AutismHWY is blessed to know so many amazing Autistic activists and advocates. This has been THE biggest and best result of our 5 year history. Our GIFT. Thank you to the Autistic community and it’s amazing emerging culture!!
When our HWY first merged on to the internet… we did not know WHAT to expect. So many things being said about Autism. From every direction, from too many angles. It was an Autism informational ‘freeway congestion’ of overload. What do you listen to? Who do you listen to? What weight do you assign to those words you are rationally hearing? Much like the moment of diagnosis. Filtering through what seems to apply to you and your loved ones and what simply does not. It is not a simple task and in fact a very fluid one. Remember to always be flexible and fluid in this ongoing informational filtering process.
The voices in Autism come from many places. Too many places. Many of these places with fiscal motives behind them. Voices filled with pain, pride and ego. Voices filled with humanity. This is where we took our major right turn…
At AutismHWY we turned to the voice of Autistic people. The voice of the people that understand the mechanics of the Autism engine. The specialists! If your child is a Mercedes…well then you know the mechanic he or she may need for fine tuning. This IS the AutismHWY after all folks. The insights and hidden Autistic information that cannot be gleaned from “professionals” OR “parent-bloggers” comes from one place and one place only.
Autistic people.
The decades long movement of Autistic people uniting has grown rapidly in 2015. Major collaborations amongst them like the Boycotting of Autism Speaks and the forming of Autonomous Press seek to spread their truths on an ever widening scale. Signal boostings of their information by allies will continue to grow. Their story being centrally cited in the award winning N.Y. Times bestselling book NeuroTribes by the wonderful and well regarded journalist Steve Silberman has increased visibility. Some cages have definitely been rattled. Shaken up to the point of Autism Speaks finally placing two Autistic adults as seated board members after 10 yrs. in existence without them. Let’s hope these seats are equally functional and not just pretty place-cards on the Autism Speaks table.
The future of Autistic people lies in the hands of Autistic people. The AutismHWY dictates it.
The traffic has been too congested with the previously written road rules. Non Autistic road rules that don’t apply to the Autistic engines they seek to mainstream. We need Autistic guidelines to merge with professionals and parents. These highly specialized people deserve the expert mechanics that will get us all back on the HWY together peacefully. Autistic people and parents of Autistic people must start merging together on 2 lane HWYs….1 way HWYs are no longer working. Together we can change the future for Autistic people their parents and the professional community that supports us all.
