Tag Archives: ableism

A poem about Thinking Inclusive

It disparaging to ridicule
It’s forging ahead to speak up
It’s unspeakable to be silent
when you want to be listened to.
The goodness of your hearts
may want to separate us
but the goodness of the soul
is to accommodate and think inclusive
to the ways of changing society
for the best,
to change society
we need to be open-minded,
to change society
we need acceptance,
to change society
we need clarity,
to change society
we need bitterness to end,
to change society,
we need to think differently
from what we had thought of before,
changing society allows
all of us to
always remember
what feeling accepted means
and carrying the weight on
our shoulders to be lifted
and the barriers separating
groups of people carried away.
Disability does not mean
segregation and certainly
does not mean segregating
and changing any one else,
it does not mean
cutting off
groups of people from the
diversity of Human Culture.
Disability means Diversity,
it means thinking outside the box,
it means being more creative,
it means being more intellectual,
it means what we all want from
society, the openness and
freedom of being uniquely one.
We can’t count the differences
we can’t count the similarities,
we can only count the people who
matter in this world,
everyone matters,
everyone cares,
everyone hurts,
everyone’s happy to be alive,
but most importantly everyone
has the right to express
who they are and what makes them
a part of society, helping others.
No more criticisms,
no more bullying,
and certainly no more Ableism!

Be a Leader in your community 🙂

(hope you enjoyed the poem!)

OUT, J

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Society’s Perception toward the Disability Community Needs to Change!

This is Society now:

Much of society is very Ableist and needs to get it right to understand; most people believe that disabled people are scarred for life needing to be pitied, waiting for them to overcome, and be an inspiration. This is the Medical model of Disability . By much of society being Ableist, they try to tell Disabled people what they think a Disabled person should do. For instance, most of society believes only non-Autistic people can help Autistic people.

However,

This is where Society needs to be:

Learning more about the Social Model of Disability to teach people more about Self-Determination giving pride and self-esteem to any one, not judging people, and allowing others to be who they are contributing and being helpful in ways they know they can! Many people in society need to listen to everyone’s (including the people in the disability community’s) ideas, motivations, and ways to living in this world to make a better difference! A lot of people from the disability community including many Autistics want to give back and help too, to those struggling most.

Thank you!

Any Questions? Just look at me and some of my Autistic peers seeing what we are doing and wanting to do even more!

more to be read soon!

OUT, J

 

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Why can’t we all just get along!

Murder of an Autistic or Disabled person is a hate-crime just like any other hate-crime. It’s the same as any other murder of anyone else who is trying to live their life, but suddenly their life comes to an end by the actions of another. There needs to be fair justice in our society. Parents and/or Caregivers who murder their Disabled offspring should be held accountable for their actions. Just because someone has a disability like Autism does not mean life should be treated differently like we are less than human. For example, the recent murder of Alex Spourdakalis and the attempted murder of Issy Stapleton were both crimes. Murderers and attempted murderers should be brought to justice.

It makes me sad that there have been parents and caregivers that have killed their offspring. Parents and caregivers who murder their kids because they could not handle their child’s disability are mostly seen as the victims and often sympathized. However, if a person with a disability murders, the person with the disability who has murdered is seen as evil. This does not happen as much as parents and caregivers who murder their Disabled children and society does nothing about it. Why? Anyone who does that should be put to trial!

Acceptance takes time. Sometimes a person needs to review themselves and understand who they are before they can accept who they are. Not everyone has a master plan to do the same thing like their peers, that is why everyone has a different perspective on what peeks their interest to help society. Every one needs to figure it out on their own without letting a parent, caregiver, teacher, peer, behaviorist, etc. get in their way. No one should feel unsafe in their lives. That is the reason why Autistic or Disabled people like myself feel the need to feel safe in the world just like Neurotypicals do.

The only fair reasoning for anyone to get in the way of another person’s thinking is if another Human being wants to murder or harm another person. For instance, no one can murder any Human being regardless if they have a disability or not. That is why we have Justice courts to send the murderers away from society. Everyone deserves to have a safe, positive living environment. Anyone needs to be able to live however they know, to be independent, while interacting with the rest of society safely. That is why Autistic and Disabled people may work with therapists because they want to be able to interact with society safely and be independent.

