Caitlyn Valenza<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ENGL 384<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Foss<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May 2, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nImportance of the Autistic Voice <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a whole, the disabled community\nis often thought of as lesser \u2013 less capable, less talented, less intelligent.\nLess of a person. Often these stereotypes are supported by negative, and incorrect\ndepictions in everyday media, allowing for further discrimination and divide\nbetween those who are considered neurotypical and those who are not. And while\none could argue that any discussion of the disabled community is inherently helping\nincrease representation of those who are affected by a disability, that is\nsimply not the case. When marginalized groups are not involved in making decisions\nabout their own representation, it can lead to the spread of harmful misinformation\nand is ultimately a lost opportunity for inclusion. In Jim Sinclair\u2019s, \u201cDon\u2019t Mourn\nfor Us\u201d, Amanda Bagg\u2019s \u201cCultural Commentary: Up in the Clouds and Down in the Valley:\nMy Richness and Yours\u201d, and Melanie Yergeau\u2019s<\/a>,\n\u201cIntroduction: Involution\u201d, the importance of allowing autistics to speak for\nthemselves in both everyday media and literature is highlighted, as well as the\nnegative consequences of treating an autistic diagnosis as meaning an end to the\npossibilities of creative thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although\nautism is one of the more discussed and well-known disabilities in the United\nStates, that does not mean that individuals with autism themselves are the ones\nwho have been given a platform, or are even the center of discussions. When an\nindividual is diagnosed with autism, often in childhood, both their lives as\nwell as their parents\u2019, are forever changed. Jim Sinclair, an autistic rights\nadvocate, discusses the feelings parents often have of trauma and loss after diagnosis\nbut writes that \u201c\u2026parents [must] make radical changes in their perceptions of\nwhat autism means.\u201d (Sinclaire). If parents view autism as either a burden for\nthe family to carry, or an obstacle for all to overcome, it is easy to see why conversations\nwould not focus on the individual\u2019s autistic story, but instead the struggles\nand accomplishments of the family. And while those stories are also important\nto tell, they cannot be the highlight. After the initial diagnosis, \u201c\u2026nonautistic\nstakeholders become authorized as autistic somethings-as autistic parents, as\nautistic researchers\u2026\u201d (Yergeau, 2) and this allows family members to also take\nup a new identity, a new sense of purpose. And while this practice can have positive\nimplication, such as creating support groups and acting as a label to relate to\nthose in a similar situation, it also allows for the emphasis of the autistic\nnarrative to be the story of parents, not of individual growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Individuals\nwith autism can also be the victim of this loss of voice due to the harmful stereotypes\nthat those with autism do not know how to properly function said voice, or do\nnot have a voice at all. Autistic individuals are often times portrayed in\nmedia as fitting into one of two distinct categories, either a hyper-focused, socially\nawkward, young white male, or completely helpless and nonverbal. These two harmful\nideas often lead to the belief that individuals with autism either cannot\nexpress, or cannot experience the world as those without autism do, and\ntherefore do not have the capability of rhetoric, or even communication at all.\nThe idea that autism prevents an individual from expressing ideas is disproved\ntime and time again, but still the trope persists. Even while writing Involution,<\/em> Melanie Yergeau was \u201c\u2026told\nthat autism preclude[d her] from being rhetorical, much less a rhetorician\u201d.\nDiscussions of accomplishments like these need to be the focus of autism\norganizations in order to champion and inspire individuals with autism. When seemingly\nthe only available media revolving around this disability is of the struggles\nand limitations, where are those who are newly diagnosed supposed to find hope?\nThe infantilization of individuals with autism in media is overall problematic,\nbut especially when considering the lack of autonomy already granted to those\nwith autism. When the idea that autistic individuals cannot think or care for\nthemselves is consistently perpetuated, it furthers harmful misconceptions, and\ntakes away opportunities for autistic individuals to speak for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those\nwho do not have a disability are often of the mindset that there is only one\nright way to do things, and only one type of person who can do them. The idea that\nspoken language is the only way to communicate or that those with a mental\nhandicap cannot be prolific, harm those who cannot fit into society\u2019s standards\nof \u2018normal\u2019. \u00a0In Amanda Bagg\u2019s piece she references\nher ability to communicate with body language or facial features, emphasizing\nthat those forms of communication \u201care rich and varied\u2026 in their own right, not\ninadequate substitutes for the more standard forms of communication, and like\nall forms of communication, some parts of them came naturally to [her] and\nother parts [she] had to learn\u201d (Baggs). This is the message that should be\nstandardized in disability discourse. In order for individuals with autism to\nhave their own space to champion each other, autism societies should no longer be\nabout mourning for what never was, but exploring what is (Sinclaire). With the\nfocus on the autistic individual and their possibilities, the chance for autistic\nself-advocacy grows. Additionally, space must be made in society for those with\ndisabilities in general, but autism more specifically, to be able to freely express\nnot only their hardships and struggles, but also their own ideas, stories,\ninventions, and other creative pieces. It must become commonplace to include autistic\nvoices in every aspect of today\u2019s culture. The possibilities for individuals\nwith autism are endless, if only they are given the chance to explore them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\naddition of an autistic narrative in everyday media allows for accurate representation\nof said individuals in a society where they are often mislabeled as outsiders. Inclusion\nallows for individuals to claim the rights to their own story, and help serve as\nan example for the rest of their community, and even future generations. While \u2018autism\nawareness\u2019 is necessary in a society that often ignores the needs of its disabled\npopulation, this awareness must come from individuals whom actually have autism.\nThrough autistic self-advocacy it is possible to falsify the idea that an\nautism diagnosis means a loss of all opportunities, and prove that it instead opens\nup a new world of possibilities. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n References<\/p>\n\n\n\n Baggs,\nAmanda. \u201cUp in the Clouds and Down in the Valley: My Richness and Yours.\u201d Disability Studies Quarterly, <\/em>vol. 30,\nno. 1, 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sinclair, Jim. \u201cDon\u2019t\nMourn For Us.\u201d Our Voice,<\/em> vol. 1,\n1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yergeau,\nMelanie \u201cIntroduction: Involution\u201d from Authoring\nAutism: On Rhetoric and Neurological Queerness. <\/em>Durham: Duke University\nPress, 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Word Count: 1036<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hereby declare upon my\nword of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this\nwork. \u2013 Caitlyn Valenza <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Caitlyn Valenza ENGL 384 Dr. Foss May 2, 2019 The Importance of the Autistic Voice As a whole, the disabled community is often thought of as lesser \u2013 less capable, less talented, less intelligent. Less of a person. Often these stereotypes are supported by negative, and incorrect depictions in everyday media, allowing for further discrimination … Continue reading “Caitlyn Valenza’s Final Exam”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[85],"class_list":["post-1572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-final-exam"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papJgd-pm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1573,"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572\/revisions\/1573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}