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> I have distaste for the author speaking on behalf of autistic people The author's entire point, and the entire point of phrases like "nothing about us withou

> I have distaste for the author speaking on behalf of autistic people The author's entire point, and the entire point of phrases like "nothing about us without us" is to get neurotypical people to stop talking on behalf of autistic people and to give them their own voices. I think the author spends a lot of time pointing out that everyone in the autistic community is unique, and I think they spend a lot of time pointing out that even areas where there is broad consensus like identity-first language will still have some detractors among the community. I am unsure what else they could possibly do to make it more clear that the autistic community is not a monolith. They literally have a section titled "Key Takeaway: We Are Not a Monolith". It feels like a really uncharitable/shallow reading to me to say that the author is pretending to represent anyone when they spend so much of their time going out of their way to specifically avoid causing that perception. ---- > Also i have a distaste of the author listing their "disabilities" in their twitter bio. Come on, people list far more trivial stuff in their Twitter bios than this. Sometimes it's nice to be able to find other people who are like you online, and self-labeling can help with that. People being comfortable enough to talk about aspects of their identity in public is not something that's worth being mad about. And autism is 100% an aspect of people's identity, it's a really wild claim to say that a condition that affects people's brains basically from birth and for the entirety of their lives wouldn't be a part of their identity; your brain is a big part of what makes you you.

blueflow 5y ago
> I’m coming to you now as an ambassador of that culture Then why did the author make this mistake? They are not my ambassador. I didn't vote for them. He shall stop talking on my behalf. This arrogant form of patronizing should be called out, and this is what i just did.
- zepto 5y ago
  Yup - they could have easily said “I am a single autistic voice offering my view. You should listen to more autistic people and fewer neurotypical people when trying to understand autism”.
  - danShumway 5y ago
    They literally did say that! > I really appreciate you taking the time to read this — but I am only one Autistic voice. What I hope you’ll walk away with is an understanding that every Autistic person you interview will give you a unique perspective into what Autism is, how it manifests and what kinds of challenges it’s associated with. Each of these perspectives is as valid as any other.
    - zepto 5y ago
      Yes, which would have stood well on its own, but was negated by “I’m coming to you now as an ambassador of that culture.”
      - danShumway 5y ago
        If that single sentence was removed, would you still have a problem with the article? I'm trying to understand how one sentence negates an entire article that says the opposite of that sentence. I can understand that sentence rubbing you the wrong way, but you do understand that regardless, the author isn't arguing for homogeneity? We're discussing phrasing right now, and it's fine for a piece of phrasing to hit someone the wrong way or for it to get under their skin, that happens to me all the time. There's nothing wrong with getting hung up on an offhand comment or sentence that hits the wrong way. But it's important to understand that we are only talking about phrasing right now. The entire text of the article as a whole makes it abundantly clear that when the author uses the word "ambassador" they are not thinking of themselves as an anointed leader of a monolithic culture, they are using that word in a much looser sense to say, "I'm a member of this community asking for more representation from the community." We're not really talking about the author's character or overall argument right now, because it's just not true that their argument is that they speak for all autistic people.
        mbilokonsky 5y ago
- danShumway 5y ago
  Seriously? Read the very next sentence after that one: > I’m not here to present you with an authoritative definition of Autism — I’m here to complicate your narratives in a way that makes room for me and people like me to finally be included in the conversation. Pulling sentences out of context is not making your case. If you're going to call out people for being patronizing, then you need to understand that people are also going to call you out for misrepresenting the tone and substance of the article. Here's what the author actually says: > I really appreciate you taking the time to read this — but I am only one Autistic voice. What I hope you’ll walk away with is an understanding that every Autistic person you interview will give you a unique perspective into what Autism is, how it manifests and what kinds of challenges it’s associated with. Each of these perspectives is as valid as any other. You are picking apart something to represent it in a way that is not backed up by the entirety of the text. The author spends a huge amount of time specifically calling out the thought process that says autistic people are a monolith. Using the word "ambassador" in one sentence does not change that fact, especially when the author immediately afterwards very clearly specifies what they mean by that phrasing.
  - zepto 5y ago
    Here’s a quote where the author clarifies what culture they are referring to: “In the autistic twitter community where I and a lot of other advocates spend our time we are inclusive and speak frequently about ourselves as a culture -- not as a monolith, mind you, but as a culture. We disagree frequently about everything from IFL/PFL to whether or not Autism should be considered a disability, but we recognize that we're all Autistic and we're all doing our best to make the world a safer place for all of us.” I don’t think it’s unreasonable for people to object to this Twitter culture being represented as some more general autistic culture. I think it would have been vastly better if this sentence had been left out. Or, instead of saying “Ambassador of that culture”, they had qualified it and said “Ambassador of a Twitter autism advocacy community.”

