I read the conversation and debate about hashtags and autism. The pros, the cons. But, something wasn't right in my head. My brain could not process part of it with satisfaction. A piece of the puzzle was missing for me.
As always, I let the subject in the back of my head. I don't even think about it at all. I had a tough week with a lot of sensitivity and socializing. My brain was tired. And I like, I go for a hike in nature and look at my area of interest to energize. This morning I went for a hike going up and down hills listening to music and podcasts.
Often, one or more ideas I let in the back of my head pop out with an explanation, the missing piece of the puzzle for me.
I want first to clear the dx part. Autism isn't attached to a diagnosis. Many of the tools to diagnose are outdated and don't make any sense nowadays. ADI-R is near BS for example.
We are autists as we are born autists and will die autists. This matter, this is important, this is at the center. Outside in the wild world, a lot of people are using the term autism badly to build an industry and make money. It's no secret. People are scaring parents to make money and sell diagnosis and conversion therapies. This is wrong.
Back to the hashtags, I saw multiple proposals. #Allautistic reminds me to "we are all a little bit autistic" which is wrong. I get and understand why and from where it comes. We can't gatekeep the terms autism, autistic or autist. It would not be right. We are all in the same boat with or without diagnosis. For example, I have a diagnosis not to be sure I'm an autist. I have it for the sole purpose of accessing accommodations. It's how my country works based on ableism. It's also hard to access it depending on where the person lives, the financial situation, the mental health, etc.
If we gatekeep the hashtag #actuallyautistic, we would be ableist. We would discriminate against disabled. It makes no sense other than a small minority want to see themselves better than others. This is an ego problem. It's the lack of validation and not being recognized. It's not fine at all. When fighting for our rights, we put our ego on the side.
This is partly true in the opposite direction. The process of acceptance, validation and being recognized is long and hard. This is when the last piece of the puzzle came to me. The issues with all these hashtag dramas are internalized ableism. At the beginning, it was to differentiate to whom the discussion was. What's still true, the simple assessment is that the person is autistic. When it comes to the differentiation of with or without dx, it's internalized ableism. The fact that one group thinks they are oppressed by the other group. This ends with people thinking they are inferior. What is not the case! We are all at the same level.
This is what's happening. A minority thinks a diagnosis makes them superior. Another minority thinks this makes them inferior. And a hashtag crystallizing the tension of both groups.
If you ended here, thanks for reading until the end.
