so, we have two different groups now. @actuallyautistic and @allautistics. I understand that not all autistic people were there when the discussion took place, that resulted in the #ActuallyAutistic hashtag.
In short: A lot of NTparents took over the discussion and steered it in a direction that was toxic to autistic people themselves, talking over them, not with them in a massively ableist way. Promoting harmful stuff like ABA and the like. A lot of that took place on Twitter. Hence the tag to make sure we speak to each other, not to people that want to help us eradicate the autism from ourselves or any such nonsense.
To new people it sounds a bit exclusive though. Hence the #AllAutistics hashtag, that plopped up. ActuallyAutistic is meant to be inclusive of all autistics, regardless whether they have a diagnose or whether they know for sure. As long as they are in it for themselves. And is also fine for people that want info and learn directly from the horses mouth, cus they have autistic loved ones, kids etc. (many blood related people are some kind of neurodivergent too, anyways, whether they know it or not). it says "actually" too exclude people that would be disrespectful towards Autstic people. That's all. But it's understandable that it does sound exclusive to some, without explanation. The new people are in that vulnerable phase where they question themselves a lot. Am I really autistic or am I just an imposter. If you haven't been diagnosed as a kid, you have probably had this phase and it can take years and maybe it never ends. I still have these moments of" Ohh whow, I actually have this trait also. It just looks different in me". Well . It always looks different. Cus we aren't all white males with stereotype autism and its highly individualized.There's a ton of autistic people running around that aren't diagnosed and probably never will be. Your chance at being diagnosed as a woman is maybe one in four, depending on where you live, your status, your skin color, your traits. Some traits are more often leading to diagnose than others. Imposter syndrome is the norm not the exception. That's why we often hear" if you wonder whether you are autistic or not, you most probably are". NT rarely wonder about this. And we've all been through this stage. And BTW no one cares if you change your mind or if you're insecure. It's absolutely fine. You're invited.
So. I think we should have one. having two is inconvenient. And most people still hang out in the ActuallyAutistic- one. So either you all feel invited or we think of a name, that includes both, the history and the new people that have arrived. Just sayin'. I know it's probably gonna solve itself by one of them attracting more people and then being the remaining one, but I just wanted to repeat about the history and I don't want new people to get confused over this. Just so you know: There was no disagreement. It's just a question of history moving on and flow of information from old to new not always being perfect. If we need a change of defining terminology that's fine, but let's not get confused or feel divided ok?
Maybe it's ok. to have two, maybe the AllAutistics helps find people that are in the same state of finding out. Whatever helps is fine. I'm just writing this out so no one has to feel confused or not welcome. And BTW, there is a reason why people write hashtags in CamelBack., that's much more readable to screenreaders. Love to you all.
Edit: I missed out on the #AutisticMe hashtag and the @autisticme . Sorry folks.
The most important thing (as you mention) is to be welcoming to the newly (self or formally) diagnosed and the enquirers. As long as some people are following each of the above groups and hashtags and can respond to those people, I don't necessarily think the duplication matters that much.
It will probably (again as you said) shake out over time.
Reposting this with hashtags and groups. Sorry if you are seeing it for the third or fourth time:
I have now (reluctantly) migrated my @ratcatcher account to this one.
Unfortunately (probably due to the current technical issues with neurodifferent.me), my followers list hasn't migrated so I need to ask everyone to follow me again. Sorry about that.
So if you followed me before, please follow me again. And if you didn't follow me before, by all means do so.
I have never set out to solicit followers on Mastodon, but here's the thing:
Given all of the unpleasantness that seems to be floating around at the moment, I may have to take some time out from following and posting to the hashtags and groups listed below.
So if you know me and enjoy chatting to me online, and don't already follow me, you may wish to consider doing so. If I recognise you, I'll follow you back (if I'm not already following you).
