http://tiny.cc/AwarenessVsAcceptance
Autism Awareness vs Autism Acceptance
from an autistic person's point of view.
* * * TW for usage of ABA commands like "hands quiet!" and "look me in the eyes!" * * *
---Video transcript for people with audio or visual processing issues---
Title: "Autism Awareness vs. Autism Acceptance"
Title tag: "From an autistic person's point of view."
Autistic Woman (AW): *Is sitting in a corner because it offers proprioceptive input while she contentedly stims by twiddling a red Tangle and chewing on a No Gloom 'Shroom. She is hugging her comfort object, a very old and obviously loved stuffed Wile E. Coyote plushie. Her clothing is a black tank top and black shorts.*
Blue Awareness (BA): *A woman wearing a predominantly blue button-down flannel shirt walks by. She sees AW, stops, gawks and points rudely at AW.* Hey, look, a person with autism!
AW: *startled* Huh? Who are you?
BA: I'm Autism Awareness. Now be quiet while I make people aware of your symptoms. *points accusingly* Autism makes people oversensitive to stimuli, require a rigid routine, avoid eye contact and have a narrow range of interests. People with autism engage in pointless and awkward repetitive behaviors. They're so different!
AW: *Tilts head like 'what?'* Um, stimming isn't pointless. *Starts to say more*
BA: *talks over AW* I'm making the world aware!
AW: Why? *Uneasy*
BA: *Condescending tone* Because you're such a tragic figure trapped behind all those symptoms. *Puffs up, proud* I'm wearing blue to show the world that I tolerate your existence. I can't fix you, so I support a charity determined to erase you. Autism Speaks says it's time to listen, so you listen to me. Autism is an epidemic that has to be stopped!
AW: *angry* What?! That's backwards! I'm not an epidemic, I'm not tragic and I'm not 'trapped' by anything other than your crappy idea of me. Maybe if you listen to me, you'd learn that autism isn't something to be afraid of--
BA: *Waves hands rudely and talks over AW again* Nothing you have to say is worth listening to because you have autism and your voice doesn't need to be heard if I speak for you. *Condescending voice* I know what's good for you more than you do. Here, let's fix you up so you're presentable. First off, you don't need these. *Takes AW's stim toys and Wile E. Coyote plushie.*
AW: Hey! *Grabs at her stuff, fails to take it back, which causes low-level distress. She turns her head to the side, purses her lips and begins rocking and fluttering her fingers. There is a brief moment where she taps her forehead with her fingertips, too.*
BA: *Looks at the No Gloom 'Shroom in disgust before regarding AW again* Ah-ah! *Holds up finger* Sit still! Hands quiet!
AW: *Freezes, shocked.*
BA: Good girl! Look me in the eyes.
AG: *Does it for a brief second. Her distress level is rising, evident by how her stimming resumes. She wiggles her fingers with her fists clenched, keeps her head turned away, chews on her pursed lips and rocks back and forth.*
BA: Ah-ah! Hands quiet. Hands quiet! *shakes finger*
AG: *Turns face towards BA. It takes her a few seconds to process the command and comply by clenching her fists.*
BA: We can't let anybody see how different you are!
AW: *Blinks and lowers her hands into her lap. She looks like a statue. Her face resembles a zombie as she struggles to meet a behavioral standard that goes against her natural behavior. The only way for her to look "not autistic" is to sit still and not move or speak.*
BA: There, now you're tolerable for neurotypicals. *Walks away with AW's stuff.*
AW: *Still motionless and sad. Her eyes look dead.*
Red Acceptance (RA): *A woman wearing a red pullover shirt with small white floral patterns dances by waving her arms around like baby Groot at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy. She is jamming to the beginning of "Africa" by Toto on her headphones. She stops when she sees AW and the music fades as she removes her headphones.*
RA: Hey, are you okay?
AW: *Curls up.* No.
RA: What's wrong? *Genuine concern*
AW: *On the verge of tears* An Autism Speaks supporter was here a few minutes ago. She wouldn't listen to me! She said she only tolerates me because she can't make my autism vanish. Then she took away my coping mechanisms and said it's for my own good! *Looks up* She wouldn't listen to anything I said!
RA: *Straightens and crosses her arms. Her voice drops lower in pitch.* Oh, really? *glances off to the side* Hang on a sec, I think I see her.
RA: *Rolls up her sleeves and raises a fist for a fight as she walks offscreen. Cartoon fight noises ensue.*
BA: *Flopped out on the floor, KO'ed cartoon-style with a lolled out tongue and X's for eyes.*
RA: *returns with AW's stuff and hands them to AW.* Here you go.
AW: Thank you. *She looks relieved as she twiddles her Tangle and hugs her Wile E. plushie close.* Who are you?
RA: I'm Autism Acceptance.
AW: *Unconsciously starts to stim, realizes she's doing it and stops herself.*
RA: *Sees AW's hesitation.* Hey, you can stim if you want. Stimming is awesome! *Stims by hand flapping and finger wiggling.*
AW: Really? *Surprised*
RA: Yeah! I want you just the way you are right now. *smiles*
AW: *Is a little over-stimulated and still looks unsure.*
RA: *Notices AW's hesitation, so she decides to offer a sensory solution that takes AW's autism into account rather than trying to squash it.*
RA: Hey, I've got "Africa" by Toto on repeat. *Removes her headphones.* Here, rock out and enjoy yourself. *RA gives AW her headphones and MP3 player.*
AW: *Accepts the offered headphones.*
RA: *Smiles and turns away to let AW self-soothe with the music.*
---The chorus of "Africa" by Toto begins to play---
"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa (I bless the rains)
I bless the rains down in Africa (I bless the rains)
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa (I'm gonna take some time)
Gonna take some time to do the things we never have, ooh ooh!"
AW: *Now free to be herself again, she hugs her Wile E. plushie, holds onto her red Tangle and chews on her No Gloom 'Shroom. She is wearing the headphones. Her eyes are closed so she can focus wholly on the harmony of the music. She is stimming by tapping her fingertips together and happily rocking back and forth. The corner she is sitting in feels safe again. Everything is right in her world.*
---The music continues as the scene cross-fades to show hashtags---
#AutismAcceptance
#RedInstead
#ActuallyAutistic
#LoudHands
#BoycottAutismSpeaks
---Credits---
Music: "Africa" by Toto.
All three "characters" are played by me. The only really "put-on" thing was the dialogue and BA's condescending tone. I was able to speak more eloquently than usual because I had all the printed dialogue taped to pieces of cardboard that were propped up against the camera tripod. I was reading all the lines instead of saying them "live". I stumble and lose my train of thought a lot when I'm talking "live" instead of reading out loud. Go watch my vlogs and you'll see the difference.
The stims in the video are my real stims. I didn't need to ham those up for the camera, they all happened naturally.
Yes, that is really what Autism Speaks supporters sound like to me. If your response to this video is "I'm not like that!" rather than "Wow, Autism Speaks is bad news and I need to stop supporting them!" then you are proving you don't care about autistic voices.