Murder is murder is murder like a pulse is a pulse is a pulse! If something has a pulse, you can’t just murder it. Everything with life has a purpose and has time to accept themselves so everything else around with a pulse has time to accept their family or peers. And yes, acceptance takes time, a lot of precious time to reflect and love who we are. It’s very important to not only accept ourselves, but also to accept others as they are. People like parents and caregivers of Autistic and Disabled people need to continue to live their lives interacting with others in a positive way just like my parents always do. I luckily have a good support network.

Don’t forget that everyone needs to love the person they are meant to be and never let anybody else bring them down! Society needs to understand one thing in life; being able to love and cherish the people who really care and appreciating those positive moments we all will give in the future or have given already!

OUT, J

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Spending time asserting our Human Rights is Most Important for Many who Struggle

I’m Alive! Aren’t you too? To live and be alive, we have accomplishments we all need for survival. Some of those things is making sure ableism subsides, and ensuring the need to make a difference to succeed. The problem with most parents of their Autistic or Disabled kids of any age is the need to insist their sons or daughters need to fit in to society differently than how their offspring perceive themselves. It’s okay to be Autistic like it’s ok to be anything else! Being anywhere on the Autistic spectrum does not mean we are not Human, it does not mean we do not have rights to live positively like everyone else, it does not mean we are differently abled, it just means we are Human too. By being Human, we continue to have the same rights as our Neurotypical counterparts. If we apply for a job we know we want and know we can do, without a doubt we should be able to have the chance to receive that job to earn a living. There are many problems with society today from all the Human rights violations in all of society’s history throughout the world I have noticed. Most people who are Neurotypical don’t see how Autistic people can live in this world striving for the same successes as them and most Autistic people learn from the rest of the world that they will be failures. This is unfair to a Human culture that can give so much to the world, in many ways a lot more than the rest of the world can. The world can be a cruel place to anyone who is different. However, the only thing Autistic people need to overcome is Neurotypicals who think we are unable to achieve our dreams. In the United States, we have the Americans with Disabilities Act which need to be continuously enforced to ensure justice is served and everyone is living how they see fit positively. Is it fair to treat an Autistic adult like a child because they are different from the rest of the world? For example, when an Autistic person is making strides with their interest where they are learning more and more about it to help societies positively live, isn’t it wrong to redirect that Autistic person to something they simply do not like? For any Human being to be happy, they have to be able to do positive good for the world. If they are prevented from doing that, they will be miserable. Of course, being social is important too, but doing important work for the world is important for anyone to be happy. Being social with others and having space to positively expand our interest is most important for happiness. For example, if an Autistic person wants to draw maps and design buildings for the world to enjoy, they should be able to do that. They should not be redirected in their speech or work in doing that, to do a career path someone else wants them to do. Everyone has a right to make their own decisions to be a positive force in society. By being a positive force in society, everyone will develop socially. Otherwise everyone will be miserable and be a rebel. No one likes rebels, so let’s stop creating them in the world. Let’s make peace and create positivity everywhere!

Hope your week has started out well!

Labor Day is next week…so it’s time for a long weekend.

OUT, J

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We need to stop Ableism in our every day conversations and living activities!

I don’t suffer from my autism, aspergers, or being Autistic. I have suffered from the internalized Ableism that society had continuously told me I am not good enough for them. When I have tried to be in the medical field I thought I wanted to work in taught me this about myself. The doctors and fellow healthcare associates of the Ultrasound community have made me believe that being Autistic I am not able to work in healthcare in hospitals. There are so many people to blame in the Ultrasound community for this. No need to look back because I am moving forward toward different, bigger, and better things by helping other Autistics out there in educational settings and daily life. If anything, Alec Trebek definitely said it right when he said “Teaching is the Noblest of all professions” anyway!!! May be that is why my Professor from college told me to go in to teaching instead years ago.

