In praise of disability activism.

Many of us in the disability community take part in some sort of activism whether it be solely online or in-person or a combination of the two.  I applaud all of our efforts.  It really comes down to our level of comfort dealing with people en masse, a.k.a. the number of spoons we have available to us on any given day.  Many of us have comorbidities that impact our choices for activism, but that does not mean that the choice we make to take part and express ourselves should be deemed any less important than others are.  I for one feel more at home online and have been known to take part in many different protests via twitter and blog posts over the years.  Online activists/protesters do not have to hear verbal shouts of derision or face any form of physical violence in-person, that is not to say that one does not encounter violence of another sort where people feel more free to show disdain and spout vile hateful ableist rhetoric online, whatever comes into their minds all the while cowardly hiding behind the safety of their computer screens. Cyber-bullying is just as invasive and in many cases even more so than in-person bullying because when one is home and alone one can still be targeted and harassed no matter the distance away the “attacker” is in the physical world. Such attacks cause just as much PTSD as their in-person physical ones, but in many cases the pain and harm they cause is even deeper.  I do not like to invite such attacks so do not engage with individuals one on one online as others in my community to do on a regular basis, I could not take the self-hate and internalized ableism that would be a result of such attacks from awful people trolling the net for the sole purpose of creating havoc and leaving harm in their wake. Face it people many of these perpetrators spew their vitriol for their sheer entertainment and when we take the bait we are playing right into their hands. 

I in turn use general political, etc. hashtags and take part in #cripthevote or just speak my mind in my own personal twitter and also sign online petitions.  Those who do not engage others in-person but find it makes it easier to express yourselves online do not think that this diminishes the value of your activism; we too are fighting to make the world a better place for disabled people.  I applaud Autistics who do engage one on one ,on a regular basis, you are brave beyond any measure I can express because time and time again you go to battle with these trolls, lick your virtual wounds and there you are again back in the fray fighting another day.  Many of those who do go toe to toe with such hateful trolls find strength in the community and the fact that we do support their efforts knowing full well our own limitations and lack of spoons to do it ourselves, but as they say someone has too.  I applaud the TRUE Autistic warriors taking on non-Autistic trolls online who only like to bait and taunt us for their own enjoyment and care nothing of learning the truth about what life is like for #ActuallyAutistic people.  I thank you for your fighting.  Stand strong against adversity, with every demon vanquished another arrives in your path, let them not get you down, keep fighting, but also remember to look out for number 1 as they say, safe-care and knowing ones limits is paramount.  Also do not forget to ask for help and advice when you need it, others may be able to shoulder some of the burden when you are out of spoons. Don’t let anyone diminish your efforts with hate-speech. Fight the good fight.

In solidarity. 

Urgent Appeal for Action to Save an Autistic Adult!

 

JUSTICE FOR NELI!!

 

 

Neli Latson an Autistic adult who has been wasting away in jail for the past 4 years, he is in Solitary Confinement, all because he was waiting outside a library until it opened a few short years ago and was approached by police and then attacked one due to his Autism, he was scared and the flight or fight instinct kicks in, we should not be punished for being Autistic.  Being Autistic is NOT a crime!  Police are not as versed in how to interact with us as much as you might think.  This is an example of justice that needs to be served.  Please appeal to the Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe to release one of my community.  Being Autistic is not a crime and should not be treated as such.  He is scared and confused and does not deserve such treatment.  Let’s flood the governor’s office with appeals for justice for Neli he is languishing in prison.  #FreeNeli!  #JusticeforNeli!  Please help to stop this cruelty!   

Please telephone Governor Terry McAuliffe’s office at: (804) 786-2211  Or write to his postal address: 1111 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219  Or email him using the following form: https://governor.virginia.gov/constituent-services/Communicating-with-the-governors-office

 

JUSTICE FOR NELI!!

 

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Ruth Marcus: In Virginia, a cruel and unusual punishment for Autism

November 14, 2014, by Ruth Marcus, Washington Post – Opinions  

 

Reginald Latson’s path to solitary confinement began four years ago as he waited for the public library to open in Stafford County, Va.  

Latson, known as Neli, has an IQ of 69 and is Autistic. Teachers and therapists describe him as generally sweet and eager to please.  

He is also a black man, now 22, who on the day in question was wearing a hoodie — which prompted a concerned citizen to call police about a suspicious person loitering outside the library. 

The ensuing encounter should have been nothing more than a harassing annoyance. Instead, not surprising given the rigid thinking and “fight or flight” instincts characteristic of those with Autism, it escalated after Latson refused to provide his name and was restrained by the police officer when he tried to leave.  