The term “self-diagnosed” developed wide acceptance and use prior to my realization that I am autistic. I honor and value the history of my communities of autistics by understanding the meaning being communicated by that term. I do not try to change anyone’s use of that term, but I do not use it myself. I share this here in case others have similar ideas or want to discuss.
I strongly believe that no one is entitled to know any diagnosis of another. That information can be shared freely by the person diagnosed but should never be required. This goes for autism, mental health conditions, pregnancy, HIV infection, and even COVID infection.
Diagnoses are tied to medical, psychiatric, and educational institutions that perpetuate racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, eugenics, and more. The existence of well-meaning professionals and the benefits of sharing commonly understood categorizations do not eliminate the danger that can be associated with knowledge if diagnoses. Thus, every individual should have full control over who has access to that knowledge, in order to maintain agency over their own lives.
It is my best guess that I would meet the current diagnostic criteria for ASD. If I were to say that I am self-diagnosed, that would be what I mean. But I do not say that. Now that I understand what autism is, I do not care whether I meet the criteria for ASD. I simply communicate that I am autistic. How others interpret that communication is up to them.
I like the idea of definitions. Exploring autism has, for me, involved diving deeply into several definitions of several terms. The meanings to me have changed a lot in this process and may change again in the future. I have drawn from lots of sources and also from internal reflection.
For now, I wanted to share a partial list (it started out as two words, but then autism). I would love to hear any thoughts about any of these, including community history and personal experience. TIA.
Autistic – a neurotype categorization referring to identification, not diagnosis, for people who rely far more heavily on building out from specific experience than adopting in from social contact than allistics.
Certification – a communication from a socially dominant institution that an individual has demonstrated through their behavior the likelihood of providing specific services to others in a manner likely to benefit those with power and privilege.
Cognition – Processing of external and internal stimuli into frameworks that may be associated with behavior and/or internal recognition.
Communication – behavior by one sentient being intended to alter the cognition and/or behavior of another.
Development – a prescribed timeline of behaviors that dominant social institutions determine to be a desirable optimal outcome.
Diagnosis – the categorization made by one or more individuals, all certified to practice education and/or medicine, that another individual fits into a specific framework for interaction and access to resources.
Education, or “Formal” Education – the institutional framework for sorting humans into categories based on the perceived likelihood that an individual will grow to benefit those with power and privilege.
Functional label – an institutional (diagnostic) categorization of individuals for the sole purpose of allocating different sets of resources for different categories.
Gifted – the subset within any neurotype of those certified as having high intelligence.
Identification – an internal transition that a person experiences: from not knowing the category of something or someone to being able to place it or them into a category.
Identity – the label a coherence of cognition chooses to describe themself or an aspect of themself, along with the meaning that individual intends to be associated with the label.
Intelligence – a measure of the ability of an individual to display behavior leading to the perception that the person will contribute to power and privilege more through cognitive than through physical labor.
Neurofabulous – the identity label intended to mean a person with distinctly individualized cognition who celebrates and warmly embraces that cognition.
Property – a mutual social convention guiding cognition about how different individuals may use something.
Resources – material items and/or behavior, whether or not categorized as property.
Self-diagnosis – an identity label that borrows reputational social credit from the term “diagnosis”, in that it is intended to convey two ideas: 1) I made the decision about my category myself, and 2) my decision is equally as valid as a decision made by individuals certified to practice education and/or medicine.
Support – natural and mutually beneficial interaction among people that would flow comfortably and in abundance but for the social definitions of property that direct interactions to benefit those with power and privilege.
Timequeer – – a neurotype categorization referring to identity, not diagnosis, for people who experience the flow and perception of time in a manner distinct from a linear social chronology.
@actuallyautistic@autisticbookclub@autistic[email protected] I love learning about what fellow autistics experience when using hashtags or groups as a way to connect and share. I also love hearing about our valuable community history. More of that, always, please!
I hate reading fellow autistics criticizing the ways that other autistics are using hashtags or groups as a way to connect. Less of that, boo!
