Autistic Hedgehog

Yeah, I think even those of us who are good at sarcasm miss it in some cases. I definitely struggle with it online, and even with my husband sometimes I have to double check with him, to see if something was sarcasm or not. I know autistics struggle with this a bit more than usual, but I definitely don’t think it’s just us. 

Well, here’s the thing: The necessity of a charity for autism depends, I think, on where that charity is located and what it’s trying to do.

In the US, where social support structures are absolute crap, charities are often an unfortunate necessity. They are an opportunity to raise money, support and awareness so that autistics of all ages can get what they need out of society to make life more comfortable. 

That’s part of what makes Autism $peaks such a crappy charity. It focuses on things like cures, which have very little relevance to the daily life of any autistic. When I see cases where, for example, a mother kills her autistic child because she can’t afford the special schooling he needs, I hold Autism $peaks doubly responsible. Their fearmongering and misinformation is bad enough, but as a charity, this is what they should be doing: Giving support so things like that don’t happen, and raising awareness of why society should change so there’s more support built into it.

They’re such a big charity that their Light it up Blue campaign is worldwide, and yet, why don’t they have funding programs to help autistic people get the kind of education, health and career help they need? Why don’t they run ads and make videos about how social security and universal healthcare are necessary infrastructure to help autistics (and all people) live happier, healthier lives? They could do that, and a good charity would do such things. 

I guess what I’m saying is, having a charity for something doesn’t necessarily make that something a “charity case.” Rather, it can potentially be a force for change in the world, doing its part to help make the world a less harsh, inflexible place for autistics, and showing others why they should do the same. Such charities would definitely be worthwhile, and I can’t imagine most of us would be offended by them. 

Considering that humor is a very subjective thing in the first place, I think the claim is hogwash.

Some autistics don’t understand some jokes, just like some allistics don’t understand some jokes. Because to those people, those jokes might not even be funny in the first place, and it’s hard to understand the point of something one doesn’t find funny. But like with so many other things, for us, it’s a stereotype and it’s been pathologized all to hell.

It’s true that in some ways we have slight disadvantages. Some of us struggle to understand sarcasm or other tones of voice, and if the person telling the joke doesn’t have very good delivery in the first place, it might make it even harder to get the joke (I have this problem with every single joke my brother-in-law tries to tell). But it’s important to keep in mind that allistics can and do have the exact same preferences and problems. If it’s not a stereotype for them, it certainly shouldn’t be for us. 

If you really need to help, then it might well be worth it. Though I wonder, do you have a psychiatrist or a doctor you see on a regular basis, who would be willing to change the wording of your diagnosis to fit the new DSM, so you wouldn’t have to go for reevaluation? If you have someone already who might do that for you, talk to them first. If not, do what you need to do to make yourself comfortable.

It’s really unfortunate that this is affecting people like this. By all rights, anyone with a diagnosis that is being rolled into the autism spectrum ought to have their diagnosis changed automatically, but it doesn’t seem like that was planned for. I suppose it’s too much to ask that the American system be efficient. 

I think that was pretty much how we all felt about that…thing. And sadly, every now and then there’s a post in the autism tag from someone who works with autistic kids, that’s basically a condensed version of the same kind of nonsense that was on that blog. I fear it may not be that rare an occurrence, sadly.