Autistic and Living the Dream

Category: Ableism

  • Spectrum 10K: potential amniocentesis study shows the ARC for who they really are

    Spectrum 10K: potential amniocentesis study shows the ARC for who they really are

    Content warnings: amniocentesis, pregnancy, abortion, ableism, eugenics. The Autism Research Centre (ARC), based at University of Cambridge, is running Spectrum 10K – a eugenics project which claims they want to “help the well-being” of Autistic people and our families. The Boycott Spectrum 10K team has spoken about the many issues of this project in various…

  • Stories from across the “double rainbow”: trans and non-binary Autistic narratives [plain language summary]

    Stories from across the “double rainbow”: trans and non-binary Autistic narratives [plain language summary]

    In my research I spoke to 13 trans and / or non-binary Autistic people (people said to live under the double rainbow of neurodivergence and queerness). I wanted to know about their lives, what they thought about representation and their recommendations for double rainbow research. It was important for me to do this work as…

  • Spectrum 10K: What worries us about the theory behind this project?

    Spectrum 10K: What worries us about the theory behind this project?

    Spectrum 10K, started more than 18 months ago to collect 10,000 DNA samples and medical histories of Autistic people across the UK. There are some valid concerns around the efficacy of this work but also the theory and tools which are used within it. Some worrying tools and theories used within Spectrum 10K– The Autism…

  • Spectrum 10K – unpaused and still unethical

    Spectrum 10K – unpaused and still unethical

    In August 2021 the Spectrum 10k (S10K) research project was announced. It aimed to collect 10,000 DNA samples and medical records of Autistic children and adults (there is more information on the study at Aucademy). After a well thought-out and planned boycott from Autistic advocates, academics and many others, S10K was paused so the ethics…

  • I won’t apologise for my neurotype

    I won’t apologise for my neurotype

    I will apologise for things I’ve done wrong and I’ll do my best to grow and change with whatever new information I’ve been graced with. I don’t know everything, I’m not perfect and life is bloody hard. So I try not to be so hard on myself. There is one thing I absolutely will not…

  • Autistic and living the dream?

    Autistic and living the dream?

    I once got “called out” by someone online about my screen name. They said that not all Autistic people were able to ‘live the dream.’ This person was talking about their son. They used all sorts of functioning labels about him and mentioned things I’d never share publicly about myself, let alone my own son.…

  • Making “good choices”

    Making “good choices”

    In schools and educational settings across the UK, Neurodivergent children, including those with mental health conditions, are praised for “good choices” and punished for “bad choices.” This may seem effective on the surface but this idea puts the onus of ‘appropriate’ behaviours, reactionary and otherwise, on the child in question. This is harmful for several…

  • The trouble with puzzle pieces

    The trouble with puzzle pieces

    Historically the Autistic community have been represented by primary coloured puzzle pieces. Although this symbol can be interpreted many ways there are inherent problems with it. It was first used to represent ‘childhood schizophrenia’, the first modern label of what we now know to be autism. The primary colours were used to show that it…