The Neurodiversity Movement

Autism is becoming more frequently seen in the news.  There are stories of parents killing their autistic children, theories of possible causes, and most recently a report that numbers of autistics diagnosed are rising; but it’s very rare to see a view of autism that's more than tolerant, it’s positive.
That view was still missing in this article from the UK’s Times Online.  Even though the article was about the emergence of the Neurodiversity movement, and specifically the Autistic Pride movement within that (although the article does not address the difference between the two), it’s clear the author doesn’t quite buy what she’s reporting.
She also doesn’t understand it.  The author, Anjana Ahuja, makes the claim that “The movement is driven, unsurprisingly, by those at the high-functioning end of autism.”  Obviously Ahuja has never heard of Amanda Baggs, a mostly nonverbal individual with Kanner’s Autism whose blog (ballastexistenz.autistics.org) is one of the few read by almost every individual involved in the movement.  There are others, too, often not as well known, who participate in both leadership and non leadership roles.  Ahuja also says that within the groups involved in the movement (she specifically mentions Aspies For Freedom, whose forum I am an active member of), “non autistics are portrayed as sad conformists unable to operate outside the social horde”.  This is a huge generalization of exactly the type the Neurodiversity movement is trying to disavow.  We hold that in any large and diverse group there are differing opinions; Ahuja’s statement makes it sound as if we all believe the same things.  As an insider, I can tell you we don’t.  There are those who wish that all “Neurotypicals”, normal people, would die; there’s a lot of bitterness in general from those who have suffered abuse because they’re autistic.  But there are many others who believe that we are all good people, and will gladly tell you about Neurotypical friends they’ve had and all the good things Neurotypicals do.  There are people who don’t want any aspect of autism treated in any way, and others who want only things that are hindering, like inability to communicate, to be treated (usually through therapy).  In fact, virtually the only thing we all agree on is that autism is not a terrible “disease” or “burden”, but a different way of functioning and thinking, with its own pros and cons just as being Neurotypical has both its pros and cons; for example, I know many autistic individuals cannot comprehend how Neurotypicals get by without the intense focussing skills most autistics have.

The Autistic Pride movement fascinates me.  I’ve been interested in it for almost a year now, and I think what interests me the most is watching the formation of a brand-new subculture.  Aspies For Freedom has only existed for five years; the whole movement is quite young.  And yet, already there is a clear distinction between this subculture and that of the larger culture.  To start with, there are the differences all involved share just from being autistic; their shared experiences of autism, their autistic traits, make up a large part of the culture.  Then there is the jargon.  There’s many words, a lot of them insulting, that fly around AFF forums- curebie, normie, NT, Shiny Autistics, stim, Mercury parents, ect.  Some of these might be easy for an outsider to figure out- for example, curebie, an insulting term for anyone holding the view that autism must be cured at all costs; normie, a normal person; and NT, short for Neurotypical.  But I doubt most outsiders would guess the meaning of stim or Shiny Autistic- stim being short for self-stimulation, like rocking or hand flapping, which all autistics do; and Shiny Autistic meaning a famous autistic who is held up by NTs (or even other autistics) as a yardstick, by which they measure “how autistic” or “how low/high functioning” an autistic individual is, or how they should act (something the movement hates- all autistics are different, and it’s wrong to measure one by another).  Mercury parents or the closely related term “ABA parents” refer to distinctions in the parent community- the former meaning parents who believe mercury in vaccines caused their child’s autism, and the latter meaning parents who believe ABA therapy will cure their child.  There’s even a new word flying around amongst “curebies” now- they insultingly call any autistic advocate or anyone who is anti-cure “neurodiverse”.
There is even an autism symbol- a rainbow infinity sign- and talk of an “autistic homeland”, an island or closed community just for autistics, in the spirit of a two week retreat for autistics called Autreat; and AFF is idly toying with inventing an autistic language, called Autlang.  Some people have suggested armbands with the infinity sign as a way of telling who is part of the group just by sight, too.  All of these are part of the emerging “Autism culture”, which AFF proudly declares itself to be part of right on its home page.

There’s another way that autism relates to sociology; civil rights.  Autistics are often victims of abuse due to their condition.  There is a school called the Judge Rotenburg Center that justifies its use of Level Three Aversives (electroshocks at dangerous levels, forced sniffing of ammonia, and withholding food) on its students by the claim they are ‘the only therapy that will help’ to alleviate their symptoms (although an official report states that students there have only worsened since their arrival).  Autistics are frequently dehumanized, described as “monsters”; in the video Autism Every Day, one mother says the only thing that prevented her from driving her car off a cliff with her autistic child inside was the thought of her non autistic child at home.  As if this were not shocking enough, the general reply to this video was one of sympathy for the mother, for having such a ‘terrible child’.  One old religious myth holds that autistics are empty shells, babies born without souls.  The emerging Autism Rights Movement is a response to this kind of dehumanization and abuse, and it’s frustrating that it remains so unknown;  Scientific advances are making it more and more likely every day that a cure for autism will, indeed, be developed, or at least a prenatal test which could be used to identify and abort autistic fetuses.  The Autism Rights Movement is very aware that this could happen before its message is widely accepted or even known at all, and fears that, with the current trend of dehumanization, a genocide of autistic fetuses is near.

If you’d like to read more about this, I’d be glad to give you a list of resources and reading material relating to the topic, or you could visit www.aspiesforfreedom.com .