Anna NicholsonRounding off the joint in-person/online programme at #Autscape2022 (there’s a little more to come online), we have a panel on the conference’s Interdependence theme, with Martijn Dekker, Heta Pukki, Alicja Nocon and Saffron Baldoza
(But no Saffron)
An excellent point made by an audience member at #Autscape2022 just now, and one that occurred to me before the conference: interdependence is normal
Martijn makes the point that while independence is as unrealistic for disabled people as for anyone else, it is often presented as a goal
Autonomy is a better word for what we should all have
A little discussion of Alicja’s research there, with a questioner asking whether the top 5 values were significantly different from those in the general population
Not much has been done on this, though other studies have found some differences
Honesty is an interesting one
And there was a question on the psychological term *co-dependence*, which Alicja felt would be better labelled as over-dependence – and often arises in the disabled community as a result of unmet needs
An audience member asks, how do we judge the responses to surveys when Autistic people may respond more honestly than their non-Autistic peers
(And deference to non-Autistic authority, e.g. parents of Autistic children, can lead to very wrong conclusions)
Everyone on the panel appreciating the community at #Autscape2022 and not feeling like an outsider
Reflecting on the theme, it is acknowledged that more needs to be done to include those with high support needs in Autscape