Rights and Challenges for Autistic People with Communication Disabilities in the Legal System

• By: Staff CommunicationFIRST
• July 5th, 2023
• AAC, ableism, accommodations, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, communication, cultural competence, disability rights laws, discrimination, equal access to public services, guardianship, law enforcement, nonspeaking, speech-related disabilities, stereotypes, stigma, Summer 2023 Issue, the legal system
• 2058    1

Police should be the last resort.... I shouldn’t have to call the police if my son is having a meltdown. When I get up in the morning, I say, “Thank God he’s not dead,” and “Thank God I’m not dead.” - Kerima Çevik, activist and parent of a nonspeaking autistic son (Sokol,...

This is What Autistiphobia Looks Like: Why Autistic Advocacy Matters

• By: Bernard Grant, PhD Writer, Editor, and Neurodiversity Advocate
• January 2nd, 2023
• ableism, ableist society, actually autistic, advocacy, attitudinal barriers, bigotry, discrimination, masking, neurodivergence, Winter 2023 Issue
• 4835    1

The Researcher A lot of people do not like Autistic people. Which is a common topic in Autistic spaces. But many allistics who want to advocate with us, as allies, stop talking to me when I mention attitudinal barriers to accessibility. Or else they find creative ways to avoid the...

Autism and the Troubling Risk of Suicide

• By: Marina Sarris SPARK | Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative
• September 29th, 2022
• ableism, abuse, accommodation, communication, compromise, discrimination, Fall 2022 Issue, intimate relationships, miscommunications, negotiation, neurodiversity, relationships, stigma
• 1595    0

This article has information about suicide and suicide prevention. For help 24/7, please call or text the U.S. Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. Few people used to think about the risk of suicide among people on the autism spectrum. Researchers rarely studied it. Primary care doctors did not...

Intimate Relationship Failures From an Autistic Perspective

• By: Zosia Zaks, MEd, CRC Zaks Autism Consulting
• September 29th, 2022
• ableism, abuse, accommodation, actually autistic, communication, compromise, discrimination, Fall 2022 Issue, intimate relationships, miscommunications, negotiation, neurodiversity, relationships, stigma
• 9948    13

The standard narrative positions autism as the cause of relationship trouble when a non-autistic person dates or falls in love with an autistic person. The autistic partner is assumed to be the disruptive or difficult one. Self-help books offer non-autistic partners tips on how to cope with their...