Awareness doesn’t help me when I’m bullied
specifically because I’m #Autistic - the bullies are very aware. I want
equality & acceptance.
— @Kabieuk
All too often, we get bullied because of the traits which autism explains. Those bullies may or may not know we are autistic- mine didn't, but the traits were still my more obviously autistic ones. Awareness doesn't fix that. They're perfectly well aware that we're different, and giving it a name doesn't help. Make it clear that different really is OK, even outside the ``normal" differences, like the jocks and the geeks and the theater folk, all of whom think the others weird, but all of whom have a group. Make it clear that autistic is OK. Make it clear that being able to hear but using sign language when you can't talk is OK. Make it clear that typing or writing what needs to be said is OK. Make it clear that dressing to avoid sensory issues is just as OK as dressing to be fashionable. Make it clear that different is OK, no matter what that different is. (Except perhaps different that directly hurts people- going into a rage and killing people is NOT OK.) And make it extremely clear that if you bully someone or dehumanize someone or abuse someone because that someone is different, you are in BIG trouble. ACTUAL trouble, not the complete fluff response bullying tends to get, especially if the victim is different.
All too often, we get bullied because of the traits which autism explains. Those bullies may or may not know we are autistic- mine didn't, but the traits were still my more obviously autistic ones. Awareness doesn't fix that. They're perfectly well aware that we're different, and giving it a name doesn't help. Make it clear that different really is OK, even outside the ``normal" differences, like the jocks and the geeks and the theater folk, all of whom think the others weird, but all of whom have a group. Make it clear that autistic is OK. Make it clear that being able to hear but using sign language when you can't talk is OK. Make it clear that typing or writing what needs to be said is OK. Make it clear that dressing to avoid sensory issues is just as OK as dressing to be fashionable. Make it clear that different is OK, no matter what that different is. (Except perhaps different that directly hurts people- going into a rage and killing people is NOT OK.) And make it extremely clear that if you bully someone or dehumanize someone or abuse someone because that someone is different, you are in BIG trouble. ACTUAL trouble, not the complete fluff response bullying tends to get, especially if the victim is different.
Blade Runner is one of my favourite films partly because it shows exactly what happens when the people being bullied decide they have gone past the desire for acceptance and instead desire superiority. The good X-Men films (X-Men, X2, and X-Men: First Class) have this in common with Blade Runner. I might post more about that fact in my own journal. Actually, no. I *will* post about this fact in my own journal at a later time.
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