By the way, "I use this because I like this and not that" or "when I use that I am uncomfortable about what it implies to me" - those are not criticisms. Criticisms are "It will work best if autistics only use this" or "autistics should not use that".
"Greta Thunberg Could Face Jail Term After Second Blockade of Swedish Oil Port"
"The Swedish climate activist has been charged for a second time for failing to obey police orders."
(See the linked article at the bottom.)
Something I posted somewhere else:
Greta’s perceptive way of seeing the world in very literal, stark terms allows her to clearly see the climate crisis as an emergency, while so many others view climate change as an abstraction. To her it’s not an abstract threat, it’s an evident reality. That’s why she said this:
"Adults keep saying: “We owe it to the young people to give them hope.” But I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire. Because it is."
And she’s right. She began her activism all alone, sitting in front of the Swedish Parliament building holding a sign, while refusing to go to school. She thought school was impossible to attend while the planet was burning. She needed to voice this massive threat to young people. She began the school strike that grew to include other young people.
The discussion about the #ActuallyAutistic hashtag is really annoying. It's the hashtag for Autistic people either self-indentified or officially diagnosed and if your research about the Autistic community didn't provide you this knowledge, then maybe you should do more research or ask the community before you start complaining. Who are you to criticise a hashtag that connected and empowered thousands of marginalized disabled people for years? (1/2)
I did give complete details of what has happened in the past on Twitter which included some folks coming up with an alternative tag, #allautistics. This is part of the history on twitter. It's information. It wasn't a suggestion that we should no longer use #actuallyautistic. I use the tag constantly.
I suggested that we need to constantly explain that the tag is inclusive.
I've posted my opinion about the new hashtags, in the following article. I've prevented commenting directly on that article, because unfortunately the ActivityPub plugin makes a mess of it, when you have replies to replies.
(Actually... I'm not sure whether the plugin will prevent people from commenting in the fediverse... oh well.)
@yourautisticlife@actuallyautistic
Fortunately, hashtags are non-rival. The use of one hashtag imposes no barrier or additional cost on the use of another hashtag. There is no scarcity in hashtag space. And in the end, multiplicity is one of the features of our community I value most highly. #ActuallyAutistic#AllAutistics#AutisticMe
The main thrust of the discussion was about people who had recently realised they were autistic, or thought they might be, wondering if it was OK to use certain hashtags/groups.
As long as there are at least a few of us following each of the hashtags and groups, we will see the posts from newbies and can welcome, clarify and point them at the other hashtags/groups.
Pattern brain:
Why the rush to a new hashtag when #ActuallyAutistic has been in use for ten years and is understood across every platform in use now?
Rude brain:
Why did all the cool kids get up and decide to sit at a new lunch table when the poor weird kid who was raised in a cult sat down with them?
When I 1st came here I assumed #ActuallyAutistic was gatekeeping & didn't interact until I saw the tag explained. Most weeks since I've seen posts assuming the same.
But like many of us I'm fond of the AA tag, plus change is... unappealing.
Then I saw a couple of posts under #AllAutistics & got quite anxious we'd go through the pain of change but end up with another problematic tag.
The autistic urge to reveal everything you know about a topic you like the second someone brings it up, feeling as though you may burst if you don’t, even though the person you’re speaking to probably has only a mild interest in the subject and will be shocked by your passion.
For anyone having issues with the #ActuallyAutistic hashtag, there is also #AllAutistics and @allautistics (the latter being a recently created group that you can follow and post to).
They are intended for anyone who is (or thinks they might be) autistic (formally or self-diagnosed).
I'm in flow when I can focus on the endless beautiful forms and patterns of nature. I love seeing how things connect. I used to observe nature as a job (as a scientist), but I could not survive in academia.
I'm also a mom.
A year or so ago, I found out about neurodivergence. Reading and listening to the accounts of autistic people sharing their experience filled me with an overwhelming feeling of peace and kinship. This lead to a path of self-discovery. I'm also learning about ADHD as my partner and my kid are AuDHD.