The diagnostic criteria for autism obscure the Autistic lived experience of toxic cultural norms that are ultimately detrimental for all people. Depathologisation of Autistic people as demanded by Autistic rights activists does not negate being socially disabled, and need not prevent anyone from gaining access to appropriate means of communication and other forms of social support.
Nonspeaking teen activist Trevor Byrd tackles the nuance of trying to expect autistic people to trivialize their emotional life with false binaries and oversimplified explanations.
Teen nonspeaker Anantha Krishnamurthy compares the treatment of progressive science during the Renaissance era to modern autism science— and it hits hard.
Nick Barry, a young nonspeaking advocate, writes about how the privacy and autonomy of nonspeakers is often violated by those around them, how it feels, and how to do better.
Nonspeaking advocate Ben Breaux writes a letter to young autistics explaining the journey to communication.
Tejas Rao Sankar challenges schools and society to invest in the autonomy of autistic people and not to deny nonspeakers the right to participate in the IEP process.
Providing no-cost, ad-free, high-quality articles
by autistic writers and professionals.
We’re also working on several charitable initiatives.
Get weekly updates on all our stories
