So there's this support app called #Wisdo where ppl can join rooms based on experiences they've had so they can find ppl who need to talk to someone who's been there or make themselves available as someone who has.
There's effectively just one #autism room for both #ActuallyAutistic people and #AutismParents and unlike with the #LGBTQIA chat, the questions are so vague that you can't tell by the answers who is answering for THEMSELVES or about someone they know.
I have repeatedly told the founders that there need to be questions that differentiate so that when we post, #autistic ppl can tag each other.
And there's already a Raising a Child w/ a #Disability room, so Autism Parents can just GO THERE. They don't even NEED this room; they're just used to all our spaces belonging to them so they don't even look for other places and the questions don't redirect them.
This would be manageable if the other autistic people in the chat were folks who'd been around in the community for a while, experienced ppl who aren't vulnerable to #gaslighting or continuing efforts to isolate us, or the kind of faux-benevolent #eugenics bullshit Autism Parents and #ABA type #behaviorists go for.
But I swear it's JUST ME.
And I only know what I do bc the corner of the #neurodiversity community I met first was autistic POC before I knew about me.
So I barely feel confident enough to go around about my own personal business w/o being a catastrophic asshole, let alone seeking support, providing support, teaching #allistic people who think they're qualified to moderate a support space, and personally SINGLE HANDEDLY establishing community norms based on our real history and needs.
It is just so much.
But the flow of brand new autistic ppl is endless. And a mod there is an ABA provider.
Yeah. It's like that.
One time, someone came in asking for advice with a kid who was experiencing inconvenient emotions like anger--autistic kids aren't allowed to have these--and a new user recommended this parent start pairing "no" with a slap on the hand. Apparently at this person's work that's what their boss tells them is necessary for some kids to learn.
If you smell #Lovaas "autistic kids aren't people until we teach them fear" #ABA shit, so did I.
I commented that I need people not to recommend using pain as a teaching tool, and reported the post.
One of the mods came in and despite how many supportive studies I'd linked backing up the #ActuallyAutistic community's opposition to ABA as the cause of a lot of our #trauma, scolded me for being unable to politely respect different opinions about evidence-based "treatments."
Never mind autistic kids' #PTSD/#CPTSD I guess.
I was LARGE MAD and relinked both the opposition statements from actually-reputable advocacy orgs (y'know, the ones that let us participate) and the recent study demonstrating both that #ABA causes increased PTSD symptoms AAAAND that parents do not report decreased satisfaction with ABA despite their kids' PTSD. Because it's important that ppl know whose reports and perceptions are trustworthy, and it's not parents.
This is all, apparently, just a difference of opinion?
Difference of opinion. Difference of opinion. Difference of opinion.
Because ABA "works," see. And I guess? If the goal is to create compliant and convenient children who lose the inclination or even ability to show distress or anger, weaponizing both pain & the small trust it takes for kids to let anyone know they love things... yeah, sure. That'll "work."
Meanwhile, autistic ppl keep joining.
They have, like, one autistic mod now. I kept screenshots of the ugly conversation I had with their ABA provider mod about whether there should be a rule in the chat about advocating for anti-autistic therapies that our community has widely denounced.
In the LGBTQIA chat, we don't have to listen to ppl's cis het relatives pushing conversion therapy. But this is... different I guess?
Clearly #ableism doesn't real because autistic ppl don't real.
Maybe all of this will be meaningless soon if it becomes a paid app.
So maybe there won't be such a constant stream of brand new autistic ppl showing up wondering where they should be sorted according to #FunctioningLabels and parents who might still be salvageable if they get sent to humane places before #AutismSpeaks gets hold of them.
IJDK how I can set a healthy tone in a place where they promoted trained abusers before I even arrived. Def not all alone.
@faye There are a couple decent ones, yes! Just not on Wisdo, evidently.
The only ones I know are on Facebook, and the only people I know are too. So using Facebook is the price of staying connected to them even though I think a bunch of them don't even like it. 🤷🏻♀️ We do what we do.
The FB pages #RadicalNeurodivergenceSpeaking and #ParentingAutisticChildrenWithLoveAndAcceptance are two very good spots. But... Facebook.
Zia Cobalt, All Skulls Herself
🎄Faey Holidayed🎄