The definition of Ableism from disabled Feminist:

Ableism is a form of discrimination or prejudice against individuals with physical, mental, or developmental disabilities that is characterized by the belief that these individuals need to be fixed or cannot function as full members of society (Castañeda & Peters, 2000). As a result of these assumptions, individuals with disabilities are commonly viewed as being abnormal rather than as members of a distinct minority community (Olkin & Pledger, 2003; Reid & Knight, 2006). Because disability status has been viewed as a defect rather than a dimension of difference, disability has not been widely recognized as a multicultural concern by the general public as well as by counselor educators and practitioners.

Yet, being Autistic I am better than any one of those Ultrasound technologists who think they are the best because they are Neurotypical. I am Autistic and I am proud of being Autistic. I may have my faults, but from what I know Neurotypicals have many faults.  I can see details other Ultrasound techs can’t see at all because I am also an Artist!

Ableism continued at the Ultrasound School I first started in and finished. Then went to my externships. Then to my first job which wound up being part time. Then wound up being a difficult path to find another job which is part time. Any cardiologist or doctor for that matter should know better than to discriminate against an Autistic person like myself or any person with a disability. I should hope not all doctors are like this, but that is what I experienced. Doctors are always with people with disabilities in their practice who are their patients. Autistics are human too.

Now is the time I am wanting to help and teach other Autistic people to not suffer from the ableism in this world that I have suffered all my life. This is the reason why I want to teach Autistic children and teenagers and mentoring them to be able to have a great Adult life later in their lives.

And so, I have devised up a plan to stop Ableism in it’s tracks before people like me set it in their brains causing them to internalize it in their minds. It’s just not a healthy talking point toward an Autistic or any other disability.

I have come up with a list of different methods to stop Ableist viewpoints and thinking:

You must first read about what is Ableism in the first place. Or, especially read this one about Ableism.

By the way,  check out this page: This is Autism,
and look at this Facebook page, We are Autistic, Not Monsters!!!

Here is the list  devised to stop ableism:
1) Read, Watch, or Listen to what you feel may be Ableist carefully. (if you need help, ask someone who knows)
2) Report it in your mind as labeled as Ableist
3) Tell the person who reported Ableism even if it’s the news about how Ableism causes more harm to a person with a disability because it causes negative reaction with a person with a disability (read Lydia Brown, Autistic adult blog posts).
4) Know that any one you see is a Human being and talk to them as if they are Human not anything less.

Stopping this thinking will take time because it’s implanted in all of our brains already. Ableism is a virus that attacks all of us. I have friends who are also affected by internalized Ableism. Why bother to bring a person down by using the “virus” we call Ableism?

How do we stop it?

1) Think before you say something about or to a person with a disability
2) Never accept Eugenics ever!! We didn’t accept it during World War II when Hitler thought of that to eradicate the Jewish people, so why are we accepting to eradicate the Autistic people like me.
3) We need to start advocating for Autistic people who are suffering from internalized Ableism. We need to keep in mind that a lot of people without a disability is thinking the wrong way about my Autistic friends and I.
4) Change each of your words in your speech by telling an Autistic or any person with a disability that they are capable of doing what they put their minds to.
5) Don’t use words like the R-word, but especially don’t use the words intellectual disability or ID. I think society needs to rethink carefully what words they currently use toward disability.

Disability is in all of our nature. There is no one who is not subjected to disability at some point in their lives. Being human means we are not perfect. However being human we have passion to do whatever we feel we want to do with our lives.

That being said: I am a Human Rights Activist, Animal Rights Activist, Artist, Writer, Poet, Autistic man who will not stop ever doing what I am doing. I will fight to the end always and forever. People need to stop criticizing, stop trying to eradicate, and stop trying to judge disability. I will always continue to fight for my people and help by mentoring them because like what I heard on Saturday Night Live years ago, I’m Good enough, I’m Smart enough, and God darn it, People like me!!!

Hope you all enjoyed your Holidays and continue to enjoy the holiday season!!

OUT, J

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