Autistic People Should…
When I first heard about the “Autistic People Should” flashblog, I thought about it for a long time. But I couldn’t think of anything that would be insightful. I’ve seen some wonderful posts today, about how autistic people should “be respected”, “be loud”, “be accepted”, and “be proud”. I’ve seen things saying that I should be an activist, that I should speak out, that I should do all sorts of things. And they are powerful, insightful pieces of writing. I have nothing against them, in fact, I agree completely.
But here’s the thing. I’m autistic. And I believe that autistic people should be. What do I mean by that? I mean, that I should be free to be myself. I should feel safe being the whole person that I am. I should be afforded the opportunity happy being myself. I should be respected and perhaps even loved, for simply being me. And I should be able to be free. But most of all, I, and all other autistic people, should be free to be ourselves. Autistic people should be.
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This is my contribution to the Autistic People Should flash blog. It’s relatively short because I’m out of spoons and have been for weeks. I will be back soon though.
The Third Glance 
How right you are 🙂
By: Gretchen Leary on February 23, 2013
at 8:12 pm
Is your comment about spoons a reference to this?
http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/wpress/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/
I’ve pointed out the article to others several times, but have never heard anyone else refer to it.
By: Z on February 23, 2013
at 8:26 pm
Yes it is – it’s a term that is used quite often on disability blogs, so much so that I often forget that many who aren’t as familiar with disability culture haven’t heard the term before…
By: E (The Third Glance) on February 23, 2013
at 8:30 pm
{{{Hugs}}}
Yay for you!
Hope you feel better soon.
🙂 tagAught
By: tagAught on February 24, 2013
at 7:22 am
Reblogged this on A Nomad's Musings and commented:
A deep thought, summed up in just a few words. Beautiful.
By: Nomad on February 25, 2013
at 5:17 am
This. Exactly. I’ve heard the spoon theory but didn’t know the source. Thank you so much for the link. I see this with my son so much; now I can share it with people around us so they understand a bit better why some things are simply what they are.
By: Niksmom on February 25, 2013
at 8:24 am
I am 17 and I have autism too and I totally agree with you.
By: Ashlyn on February 26, 2013
at 3:23 pm
Thanks, Ashlyn! And thanks for stopping by to comment. 🙂
By: E (The Third Glance) on February 26, 2013
at 6:49 pm