Most people who have followed my writing are aware of my love for the autistic community. This April, I want to take this one step further. We must strive for autistic UNITY.
This isn’t a call for people to ignore genuinely problematic dilemmas that arise in the community. No, this is a call for us to unite in the beauty of our diversity as a community, to open up the conversations we have been avoiding, and push forward into a future where we are working together for the common good of all autistic people.
Autistic people are perhaps one of the most diverse demographics in existence. We span race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status. If you can think of an identifying feature, you can guarantee that autistic people represent a broad cross-section.
Our diversity is what makes us so beautiful. We think outside of the box because there is no box that can contain us. Where the world is framed like black and white television, autistic people burst forth in rainbow hyper-colour, bringing vivid hues of creativity, generosity, altruism, talent, and courage to the lives they touch.
We must unite in our beauty, pushing out the boundaries that the world has set for us. We don’t just break the moulds, we obliterate them! Our mere existence has forever changed the world, and for that reason we have a responsibility to do right by the world and our fellow Autistics.
The old adage of “United we stand, divided we fall” rings true for us all. When we unite, we can tackle any issues that a neurotypical society flings at us. No one will liberate the neurominority except for us, so let’s give it every fibre of our being.
This April, don’t just choose community, choose #AutisticUnity.
He has extensive experience of educational consultancy with both organisations and individuals.
He runs Emergent Divergence which can be found on multiple social media platforms, and is a regular educator and presenter on Aucademy.
He is co-author of the "Creating Autistic Suffering" series, found on his website emergentdivergence.com, and is also a published poet.
To make contact about his consultancy and mentoring services, visit http://www.dghneurodivergentconsultancy.co.uk
- Neuroqueering the future: an Interview with Dr. Nick Walker- author of Neuroqueer Heresies - January 26, 2022
- Autistic people and the fear of death - November 25, 2021
- Integrating autistic culture into the world: The cultural model of autism - June 1, 2021
One Response
Unity is the opposite of rejection. Hence, true unity includes consistency in condemning rejection and rejecters. To call evil abusive and unethical, anyone who says that rejecting one can include others (the Caiaphas argument.)
An important ethical lesson from politics is. It is not unity to unite behind the loudest or most dominant voices, if they are rejecters, and to sweep their victims out of sight and seek unity in not caring about them. Their fair struggles will always find a way to the surface. Hence, rightly, unity only ever holds when it’s fair. So unity behind dominant bullies never works and is never true unity, Only unity with the fair works.