At
this time of year there is much talk of fear and being scared. People seem to go out of their way to enjoy
being scared by monsters from witches to vampires to zombies, but the rest of
the year we Autistics are the ones who are feared. Watching scary movies and going to haunted
houses are done for the fun of it, but the fear of us is not. No one gets any enjoyment from that sort of
fear, neither us nor you, especially us.
Autistics are not monsters; we too are people and deserve to be treated
as such.
Time
and time again the media has helped to add to the fear of Autistics by siding
with murderous parents, misrepresenting Autism, leaving out Autistic
perspectives/voices, etc. With every new
study and article that does not embrace the gifts of Autism, but only dwells on
its negatives, in full Technicolor, more fiendish falsehoods are added to the
arsenal of hate.
We
are not monsters.
Fear
breeds more fear, confusion, and misunderstanding. Since the dawn of humankind man has feared
what he truly does not understand.
Don’t
you think that it is time to set aside your fear and hatred, jettison your
ignorance, and take the time to understand us on our terms? Push back the dark veil of dread and let the
full Spectrum enter the world. We have
much to share, verbal or nonverbal, and deserve to be given the chance to do
so. From understanding comes Acceptance
and Acceptance will make a better world.
Let’s all turn fear into Acceptance.
We are not monsters, let us show you today.
Happy Halloween from the Autism Acceptance Digest!
