environment.

Preparing school children in such a way will teach them that they are nothing more than a composite of positive/negative behaviors and will teach their future caretakers which negative behaviors they are prone to so they can be further disciplined in those areas. After leaving a school where their behavior is constantly monitored and modified, they will then naturally fit well in institutional environments such as mental institutions, group homes and nursing homes, and rehabilitative services which would include jails.

The politicians responsible for promoting school wide PBS are very aware of how to sell this ABA product to parents of autistic children. These politicians are very skilled with intimidation tactics. Autistics themselves are also the best candidates for them to recruit as advocates of their behavioral program. Without our endorsement, they are less likely to seem autism-friendly to parents of autistics.

It is already very rare for autistic people to have confidence in their ability to communicate effectively in a way that will change public policy. It is even more rare for us to believe that we will have any voice in decisions that govern our future. Due to many societal methods of intimidation we have grown accustomed to, we are likely to expect that how we feel and what we believe about all behavioral demands of others will be dismissed as unimportant and unworthy of consideration.

The Minority's Voice is the Loudest

It may seem odd to some that anyone would claim that speech is being discouraged when they themselves appear to be exercising their freedom by addressing such matters. However, talking or writing about freedom of speech is pointless around people who somehow believe that some written law is what provides them that right rather than belonging to an influential group who is less likely to experience intimidation for stating their opinion.

The silent not talking about how situations affect them is not due to a lack of written law that allows them to do that. As a matter of fact, it is the written law that promotes the false idea that this freedom extends to all people in the same way.

Intimidation can have a very strong hold on the population of people that have experienced a great deal of oppression. Abuse cuts people deep in the heart and soul and wounds their courage to express themselves more than anything else. The message of intimidation is a constant reminder to them that freedom of speech is never available to all parties within their culture.

 

The law regarding freedom of speech is a clever disguise that prevents needing to deal with the population that is oppressed for reasons that liberate the elite who oppress them. Rights are often stolen from abuse victims many times before they comply with a dull subservient existence. This is a very sad state indeed.

People who have learned to identify methods of intimidation and are willing speak up about them continue to be silenced by the claim that they are complaining, not providing criticism that is constructive, or not giving alternatives to the oppression they speak about.

This is the main reason that autistics are not being provided a voice. Those who continue to speak on behalf of autistic people continue to find new and creative ways of validating their intimidation.

The worst offender of this crime is not the cure and fix autism crowd but is instead those who are in the position to address that crowd and empower autistics but choose to comply with the majority mainstream so that they can gain power by sacrificing the voice of those who have been oppressed and forced to comply with the majority against their will.

I sincerely hope that groups such as ASAN will consider removing the burden of proof from those who are experiencing intimidation and stop their intolerance of criticism so that they may feel free to simply empower and listen to the voices who are not being heard.

The Movement

With the recent publicity in the mainstream media regarding Neurodiversity as a movement that would counter what has been the typical description of autism, how any such a movement's common ideals are described is even more important. Unfortunately too often when people get a taste of the rewards of selling something they tend to become more concerned with acquiring more of those rewards at the expense of forgetting what made the product valuable and how to keep it that way.

In this post of Gonzo's, there are some very good references as to how disability activism and human rights can too easily be made less important to advocates than praising the attributes of autistics or clinging to medical references that attempt to devalue our experience. She makes some excellent points about why healthy discussion can help to create a refined understanding of our goals and why that's important.

Behavioral therapy is not a political football in that there is very little resistance to prevent the abuses that have been caused by such therapies. Behavioral therapy is sold by a very large corporation that intends to create a backing for their enterprise within the federal government of the United States.(How this is happening in the United States is what I'm most aware of. It's not that such things aren't also happening in other countries).

In order for this a corporation to acquire a monopoly (one that is endorsed and even demanded by the government) it would seem advantageous for them to show to everyone that they had the support of the only known group that resists the popular current medical model of autism.

Certainly, groups such as ASAN and any one else daring to redefine the medical model of autism with contemporary terms/ideals known as Neurodiversity  are in a position to show a very strong advocacy that is unwilling to accept any of the types of abuses or methods of abuse that have been acceptable in the past. While it may be advantageous for a political advocacy group to make compromises in the beginning in order to be seen and accepted among the major decision-makers, the expectation for their willingness to compromise will become greater over time. They're sustaining power will instead come by continuing to show that the word neurodiversity stands against what has known to be a method for abusing autistics.

Whenever a political group sacrifices the ideals of those who supported and propelled their political decision-making position in the first place (which allows them to be seen as a team player by other politicians), their position will ultimately show a weakened and diluted state as they will ultimately lose support.

The majority of autistic people who have had any type of treatment for their autism would certainly have a very firm stance against any treatment that even had the potential for being abusive. The elite few who are advocating for the rights of autistics have been given this privilege and responsibility as the result of being in the luxurious place where people will listen to their views.

Most autistic people are not listened to. This is not due to lack of ability to communicate but rather the unwillingness of society to give credit and understanding to a population without political support.

Any part of the mainstream media's view of autism that doesn't support treatments that are abusive is involved in silencing the voice of autistics in other ways such as treating them with condescension and pity.

