A VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF AUTISTICS

 

“I don't like using the terms ‘invisible’ or ‘hidden’ disability. You absolutely see my autism—you just don't code it correctly and instead you see everything about me as a character flaw.”

          - Kelly Bron Johnson

Dear Persons,

For years I’ve been thinking about using Mary Wollstonecraft’s brilliant feminist arguments about equality to make a parallel case for not only Autistic rights but also to contend, in line with her philosophical process, that the ways of thinking and “character flaws” that Autistic people are typically criticized for may actually be both correct and valuable. 

In Part I below, I echo Wollstonecraft’s archaic, academic language to make my case. In Part II, I state my case very briefly and simply, in plain language. Part III quotes the most relevant part of Wollstonecraft’s work for our purposes here. 

VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF AUTISTICS

(with apologies/gratitude to Mary Wollstonecraft, c. 1792)

I. The 1792-Style Version

In our present state of geopolitical chaos and unrest, it seems useful to look at what human qualities and behaviors might actually further the progress and peace we so desperately seek. To do so, we may well need to question the social-ethical status quo that has brought us here. 

As we will see, I’ll build my argument logically, disregarding justification based on the claim that ‘that is just how humans are.’ Like Wollstonecraft, I’ll ask straightforward questions to get to fundamental truths. 

As always, I cannot speak for all Autistics by any means, but I can quarrel with stereotypes and misperceptions, and reason from my own experience and observations to “dispute with some prevailing prejudice” (MW).

What makes humans special? 

Wollstonecraft argues that they are so because they can reason, possess virtue, and develop knowledge born of experience, i.e., wisdom. 

Yet we can all agree that it is common to see contradictions between 

• what is known to be true and right via reason, wisdom, and virtue, on the one hand,

• and what is conveniently (however subconsciously) believed or desired, and then borne out in action, on the other.

The former may be seen in rare shining examples, and exemplifies what is best in human beings; the latter, what is common in their actions. 

Are Autistic people typically as likely as the average Neurotypical person to deploy the “use of reason to justify” (MW) their self-centered behaviors in this way?  

My personal experience indicates that they are not. To wit, again and again I’ve been told things like “You don’t get complexity” or “This is a grey area,” when to my mind it’s more like I’m not willing to excuse myself or anyone else for building their thinking around rationalizing what they want. Almost invariably the gray area argued for by the gray-area advocate falls in favor of said advocate, e.g., such and such a clearly moral yet inconvenient choice is something that would be a good thing to do, but isn't actually necessary. 

Or someone will tell me I "don't get" something. Occasionally, that's true. Usually, though, I understand, but I don't accept the status quo. Think Greta Thunberg.  

Our generally shared quality of being literal tends to prevent these common types of reasoning and behavior. This is but one of many ways in which a Neurodivergent mind may differ from a Neurotypical one. 

Are Autistic people likely, then, likely to think in iconoclastic and/or highly innovative ways? 

But of course. 

Thus, I contend:

• that whereas both in their disregard for convention and the taken-for-granted, and in their lack of self-justification in conducting themselves as they wish (as is most convenient, easy, desirable, and so on) because they see the inherent contradictions in doing so, Autistic people indeed tend to be more ethical and more original;  

• that the very things they are lampooned for are in fact precious traits that not only further human progress, they further human goodness; 

and

• that their failed efforts to fit in fail because the structures of Neurotypical culture are inherently harmful—not just to we Autistic people, but to all people and to the planet;

the prevailing prejudice that Autistic people are lacking or less-than is patently false. 

Given the current ubiquity of horrible prejudices (in the face of reason), environmental-corporate devastation (against all wisdom), and spurious societal-political-personal phenomena (versus virtue), rational, logical, incontrovertible reasoning combined with original thinking may be our only recourse. 

In Wollstonecraft’s immortal words, “The mind must be strong that resolutely forms its own principles.” Such minds, such worthy human beings, must be cherished and nurtured for the good of all humanity.

