Autistic Hedgehog

[You don’t make friends with a hedgehog

By removing its quills]

mod note: Anonymous creation. Also, word. 

[“The stories of low-functioning autistic people who are burdens on their families are too often erased!”

Wow, have you even actually met reality?]

I can’t, you guys. I caaaaaaannn’t.

(And not just because my brain is tired from working so hard the last few days, either.)

[“Don’t touch me”

Doesn’t mean I hate you]

Mod note: Anonymous creation. 

[“Ohmigod my sibling has autism! Why, cruel world, why!? They are so beautiful and they have a beautiful soul and they’re like, so beautiful! How could life do this to me? Whatever will I do now!?”

Here’s a suggestion: Shut up, get over yourself, and stop making this about you]

I know I can’t be the only person who’s getting tired of these. Even when someone means well, it gives me such a headache. Look, allistic people: There are other things you can do than just flapping around like chickens with your heads cut off. Panicking and making assumptions about what this means for your autistic sibling/child/etc. is bad enough.

Panicking and making assumptions about what this means for you is just kind of insensitive. 

I can remember a few times when parents of autistic children contacted me on some website or another, wondering things about autism. Among other things, I would usually tell them that autistic children can learn, that all is not lost and their kids can probably live good lives. I never heard back from any of them, not even a thank you for my time taken responding. 

It’s like people don’t want to hear that all is not lost. Like they want to believe it’s all doom and gloom, so they can recline back on their drama couches, staple their hands to their foreheads, and whine about how cruel life is. Allistics, get your butts off the drama couch and educate yourselves. You can even start with the askanautistic tag right here on tumblr if you want some real insight into us. 

[Under a microscope, autism looks like Alzheimer’s!

Under a microscope, a placenta looks like cancer.]

So, allistics, please stop with the false dichotomy re Comparing autism to diseases, okay? Okay. 

[Ill-informed allistic who loves Autism $peaks?

There’s an app for that!]

Yes, I am totally serious. 

I even went on iTunes to see for myself, and sure enough, it’s there. What would you even do with such an app? Track how much money Autism $peaks is wasting?

Get the latest updates on Jenny McCarthy’s bullshit “cures”?

Maybe they have something that keeps track of how many autistic people are on their staff. I mean, with a number that low, you wouldn’t hardly have to use any resources at all! 

(On iTunes there was also a reggae song entitled Autism Speaks. I have no idea if it’s associated with the organization–it does use their colors–but I listen to the preview and uh…I’m just going to try to pretend that never happened.)

[“Autistic people don’t like my offensive autism joke? You r****ds!”

Wait, which one of us lacks empathy again?]

Some days I feel like a broken record, but honestly, it needs to be said. Especially since I was the one who censored the r-word; not the asshole in question. I keep seeing shit like this pop up in the autism tag and somehow, despite us being the ones without empathy, other people never seem to get that this stuff hurts.