I write for Squag sometimes, and this post was actually for them first. That means I was writing for a younger audience than usual: on this blog, I assume I'm writing for mostly adults and will write triggering stuff sometimes. On Squag, I figure that I'm writing mostly for younger autistic kids: old enough that they are reading, but the users are age 8-18 and when I write things for them first I want to write things that the 8 year olds can read too.
I went to the annual Conference For The Society For Disability Studies, and I am optimistic.
I met people who know that disabled lives are worth living, and they understood that the cognitive nature of my disability does not change this.
I met people who know why the ways stories are written about people with disabilities matters, who understood why it matters for Autistic people.
I met activists who may not know exactly what accommodations I need, what changes need to be made so you can participate, but who will help change the world. They didn’t demand that I move or think as they do. They accepted that I move and think differently because I am Autistic, and they accommodated, as the rest of the world should learn to. They will help make it so that when we say we are Autistic, fewer people will be afraid and more will ask us what we need.
I met scholars who will write these ideas in the language of academia in the hopes that their peers will understand. They knew that we were different, but they were not afraid of our differences.
They gave me hope, that more of the world can be like them.
They gave me ideas, more ways I can educate the world.
They gave me insights into their lives.
I was on a panel. I told them things I knew. (They want me back to talk again.)
I went to other panels. I learned things they knew.
I returned full of ideas and full of hope. I want to see a world that is easier for Autistic people to navigate, and so do they. They want the same for their disabilities, and so do I. Working together, we can make this happen sooner, for all kinds of disabilities. That’s what I want to see. I think we can get there.
I went to the annual Conference For The Society For Disability Studies, and I am optimistic.
I met people who know that disabled lives are worth living, and they understood that the cognitive nature of my disability does not change this.
I met people who know why the ways stories are written about people with disabilities matters, who understood why it matters for Autistic people.
I met activists who may not know exactly what accommodations I need, what changes need to be made so you can participate, but who will help change the world. They didn’t demand that I move or think as they do. They accepted that I move and think differently because I am Autistic, and they accommodated, as the rest of the world should learn to. They will help make it so that when we say we are Autistic, fewer people will be afraid and more will ask us what we need.
I met scholars who will write these ideas in the language of academia in the hopes that their peers will understand. They knew that we were different, but they were not afraid of our differences.
They gave me hope, that more of the world can be like them.
They gave me ideas, more ways I can educate the world.
They gave me insights into their lives.
I was on a panel. I told them things I knew. (They want me back to talk again.)
I went to other panels. I learned things they knew.
I returned full of ideas and full of hope. I want to see a world that is easier for Autistic people to navigate, and so do they. They want the same for their disabilities, and so do I. Working together, we can make this happen sooner, for all kinds of disabilities. That’s what I want to see. I think we can get there.
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