Wollstonecraft holds that the apex of our rights and duties involves the “perfection of our nature and capability of happiness.” Autistic people must have opportunities to be their whole selves, and to be happy, if we are to contribute desperately needed new perspectives and ideas. 

Only with genuine equity and equality enabling full participation and self-realization will honoring the rights of Autistics bring these vital contributions to the world.

II. The Plain Version

We can use lots of completely solid philosophical arguments to come to the conclusion that not only are different ways of thinking valuable and often more logically and ethically correct than mainstream ways of thinking, but they may also be the only thing that can save this crazy world right about now. 

As likely Autistic person Albert Einstein said, ““You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.”

This means basic goodness, civil rights, and social justice are not the sole reasons for furthering the human rights and improving the lives of Autistic people. We might even help save the world. 

III. The Original [from Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1792]

 

In the present state of society, it appears necessary to go back to first principles in search of the most simple truths, and to dispute with some prevailing prejudice every inch of ground. To clear my way, I must be allowed to ask some plain questions, and the answers will probably appear as unequivocal as the axioms on which reasoning is built; though, when entangled with various motives of action, they are formally contradicted, either by the words or conduct of men.

In what does man's pre-eminence over the brute creation consist? The answer is as clear as that a half is less than the whole; in Reason.

What acquirement exalts one being above another? Virtue; we spontaneously reply.

For what purpose were the passions implanted? That man by struggling with them might attain a degree of knowledge denied to the brutes: whispers Experience.

Consequently the perfection of our nature and capability of happiness, must be estimated by the degree of reason, virtue, and knowledge, that distinguish the individual, and direct the laws which bind society: and that from the exercise of reason, knowledge and virtue naturally flow, is equally undeniable, if mankind be viewed collectively.

The rights and duties of man thus simplified, it seems almost impertinent to attempt to illustrate truths that appear so incontrovertible: yet such deeply rooted prejudices have clouded reason, and such spurious qualities have assumed the name of virtues, that it is necessary to pursue the course of reason as it has been perplexed and involved in error, by various adventitious circumstances, comparing the simple axiom with casual deviations.

Men, in general, seem to employ their reason to justify prejudices, which they have imbibed, they cannot trace how, rather than to root them out. The mind must be strong that resolutely forms its own principles; for a kind of intellectual cowardice prevails which makes many men shrink from the task, or only do it by halves. Yet the imperfect conclusions thus drawn, are frequently very plausible, because they are built on partial experience, on just, though narrow, views.

QED. 

Thanks and love,

Full Spectrum Mama

P.S. Here's a video of a recent talk I gave on The #ActuallyAutistic Guide to Advocacy!

EQUALITY, UNITY, AND JUSTICE

For George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and their fellow human beings unjustly killed for being Black

I.

I’m about as white-skinned as it gets. 

But when I lost my still-alive white father to mental illness, a Black man—a former mentor and teacher—stepped up to fill that thankless role without even being asked. 

There are very few people of color in my current hometown.

But my daughter’s best friend all through grade school was one of them, and her family became my adopted family here. 

I’m a United States citizen.

But the first year and most formative times in my life were spent in the Darien jungle in Panama. There, my father and I were usually the only white people for hundreds of miles, amidst indigenous people, the descendants of escaped African slaves, (mostly) Spanish colonizers, and Chinese canal laborers, and combinations thereof.

My daughter is a U.S. citizen. 

But she was born in and adopted from China and is genetically of entirely Chinese descent.

Four rational reasons why I march, why I vote for equality, and why I always do my best to do right by all people of color.

II. 

My son and I are neurodivergent.

Just as a Black person may be in danger (or be bullied, or passed over for a job, and on and on) simply for “being in a black body,” my white-bodied son faces discrimination and danger for having an autistic mind. (I “pass” a little more easily, but have also dealt with plenty of neurodiversity-related issues over my lifetime!) 

