“People fail disabled folk when they refuse to accept all ways of being human. In a more perfect world agency would be respected, disability rights honored, and brave hearts exalted. I and others have wisdom for a deprived and hostile world. Skilled allies wanted.”
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.
Thanks to wonderful Autistic conversations I think I am beginning to understand why I feel so much at home in the ocean. To date I had not connected it to healing from Autistic trauma, but now I see the connection with increasing clarity.
“This poem is about a girl in a song and another girl who lives on a planet of perpetual music. To see my life you must also let the music take you.”
Nonspeaking advocate and writer Ben Breaux explores the Truth about Love in its purest form.
“Our desire to stim? We use Soca, Bachata, Dancehall, and Salsa as a cover, allowing the rhythm to put out the fire we have in our brains. And thanks to our Caribbean cousins and siblings, we learn how to be style icons.”
In 2022 the Autistic Collaboration community is in the process of co-creating and operationalising peer support services for Autistic Trauma based on the lived experiences of Autistic people all over the world. We invite our Autistic peers (you) to contribute lived experience.
“If I am trying to make eye contact, words go out the window. They make no sense. Ditto if there’s a lot of background noise, or if I’m busily trying to type out a response on my AAC.”
After presenting at a conference, Terra Vance was shuffled between small groups of audience members. In one group, a woman was angry Vance had not included information about how hard it is for non-autistics to have autistic parents.
Megan Dixon Howard reviews Autistic journalist Eric Garcia’s book, We’re Not Broken. “We’re Not Broken is a well-researched perspective piece from an author who is a part of the underrepresented group that he writes about.”