The altercation that followed left the officer seriously injured and propelled Latson into an inescapable cycle of misbehavior followed by ever more punishment. Latson has engaged in acts that can be characterized as criminal, yet he is less a criminal than a victim of his disability.  

Meanwhile, he is being punished in the most severe manner the criminal justice system can concoct. He has spent most of the last year in solitary confinement and has lost almost 50 pounds from an already trim frame. 

“In effect Neli spends 24 hours a day locked in a segregation cell with minimal human contact for the ‘crime’ of being Autistic,” his lawyers wrote to Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D). “Absent intervention, there is every reason to think he will remain there until the opportunity for effective treatment has been lost.” 

Solitary confinement can be torture, with serious psychological consequences. For those already suffering from disabilities, the impact can be far more devastating. So it has been for Latson — an especially tragic outcome, given that state mental health officials had arranged, and secured federal funding, for him to be transferred to a locked treatment facility in Florida.  

Because of Latson’s intellectual and emotional disabilities, he cannot safely go into the general jail population. But he also does not have the coping skills to deal with solitary confinement. 

Held in solitary after his initial arrest, Latson responded by urinating on the floor and then licking it up. Moved last spring, after threatening suicide, from regular solitary to a “crisis cell” consisting of an empty concrete room with no bed and a hole in the floor for a toilet, he was Tasered after hitting a guard, leading to another assault charge.  

Maureen Del Duca, a lawyer with two adult sons who are severely Autistic, described Latson’s situation as a “never-ending downward spiral of completely avoidable charges of criminal assault.” When one of her sons lived at the Florida facility that agreed to take Latson, the young man’s violent actions — biting or attacking staff members — were a routine behavior to be handled, not a criminal infraction, she noted.

 

He “could easily be in Reginald’s position . . . tragically entangled in a criminal justice system that is not yet able to deal appropriately” with him, Del Duca wrote to the judge hearing Latson’s case.  

 

The differences between the two men are as obvious as they are jarring: race, for one; resources, for another. 

 

Latson’s case is an individual tragedy that cries out for remedy — Gov. McAuliffe, are you listening? It is also sadly representative of a criminal justice system poorly equipped to deal with issues of mental illness and developmental disability. 

It is maddening for Latson to be trapped in solitary confinement when a safe, therapeutic alternative is available; indeed, that neglect may violate Virginia’s commitments in settling a Justice Department civil rights lawsuit on behalf of those with developmental disabilities. McAuliffe should employ his authority to ensure Latson’s transfer to the Florida facility, where the public would be safe and he would receive treatment, not futile punishment. 

 

“It verges on bizarre to instead lock Neli in an isolation cell at substantial taxpayer expense with the medical certainty that he will eventually emerge worse instead of better,” his lawyers told McAuliffe. 

Latson’s is a sad case. Unfortunately, it is not an isolated one. The criminal justice system must rethink how it deals with the mentally ill and developmentally disabled. And it must do more than rethink — it must halt — the use of solitary confinement in all but the most extreme circumstances.

 

#FREENELI!!

 

Noted Sci-Fi writer speaks out for the Autistic Community!

In response to the mass-shooting in Santa Barbara, California and then the media's usual publication of misleading and abusive untruths about the Autistic Community, the noted Sci-Fi author David Gerrold posted the following piece on his Facebook page in support of Autistics.  I applaud Mr. Gerrold's statement and support.  Thank you David Gerrold for expressing what you truly believe, yours is the sort of support and positive attention we need.  From all of us to you, thank you!!  As you know, Autistics are not predisposed to violence against others, in fact we are more than likely to be the victims of violence and self-harm than anything else. 

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May 26, 2014, by David Gerrold, Facebook

I am not an expert on Asperger's Syndrome. I am not qualified to make any assertions about it. I do know some people who identify as Aspies and I am aware of the way they sometimes communicate from a different mind-set than mine. That's it.

However, I am appalled that there are so many self-appointed experts talking about Asperger's with so little knowledge. The real experts are the Aspies (their term, not mine) and their families -- the ones who deal with it on a day-to-day basis.

But my point is that whether or not the Isla Vista shooter had Asperger's, the rest of us should not use our ignorance as a jumping off point for assertions about Autism or Asperger's or the mental health of someone we'd never heard about three days ago.

Generalizations encourage ignorance and prejudice. Generalizations about Asperger's, coming from people who do not know what they're talking about, hurts those who live with it every day because it adds to the burden of misinformation and misunderstanding.

That's the long version.

Here's the short version: Please do your fucking research before typing anything.