Like most Black parents, many parents of autistic children teach their kids how to behave if they encounter the police. “Acting weird” or “different” is yet another way to “get yourself in trouble”—or worse. 

When we—whoever we are, whatever our skin color, etc.—say “Black lives matter,” we are in fact saying “All lives matter, because all people should be equal”; 

and we are also saying “We understand that, historically and in the present, people living in so-called black bodies have been, and are being, treated with extraordinary violence and injustice, as if they don’t matter, and we want everybody to know that black lives are of great and necessary value in the tapestry of humanity and we ally with Black people.”

If you’re “foreign,” gay, Autistic, brown, yellow, Black … in short, if you’re colored or shaped or oriented or identify differently—if (in the United States) you’re different from the dominant/“normal” white majority in any way, really—you know what it feels like to have your body and whole being seen in ways that categorize you, that relegate your existence and actions to a lesser status on the basis of a single trait. 

Another rational reason why I advocate and ally with ALL marginalized peoples.

III.

But rational reasons, even very convincing ones, aren’t the point. 

Dear persons, why must there be a reason behind understanding that we are all human beings?

As such, do we not all have hearts to care for our fellow beings? 

I once read about a U.S. senator discussing how he was grateful for the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of healthcare his sick wife received through health insurance. He spoke of how that huge amount of money would have been a stretch for him without insurance, and how he now understands why people need insurance. 

Do the math, senator. For most people, hundreds of dollars, even dollars, in out-of-pocket health expenses would be a stretch. I suppose that’s a rational reason behind healthcare coverage.

But it’s also a heart-centered reason behind caring: Do those less-affluent people care any less about their wives, children, partners, parents—or their own and loved ones’ health and access to healthcare?

Why would it take a direct experience of the need for healthcare to grasp that everyone needs healthcare—and that basic human decency demands that they get it?

Likewise, why would you have to know a [fill in the blank here] person intimately to include them in your species?

Even if we don’t have the empathetic capacity to make such a heartfelt leap of understanding, doesn’t logical reasoning tell us we are all fundamentally similar in the most basic ways? 

For instance, I think we can agree that we all want and need the same things: 

• enough food to eat 
• a safe home to live in
• to be loved and to love
• enough resources to access what we need (and, we hope, a bit more “for special”)
• opportunities for meaningful employment and/or other activities
• people with whom we can connect on what we care about
• to be known as a worthwhile being and treated with respect

I might have missed one or two items (and, of course, some specifics for particular individuals), but it seems to me these needs are 

1. widely if not universally shared,
2. reasonable, and, more importantly, 
3. achievable…if we work together. 

Let’s try this handy test:

Are you human?

Do you believe that other humans are also human?

Do you believe on some level that some humans, say, women, trans people, Black people, Autistic people, and/or members of some other subgroup, are somehow less human than other humans of another group (probably your group)? 

OR do you believe that all humans in general* have equal/shared humanity and worth?

If so, whether you came to this conclusion with your heart or mind (or both), do you believe it’s worthwhile, even imperative, to help ensure that all humans have access to the above basics? 

Do you accept that some of us have certain areas of privilege (such as being white, educated, verbal, male, financially secure, and so on)?

Can we use whatever resources, privilege(s), and/or power we’ve got to advocate for equality? 

Dear readers, I get it: It may feel like there isn’t much you can do in this isolating global crisis. You may feel angry, sad, tired, hopeless. Many of us have all we can handle with work and family alone. 

But the world is desperately in need of healing right now, and ripe for CHANGE in ways we may never again see. It’s an amazing opportunity! 

Know that every small shift toward inclusion, every friendly and/or courageous exchange between mutually human beings, can have huge reverberations. That means any little steps you can take will make the world better for all of us. 

