Autistic Hedgehog

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Apr 14
[Defeat Autism Now! Relax! I’m not a boss monster in a JRPG!] But if I was, I’d be load-bearing, and you’d have 30 seconds to escape the extremely large, labyrinthine building you found me at the center of. Seriously, of all the autism groups that teamed up to form Autism $peaks, Defeat Autism Now! has always been the one with the name that creeps me out the most. Not cure, not treat, defeat, as if autism is some hulking boss monster in a JRPG (Japanese role-playing game, for those of you not in the know). It’s spine-shivering hyperbole of Orwellian proportions.  The implications terrify me. The idea that who I am, that something integral to my very personality, is a thing that needs defeating, is staggering. Autism is not a disease. Despite the ableist fucks who compare it to cancer, AIDS and cystic fibrosis, it’s not an illness; it’s simply a difference. The idea that differences need to be erased and defeated…that is the nightmarish rhetoric from which the most horrific dystopias are born. And right now, entire groups of people are out there pushing for one.  Much scarier than any boss monster I ever faced down. 

[Defeat Autism Now!

Relax! I’m not a boss monster in a JRPG!]

But if I was, I’d be load-bearing, and you’d have 30 seconds to escape the extremely large, labyrinthine building you found me at the center of.

Seriously, of all the autism groups that teamed up to form Autism $peaks, Defeat Autism Now! has always been the one with the name that creeps me out the most. Not cure, not treat, defeat, as if autism is some hulking boss monster in a JRPG (Japanese role-playing game, for those of you not in the know). It’s spine-shivering hyperbole of Orwellian proportions. 

The implications terrify me. The idea that who I am, that something integral to my very personality, is a thing that needs defeating, is staggering. Autism is not a disease. Despite the ableist fucks who compare it to cancer, AIDS and cystic fibrosis, it’s not an illness; it’s simply a difference. The idea that differences need to be erased and defeated…that is the nightmarish rhetoric from which the most horrific dystopias are born. And right now, entire groups of people are out there pushing for one. 

Much scarier than any boss monster I ever faced down. 

Posted 2 years ago

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autism, actually autistic, actuallyautistic, autistic hedgehog, ableism, Autism $peaks, Autism Acceptance,