This is for the Love, Not Fear flashblog happening tomorrow, done by Boycott Autism Speaks. Figured I should start off with that. Also, I saw Neurodivergent K's post before mine posted and it's saying things I would want to add, so I'm just gonna leave you with that link... the Litany Against Fear is really cool, and the way she added other stuff in between with relevancy is really cool and I kind of wish I'd thought of it.
So, what does "Love, not fear" mean to me?
Um.
I think love and fear can exist together, actually. Love of, fear for. Fear of autism and love for autistic people don't go together, certainly, but fear of what others do to autistic people can totally go with love for autistic people. And I'll admit it: I'm often afraid. I'm scared of the ways people limit our language use, and I'm scared of the things parents apparently think it's acceptable to do to autistic people, and I'm scared of a whole lot of other things too. Because love, I stand and fight these things that I am afraid of. Not autism, I won't fight a part of a person, that's not love for the person. But the terrible things that others do in the name of fighting autism? Because I love autistic people, I will fight those battles.
Love sometimes leads to fear that others will hurt the ones you love, and it sometimes leads to anger about the ways others have hurt the ones you love. But it also gives the courage to stand up and fight against those horrible things. Love gives the strength to say "I am afraid, and I will love anyways."
Am I afraid of the effects of autism's demonization? Yes. I am.
Do I fear autism? Do I fear autistic people? No. I don't. That's not love.
And I will close with a thing I remember from a series that I think was called Fearless. The idea was that courage doesn't mean "I'm not afraid at all." It means recognizing what it is you're afraid of and doing what needs to be done anyways because we love. Feel like Nita from Young Wizards would do that too. (Yeah I'm apparently in a book reference mood.)
So, what does "Love, not fear" mean to me?
Um.
I think love and fear can exist together, actually. Love of, fear for. Fear of autism and love for autistic people don't go together, certainly, but fear of what others do to autistic people can totally go with love for autistic people. And I'll admit it: I'm often afraid. I'm scared of the ways people limit our language use, and I'm scared of the things parents apparently think it's acceptable to do to autistic people, and I'm scared of a whole lot of other things too. Because love, I stand and fight these things that I am afraid of. Not autism, I won't fight a part of a person, that's not love for the person. But the terrible things that others do in the name of fighting autism? Because I love autistic people, I will fight those battles.
Love sometimes leads to fear that others will hurt the ones you love, and it sometimes leads to anger about the ways others have hurt the ones you love. But it also gives the courage to stand up and fight against those horrible things. Love gives the strength to say "I am afraid, and I will love anyways."
Am I afraid of the effects of autism's demonization? Yes. I am.
Do I fear autism? Do I fear autistic people? No. I don't. That's not love.
And I will close with a thing I remember from a series that I think was called Fearless. The idea was that courage doesn't mean "I'm not afraid at all." It means recognizing what it is you're afraid of and doing what needs to be done anyways because we love. Feel like Nita from Young Wizards would do that too. (Yeah I'm apparently in a book reference mood.)
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