blueflow 5y ago

> I’m coming to you now as an ambassador of that culture Then why did the author make this mistake? They are not my ambassador. I didn't vote for them. He shall stop talking on my behalf. This arrogant form of patronizing should be called out, and this is what i just did.

zepto 5y ago
Yup - they could have easily said “I am a single autistic voice offering my view. You should listen to more autistic people and fewer neurotypical people when trying to understand autism”.
- danShumway 5y ago
  They literally did say that! > I really appreciate you taking the time to read this — but I am only one Autistic voice. What I hope you’ll walk away with is an understanding that every Autistic person you interview will give you a unique perspective into what Autism is, how it manifests and what kinds of challenges it’s associated with. Each of these perspectives is as valid as any other.
  - zepto 5y ago
    Yes, which would have stood well on its own, but was negated by “I’m coming to you now as an ambassador of that culture.”
    - danShumway 5y ago
      If that single sentence was removed, would you still have a problem with the article? I'm trying to understand how one sentence negates an entire article that says the opposite of that sentence. I can understand that sentence rubbing you the wrong way, but you do understand that regardless, the author isn't arguing for homogeneity? We're discussing phrasing right now, and it's fine for a piece of phrasing to hit someone the wrong way or for it to get under their skin, that happens to me all the time. There's nothing wrong with getting hung up on an offhand comment or sentence that hits the wrong way. But it's important to understand that we are only talking about phrasing right now. The entire text of the article as a whole makes it abundantly clear that when the author uses the word "ambassador" they are not thinking of themselves as an anointed leader of a monolithic culture, they are using that word in a much looser sense to say, "I'm a member of this community asking for more representation from the community." We're not really talking about the author's character or overall argument right now, because it's just not true that their argument is that they speak for all autistic people.
      - mbilokonsky 5y ago
danShumway 5y ago
Seriously? Read the very next sentence after that one: > I’m not here to present you with an authoritative definition of Autism — I’m here to complicate your narratives in a way that makes room for me and people like me to finally be included in the conversation. Pulling sentences out of context is not making your case. If you're going to call out people for being patronizing, then you need to understand that people are also going to call you out for misrepresenting the tone and substance of the article. Here's what the author actually says: > I really appreciate you taking the time to read this — but I am only one Autistic voice. What I hope you’ll walk away with is an understanding that every Autistic person you interview will give you a unique perspective into what Autism is, how it manifests and what kinds of challenges it’s associated with. Each of these perspectives is as valid as any other. You are picking apart something to represent it in a way that is not backed up by the entirety of the text. The author spends a huge amount of time specifically calling out the thought process that says autistic people are a monolith. Using the word "ambassador" in one sentence does not change that fact, especially when the author immediately afterwards very clearly specifies what they mean by that phrasing.
- zepto 5y ago
  Here’s a quote where the author clarifies what culture they are referring to: “In the autistic twitter community where I and a lot of other advocates spend our time we are inclusive and speak frequently about ourselves as a culture -- not as a monolith, mind you, but as a culture. We disagree frequently about everything from IFL/PFL to whether or not Autism should be considered a disability, but we recognize that we're all Autistic and we're all doing our best to make the world a safer place for all of us.” I don’t think it’s unreasonable for people to object to this Twitter culture being represented as some more general autistic culture. I think it would have been vastly better if this sentence had been left out. Or, instead of saying “Ambassador of that culture”, they had qualified it and said “Ambassador of a Twitter autism advocacy community.”