Targeting Autism 2019
Who was able to attend Targeting Autism in May? It was a great two days, crammed full of wonderful presentations. Most of the presenters were autistic, sharing their experiences and stories.
If you missed it, they were able to film most of the presentations and have uploaded most of them onto their webpage.
Our society excludes people every day, and we as librarians need to actively work against this.
A few things came up in almost every presentation by autistic presenters:
**AVOID FUNCTIONAL LABELS. “Low functioning” means strengths are minimized and “high functioning” means needs and weaknesses aren’t prioritized. High functioning labels are used to deny support, and low labels are used to deny agency. Labels don’t effectively describe half of a person.
**Center Autistic Voices instead of “experts” and parents.
--Harmful messages are mainstream. Parents given bad advice/info, and told to seek out parents who have been getting bad info even longer. Families need to be introduced to disability culture and not "martyr" parents oversharing on social media.
--Many autistics find “warrior parents” scary because they can’t separate autism from themselves and feel attacked.
--"Autism parents" push back against self-advocates calling for identity first language, but use their child’s autism to define themselves.
If you missed it, they were able to film most of the presentations and have uploaded most of them onto their webpage.
The statement that summarized the whole forum for me came from Lei Wiley-Mydske: When schools, communities, etc are not inclusive and/or accessible, it says it’s okay to exclude certain people.
A few things came up in almost every presentation by autistic presenters:
**AVOID FUNCTIONAL LABELS. “Low functioning” means strengths are minimized and “high functioning” means needs and weaknesses aren’t prioritized. High functioning labels are used to deny support, and low labels are used to deny agency. Labels don’t effectively describe half of a person.
**Center Autistic Voices instead of “experts” and parents.
--Harmful messages are mainstream. Parents given bad advice/info, and told to seek out parents who have been getting bad info even longer. Families need to be introduced to disability culture and not "martyr" parents oversharing on social media.
--Many autistics find “warrior parents” scary because they can’t separate autism from themselves and feel attacked.
--"Autism parents" push back against self-advocates calling for identity first language, but use their child’s autism to define themselves.
What did you find meaningful?
Look for another post coming soon where we can talk about other conferences and learning opportunities group members have attended!
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