Tag: autism

#KiehlsxAutismSpeaks: Buying Face Cream won’t Help Autistic People & Neither will Autism Speaks

~ crippledscholar ~ 6 Comments

    There is so much wrong with the #KiehlsxAutismSpeaks campaign that I hardly know where to begin. The campaign has two components, the first is a consumer component which donates a portion of sales to Autism Speaks. The second is a social media campaign which raises money based on the number of shares a … Continue reading #KiehlsxAutismSpeaks: Buying Face Cream won’t Help Autistic People & Neither will Autism Speaks

My Son’s Swim Coach’s Second Cousin’s Wife has a Student With Cerebral Palsy: The Disability Anecdote

~ crippledscholar ~ 5 Comments

The disability anecdote is something that I'm sure most if not all disabled people have faced. At its most basic it can simply be someone, having discovered they are in the presence of a disabled person who feels compelled to create some bizarre sense of false common ground. The scenario generally involves a nondisabled person finding … Continue reading My Son’s Swim Coach’s Second Cousin’s Wife has a Student With Cerebral Palsy: The Disability Anecdote

Undesirable: Toxic Romantic Dreams, Disability, Sexuality and Relationships

~ crippledscholar ~ 11 Comments

CW: This post contains discussion and descriptions of sexual harassment, violence and bullying Considering the Kathy Lette article in the Daily Mail (which I wrote about here and Carly Findlay wrote about here). I want to offer my own narrative of disability and sexuality, a narrative that isn’t driven by a parent or other third … Continue reading Undesirable: Toxic Romantic Dreams, Disability, Sexuality and Relationships

Issues of Disabled Sexuality and Consent: When Parents Get Involved in Their Children’s Sex Lives

~ crippledscholar ~ 6 Comments

    Australian-British author, Kathy Lette considered hiring her son a sex worker*. She considered doing this because her son is autistic. This narrative in and of itself is not new or particularly shocking. Parents have discussed considering hiring their disabled sons a sex workers before. I’ve seen narratives written by disabled men talking about … Continue reading Issues of Disabled Sexuality and Consent: When Parents Get Involved in Their Children’s Sex Lives

When People Use Diversity to Defend Sameness in Autism Narratives

~ crippledscholar ~ 7 Comments

"It's just one story" or so people keep telling me when I protest the lack of diversity in both autism narratives and characters in the media. The thing is that's exactly the problem. Film and television have basically been writing fan fiction about the same autistic character in different scenarios for decades. This character is … Continue reading When People Use Diversity to Defend Sameness in Autism Narratives

Labels aren’t Just for Jars: Give Kids the Words to Understand their Lives

~ crippledscholar ~ 10 Comments

Image Description: a hand places disability label cards onto illustrations of children. Still taken from video in post. Yesterday, on Twitter someone shared this video and asked me for my thoughts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK0KG5vKCO0 Video description: A mostly unnarrated video in which a pair of hands puts labels on illustrated jars like jam, peaches, pickles etc. Then … Continue reading Labels aren’t Just for Jars: Give Kids the Words to Understand their Lives

If You Care about Autistic People Don’t Just Perform Solidarity

~ crippledscholar ~ 4 Comments

So April is upon us and along with it Autism Bewareness Month (I stand by that word choice). Tomorrow is World Autism Awareness Day and I am already feeling suffocated by all of the faux awareness. Awareness would be great if it actually meant that people were actually educating themselves about the realities of autistic people. … Continue reading If You Care about Autistic People Don’t Just Perform Solidarity