If a movement such as Neurodiversity is at all successful, it will encourage more autistic people to openly speak up about what they believe.(This is something that all autism's political advocates including those claim to support Neurodiversity are working to discourage). If and when more autistic people do speak up it will be obvious that no political advocacy group has been willing to listen.

Unconventional Pride

Today on Autistic Pride Day, I'm thinking about how convention has taught us what we must be proud of, and what we must be ashamed of. Shame can be good when we experience it due to knowing that we made bad choices or hurt someone based on what our own conscience tells us. Unfortunately too much shame is due to a group conscience or societal conscience that is actually proud of making bad choices, which are imposed on individuals in the name of progress. Then our choices seem all mixed up because what society praises as progress is contrary to the heartfelt decisions we make that honor ourselves and each other just for being who we are.

The way that mainstream society describes autism teaches people to demand progress in areas that often don't really matter, and they often demand it within a too short of a  time frame that ultimately works against rather than in favor of progress. People learn and feel good about themselves when they can see that they are able to influence their environment. Human influence comes when people honor who you are, and what you think. Skillful influence is prone to deceit and is tricky and fleeting at best.

When people are unafraid of punishment due to their lack of accepted skills, they are free to experience their environment and that will introduce them to a seemingly limitless understanding which will lead to skills they would never otherwise acquire.

Rather than temporary setbacks and the need for different types of accommodations with different expectations, Western medicine creates models of illness and disability, which work together with sociological hierarchies to determine a person's worth by how well they fit the current commercial framing of success.

People who are unwilling to accept what autistics can teach them about autism, people who will chase after the next fad/quack cure for autism, and people who concern themselves with searching for the external force that has supposedly robbed their family of competent living will not have the time or the insight to experience the joy of autistic pride, which comes from having autistic people in their lives.

Praising certain fashionable skills does separate people according to value. There is no way to claim that what society labels a person according to their level of functioning doesn't also determine what society sees as their worth.

We don't need to save autistics because they may have or acquire skills that society will accept as valuable. We don't need to hire someone or allow public officials to mold the behavior of autistics when they aren't even inspired to understand them.

When autistic people start saying what we really think rather than what we are taught we should and others start listening to us because we have something valuable to say rather than out of pitiful obligation (or rather than not listening out of contempt for who we are), it gives everyone an opportunity to learn. Doing that is something everyone can be proud of.

Reactionary Treatment Protected

Reactionary treatment won't solve the problems that reactionary treatment caused. Thoughtful consideration and critical examinations of how we might truly improve things are never convenient and rarely marketable.

Even though the mainstream media are following and helping to create an ugly campaign that negatively stereotypes autistic people and encourages exclusion and abuse, some feel that enough compromise would help these misguided folks to see things from a neurodiversity standpoint. This is a mistake. Such compliance/compromise promotes the environment that protects a reliance on abusive reactions that are convenient.

When murders of autistic people have been committed, some journalist and bloggers wrote about how the number of births for autistic people was increasing, how difficult it is to raise an autistic child, and why such events indicated that more services were needed to provide for this population. What's most important about this view is how it is used to promote the same ugly campaign that ultimately attacks the rights of autistic people.

When kindergarten teacher Wendy Portillo had been emotionally abusive to an autistic child some again focused on the school systems lack of disciplinary training rather than the broader mainstream agenda that encourages and protects the attitudes that create such problems. With these attitudes prevailing among those who hold public office and public employment the exclusivity and abuse which the attitude causes are also protected.

When the people have asked for more services people with these attitudes wanted to maintain a behavioral program that would allow the commercial discipline to continue as the regulator of school problems, rather than taking the time and effort to make real comprehensive corrections. They put a sweet sounding "positive" name on traditional ABA. The name of course is Positive Behavioral Support or PBS.

Since their maintenance programs have always been managed by deceit rather than the in depth investigation by the public system that it needs to operate efficiently as well as ethically, positive aspects of the new program are described as: reducing restraint and seclusion by having restraint and seclusion done by professionals, providing better education for the disabled because their own chaos of misbehavior impedes their own learning, inclusion of students who they claim would require too much money to exclude, and less institutionalization because school systems would become corrective institutions that would serve as early intervention for the otherwise misguided citizens.

Nothing about these claims puts responsibility on the teachers and superintendents of the public school systems to evaluate how they have mismanaged problems in the past. Instead the plan focuses on mistakes that students make because of their learning disorders and family background and the staff who has not been trained to use "proper" disciplinary action.

Behavioral analysts naturally make excellent marketing agents and the lack of reality-based ethical research that the majority of the public has been taught to avoid is part of why children and the punished and warehoused population of adults who observe this void are misbehaving in the first place. It's no wonder that the cycle is continuing as the commercial behavior modification specialists sell us on teaching our kids to submit their minds and wills to an authority who provides them with the luxury of ignorance.

In the school system where police officers grab, and physically restrain kindergarten children and teachers encourage other children to punish and humiliate their classmates, Wendy Portillo will be keeping her job and her tenure will be restored. By this action misplaced faith in the school can be protected and the claim can be made that instead of inappropriate disciplinary actions more teachers need to be trained with good disciplinary actions. Without this critical evaluation, our schools will not have an opportunity to move in a more positive direction and all investigations into these matters will remain corrupt.