De-centering Pathology : Amplifying Austistic Voices
Some very basic reflections for NTs (neurotypicals) wanting to become allies :
1. Those of us in the Neurodiversity Movement do not align with language use that alludes to autism as a medical pathology. We follow on a social model of disability arguing for disablement as a social process. As such we reclaim identity language first - re: we are autistic vs. we have autism.
2. We also reject the idea that our lives fall on a spectrum, which infers a human hierarchy - re: 'high functioning, vs. 'low functioning' are devaluing labels. In that sense, Aspergers (which is considered a form of 'high functioning autism') has furthered the idea that some autistics are more human and thus more valuable than others based on arbitrary ideas of what communication (re: verbal communication as a higher form of communication) is or ought to look like, for instance.
3. ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) has been widely rejected by the autistic community due to its torturous nature - from forced eye contact, to punish and reward techniques, to even shock 'therapy' - the underlying principles of ABA reflect on its methods which are intended to turn autistic children into copies of neurotypical children, via suffering and assimilation. ABA continues to utilize torturous methods in an attempt to instill normativity on autistics globally. Our critique of it is as current as are its methods.