Thanks and love,

Full Spectrum Mama

* Of course, some individuals commit acts that diminish their own and others’ humanity. I’m simply arguing against classifying any subgroup of humanity as less-than based on a single trait. 

WAYS TO SPEAK UP

Dear Persons,

It seems almost frivolous, in these turbulent times, to think about or do anything that doesn’t directly contribute to the healing and health of our communities, our country, our world. 

I’d planned this post before the inauguration, as a natural sequel to SHOULD I HAVE SAID SOMETHING? Despite near-paralysis over the ceaseless cascade of unthinkable political disastrophes we are all witnessing, I am following through, largely because the topic - ideas on how to safely and effectively stand up to discrimination, injustice, even unintentional/unconscious/well-meaning bias - is more relevant now than ever in our lifetimes. Worse, children today are more vulnerable than they have been in decades due to this administration’s stances on special education, transgender bathrooms in schools, environmental protections, etc. 

In other words, there are now very real risks to not speaking up.

We ALL can do better. In our words, in our actions - and in our responses to the words and actions of others. I myself got schooled after the above post by a wonderful elder who informed me I was guilty of ageism! I’d avoided responding to my neighbor’s ableist slur partly out of “respect” for her being “elderly.” I was told in no uncertain terms that I’d been biased, and that, in addition, “We are much, much younger than you think we are!”

….RIGHT? Right! Good news for those of us who aren't getting any younger…

Now, you know I love a list….So here goes:

WAYS TO SPEAK UP

1. The Make Up Speak Up:

Let’s say you, like me, find yourself ruminating on a situation in which you did not speak up, for whatever reason. You’re still alive, right? How about speaking up now, now that you’ve had time to really figure out what you need to express?

Here’s what I did in just such a context: I wrote my neighbor from the incident described in SHOULD I HAVE SAID SOMETHING?(Speaking up doesn’t have to be verbal or even face to face - there are many, many ways to speak up, as I explore below!)

        Dear [Neighbor],

I hope you are well. This is your neighbor at  ___, [Full Spectrum Mama], writing. We had a conversation a few months ago in which you told me that your granddaughter works with autistic kids . You talked about how hard it is for her, and said she’d have been better off working with animals. 

I should have mentioned at the time that my son is autistic and I myself am also neurodiverse. This means that both of our brains are wired a bit differently than those of the “average” person. But we are still human beings, with feelings and dreams and a lot to offer the world.

As hard as it is for your granddaughter to work with those children, I can guarantee you that life in a world that was designed entirely for “normal” people is harder for them. I hope that despite these difficulties for all concerned she can see the good in each child as an individual. 

Sometimes, sadly, people who are “different” from us might seem not quite as human as the people we know or more closely resemble. So I hope, also, that now that you know that [G] and I have something in common with those students you will be able to see a little bit, through knowing us, that autistic people are equal and worthy human beings - just like anyone else. 

Thank you for reading, and hope to see you around soon,

[Full Spectrum Mama]

Something wonderful happened after this: my neighbor called me and we had a great talk! She explained that as hard as her granddaughter’s work is, she loves it - and even plans to pursue a higher degree in the profession. I am so glad I “spoke up” as best I could.

2. Speaking Up Directly:  Some people are able to come up with eloquent, convincing, strong-yet-not-confrontational ways to respond to discriminatory statements and actions as they occur. If you are one of those people, have to it! (Just be sure, dear reader, that you keep yourself safe in the interaction. Are there other people around? Does this person/do these people seem threatening? Sometimes - just sometimes! - it can be wiser to be indirect.)

