Everyday Ableism and how it impacts Autistic people

 Ableism is the practice of discriminating against disabled people or placing abled people at the centre of normative society.  It can take the form of overt ableism; using slurs or actively discriminating in educational or work settings. Structural ableism is where institutions or states fail to provide for the human rights of those with disabilities.  We also have the less obvious forms, the day to day assumptions or dismissals which can create a lifetime of micro stressors. And lastly, internalised ableism can also be a factor, and this is the experience of critiquing ourselves and not allowing for true acceptance of our disability.

Ableism of course refers to all disabled people but as an autistic person, I wanted to reflect specifically on ableism in relation to autism.

For context, and for anyone who hasn't read previous blog posts, I am a late diagnosed autistic person.  I received my official confirmation of autism when I was 53. I completed a Certificate in Autism Studies in University College Cork this year and I have written about autism, both from an academic perspective, but also from my own living of it.  I wrote about autism and epistemic injustice and many other topics and I approach this topic as a rule from a wide philosophical and human rights position.

The type of everyday ableism I experience is often based on assumptions created by one dimensional stereotypes of what it is to be autistic.  I've been presumed to be less than competent in some instances, and in others to have far more capacity than I actually have.  My experience, of course, is not identical to that of other autistic people and I have the privilege of being white and educated and with a job.  Ableism can't be fully understood without including the intersectional layers of discrimination which impact people to very different degrees.

I've been told not to use my autism as an excuse.  This highlights the fundamental lack of comprehension of how autistic characteristics are not a matter of choice, but are core to our brain wiring and our being.  The invisible nature of the disability for many lower support needs autists effects a perception that we are simply neurotypical-lite. Just slightly different or quirky or odd, and not in fact experiencing the world in an entirely different way. On the other end of the scale, those autistic people for whom speech is impossible, or whose body coordination is well outside the realm of 'normal' can be stared at, dismissed, and treated as less than human.

Dr. Nick Walker wrote of the Pathology Paradigm:

'The principles of a widely dominant sociocultural paradigm like the pathology paradigm usually take the form of assumptions—that is, they’re so widely taken-for-granted that most people never consciously reflect upon them or articulate them (and sometimes it can be a disturbing revelation to hear them plainly articulated). The pathology paradigm ultimately boils down to just two fundamental assumptions:

There is one “right,” “normal,” or “healthy” way for human brains and human minds to be configured and to function (or one relatively narrow “normal” range into which the configuration and functioning of human brains and minds ought to fall). If your neurological configuration and functioning (and, as a result, your ways of thinking and behaving) diverge substantially from the dominant standard of  “normal,” then there is Something Wrong With You.'

(Walker, Nick. Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities (p. 15). Autonomous Press. Kindle Edition.) 

It is difference that is the issue in a society which values conformity above all else.  Robert Chapman, in his book 'Empire of Normality' discusses neurodiversity and capitalism and the path which led to categorisations of 'normal' - generally framed within a model of economic productivity, and via theories such as eugenics.  This acceptance of eugenics lives today in narratives around 'curing' autism.  It is also situated in the false hierarchies that place more 'productive' disabled people in the higher echelons of what is valid.  The striving towards 'normal' is also at the root of practices such as ABA which I wrote about here.  

One ableist stereotype which I have encountered many times is the belief (again generated by a pathologising mindset) that autistic people don't feel empathy. I should stress that autistic people are not a monolith and that we all have different experiences of this, but my own experience is that of hyper empathy. I feel physical pain in my body when I see any other beings suffering.  I may not 'perform' this empathy in neurotypical ways but I feel it to my core.  I have also multiple times experienced the kindness, openness and gentleness of my neurokin.

Another form of ableism is the pretence that we are all the same, and that neurominorities experience life and opportunity in the same way as the predominant neurotype (which a wealth of academic research and writing from advocates indicates to be untrue).  This is often reflected in the phrase 'we are all a little bit autistic'.  I find this phrase immensely frustrating, even though at times it is well intentioned.  However, although the intention may be good, it serves only to invalidate and dismiss the testimony of neurodivergent people and their accounts of their own lives.

I mentioned at the start the idea of internalised ableism.  This is a thing I have consciously had to combat within myself.  A lifetime of masking and pushing through and denying my own needs is being slowly dismantled as I give myself permission to rest, to say no, to use tools like headphones, and to communicate in the way that is most natural to me.  And yet, still, I have to check myself sometimes when I feel guilty about poor emotional regulation, or for needing to sleep extensively after intense social activity, or for missing some unspoken social rule.

The concept that autistic people should be allowed to exist just as they are may seem like an obvious one, yet ableist narratives and behaviour still continue and need to be spoken about and changed because we are impacted on a daily basis by living in a world not designed for us, and this is made worse by discriminatory and dismissive attitudes.