Saturday, June 18, 2011

Autistic Pride Day

I'm hoping to get up a post tomorrow with some other people's reflections on APD. But for now:

Why do we have Autistic Pride Day? Why is autism something to be 'proud' of?

The way I see it, it's not so much "I am proud of this achievement" as "This is who I am and I am pretty effing fantastic and this aspect of me is part of why. I am pleased to be me."

Many minorities have pride days or pride events. And good for them. We are another minority. Just as people of color didn't choose to be born as minorities, just as GLTBQ people didn't choose to be different, just as no one chooses to be part of a group treated poorly--we didn't either. But just like those other groups, we are valid and whole individuals.

Pride in what makes you different is good for you. If you can be pleased about who you are, then there is no reason to fix you. People generally aren't broken, so I'm all for pride.

I can be the most amazing me I can be, or I can be a crappy imitation of someone neurotypical. Yeah, I'm proud to be the badass I am.

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