3. Speaking Up Indirectly: Know your rights and the rights of your loved ones. NO ONE deserves discrimination; we ALL deserve to be treated fairly and recognized as human beings of equal value. Here are some ways to indirectly speak up and enact progress toward justice.

a. For Justice in Education: When you encounter discrimination in a school (or school district), or think a school could be doing better in some area(s), write, fax, call, or email (we all have different strengths and comfort levels with forms of communication: choose your medium!) school administrators (consider a variety of levels here - state, district, local, individual school), teachers, and helpers, as well as fellow parents and/or students. Here’s something to get you fired up about education: http://www.loevy.com/blog/education-part-special-education/. Most people get into education because they care about children and students - so, chances are, members of your school community may be receptive. Even if they are not, or if their hands are tied in the matter at hand, at least you’ll know you’ve done your part - and there may be less-obvious or more long-term positive repercussions that result from your efforts. 

b. In Your Community: Write, fax, call, or email local and national organizations to speak up on issues and situations you care about. Join a community group. Heck, form or host a community group. What’s your issue? What do you most care about? 

c. For Political Justice: Write, call, fax, or email your local, state, and national political representatives. As a highly phone phobic individual, I’ve found a sort of speaking-up niche in editing this weekly publication which tells you how to do just that: https://jenniferhofmann.com/home/weekly-action-checklist-democrats-independents-republicans-conscience/. 

d. Participate in Other Ways:  volunteer, make art, write (call, fax, email…) your local newspapers and beyond, march, protest, discuss the issues you care about, share your personal experience(s) with loved ones and others you encounter who might be receptive…

You never know how much your positive, proactive acts - however small they may seem - may impact others. I promise you, we are - sometimes very quietly, often slowly but surely - moving mountains, together. 

4. Advocacy: Advocacy is a slightly different way to speak up, in that what we are usually doing is trying to get something specific out of an organization  (usually a school, but not always) that already claims to be “doing its best.” I’ve written quite a lot about advocacy over the years here and here and here and here. You can also search for other posts that include references to advocacy on the search button at right. Here, I discuss some tricky issues around wanting people to change - and how one might speak up about that, too.


5. Speaking Up about Harassment: If you see someone being harassed and want to help, this cartoon, which happens to be about anti-Muslim harassment,  offers the best advice I have ever seen: https://www.facebook.com/themiddleeasternfeminist/photos/a.565332650209980.1073741828.565316806878231/1117370921672814/?type=3&theater; if you don’t do Facebook, here’s a link through HuffPo: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/islamophobic-abuse-advice-bystander-hate-crime_uk_57c83652e4b09f5b5e3596fb.  Imagine finding safe ways to just be by the side of every person we ever saw being hurt. Imagine!

6. Speaking Up With Forethought: I’ve thought about how I might’ve spoken up in several situations where, if I’d had the words ready to go in my head, I might have been able to do so. Finding the common thread of humanity that runs through all interactions - yes, even those where we encounter those who bully, discriminate, belittle… - seems key. Working on the above letter gave me a little bit of a template for what a pre-planned response might look like. For starters, I’d include a gentle appeal to the inherent, perhaps very “underlying” or “subtle” good nature of the person(s) I was addressing. Then I’d be sure to draw their attention to the humanity and inherent worth of the person(s) being discriminated against. Some people don’t think everyone is equal. We are probably not going to convince those people in one interaction. But if we don’t speak up somehow, we haven’t tried. Our words might just be the turning point from discrimination to awareness and acceptance.

7. Paralyzed? Oh…that’s just me? When you don’t feel up to speaking up, but know you truly should, try this: IMPROVE/APPRECIATE/CONNECT/PROTECT.

If you google that phrase, you will get a whole lot of different links, but it’s really just a very simple concept that doesn’t need a ton of padding or explanation. Doing one of these things will help! I am not sure where I first saw this suggestion for healing and presence, but I wrote it down on an index card that I keep around as a reminder. The practice has stayed with me because it is truly effective. When you feel paralyzed (whether from depression, rage, sadness, horror, feeling overwhelmed, procrastination, helplessness, hopelessness [I could go on…]…), try taking just one of these words and find even a very small project which engages with that sort of action. For example, looking just in my immediate vicinity, right now, I might IMPROVE by putting away the scattered dog toys, APPRECIATE by looking out the window at the melting patches of snow and tiny bulb shoots, CONNECT by petting my cat, or PROTECT by taking my dark chocolate stash further away from the edge of the desk to be sure my puppy doesn’t get his paws on it.  

In these ways, bit by bit, we gain the steadiness and strength to speak up and do what needs to be done. 

Hope this helps.

Thanks and Love,

Full Spectrum Mama

Welcome to Voices of Special Needs Blog Hop -- a monthly gathering of posts from special needs bloggers hosted by The Sensory Spectrum and The Jenny Evolution. Click on the links below to read stories from other bloggers about having a special needs kiddo -- from Sensory Processing Disorder to ADHD, from Autism to Dyslexia! Want to join in on next month's Voices of Special Needs Hop? Click here!

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ACTIVISM AND ADVOCACY FOR ALL

Dear Persons,

In honor of GraceLee Boggs.

Stop. If you only have three minutes, please read the above profile of an astounding and inspiring woman instead. Otherwise, read about her and then come back. Please and thank you.

I’d been writing this post on advocacy and activism (topics dear to the Full Spectrum heart) when I heard that Grace Lee Boggs had passed. A fellow Mawrtyr (graduate of Bryn Mawr College: Ms. Boggs was a Bryn Mawr Ph.D.), she was known for a lifelong commitment to justice and equality for ALL. In a time in which all of the following combinations were practically unimaginable, she was a *Chinese-American *female *scholar married to a *Black man. She was a lifelong feminist, worked hard for labor and the environment and her community, and advocated powerfully and effectively for universal civil rights –HUMAN RIGHTS.

My original post explored how we come to activism: how I’ve watched people with cancer (or loved ones with cancer) become cancer activists, people with sensory processing differences become SPD activists, autistic people and their families and loved ones become autism activists...

But my main point was and is that I believe and hope that people whose hearts and minds are opened up by the particular, personal injustices of the world are inclined to open those hearts and minds further to include the desire for justice, fairness, equality, and inclusion for ALL. Grace Lee Boggs represented this beautiful tendency.

She had the vision to see the humanity and worth in all people. Knowing what I know of that vision, I know implicitly that she would have embraced the concept that autistic and neurodiverse people are inherently worthy of equal rights and respect, and that families of mixed ethnicity are simply, and fully, families, and that people with sensory processing differences experience the world in completely valid ways, and...and...

Perhaps it’s this little word, “and,” that’s key. We choose “and” instead of “or:” because there are enough rights to go around. We don’t have to choose whether it’s race OR ability OR sexuality OR identity OR whatever particular “type” that “gets” to have rights.

We ALL do. 

Those with big, generous hearts remind us of the world's potential, sometimes-hidden bigness and generosity, even when it is hard for others to see. Those of us with growing hearts can look to people like Grace Lee Boggs and take hope. 

Figure I – When We Become Rainbows of Inclusion in a Sometimes Limited-Vision World

I’ve wondered why some people come to activism on their own, through a strong sense of more generalized compassion, or whether most come only through experiences of difference, discrimination, challenge...

I’ve also considered how – let’s face it – TIRING it can be to see injustice everywhere, never mind to combat it with all you’ve got. Grace Lee Boggs (okay, she didn’t have children; however she did care a great deal about them!) managed to truly live her commitment to justice for 100 years!

What is your cause? Particular, universal, or both...? And even when you don’t have the time or energy or opportunity to advocate, activate, etc., do you have a broader vision of who should be considered fully equal and human and why? I dare to hope so.

Love,

Full Spectrum Mama

Welcome to the Sensory Blog Hop — a monthly gathering of posts from sensory bloggers hosted by The Sensory Spectrum and The Jenny Evolution. Click on the links below to read stories from other bloggers about what it’s like to have Sensory Processing Disorder and to raise a sensory kiddo!

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