It’s a memory that is seared into my soul. For those who have seen Inside Out perhaps it is like those jingle memories that never fade. It was 1989, I was driving to work and listening to the local 2MMM Sydney radio station. I believe it was the old Doug Mulray show. I was turning from the Commenara Parkway, onto the Fox Valley Rd in Wahroonga. Just passing by The San, Seventh Day Adventist Hospital. A news flash. The announcer told us that The Berlin Wall had just come down!
Image showing a cyclist passing by the Berlin Wall. The wall contains a mural and the words Save Our Earth can be seen.
It was one of those moments where you just go WTF. Really WTF. One of those things changed that we never thought would or could. It had been like this our entire lives. I guess the more politically astute may have been less surprised. But for a 19 year old fellow fresh out of school it was a bizarre occurrence. Very strange. I recall arriving at work about 15 minutes later and all of us wondering around a bit lost, a bit like, what on earth does this means, this just seems bizarre and wrong. Well, maybe not wrong but certainly extremely strange and different. Unexpected and totally out of the expected experience of the world.
You see We all grew up as good Democracy biased, capitalist loving kids in mostly middle class Australia. Grown on a good dose of Cold War rhetoric, mixed in with a bit of good old Nuclear Disarmament here and there bit very much the Cold War and the Arms Race of who can point more Warheads at the other fastest. Talks of Star Wars defence systems and the like permeated our consciences on the nightly news.
The winds of change were starting to blow. And the world as we new it in very short shrift changed into a somewhat unrecognisable form from what it was.
The winds of change were certainly blowing. the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia East and West Germany. All irrevocably changed. A massive thing for those of us growing up in the fear and loathing of the evil reds, the domino theory that was Vietnam etc. Yes the winds of change were certainly blowing…
A Mushroom Cloud Explosion. Black and White Image.
The winds of change are needed in the Autism community. In all parts of it. Over the last 24 hours or so I have witnessed something of an implosion in the Autistic community. In two separate situations Âûtistic advocates have been silenced and sidelined. Their voices rendered silent. In one situation a couple of comments taken out of context, combined with an over exuberant admin wanting not to administrate and moderate but to rule control and dictate. A declaration that the groups was now closed, the removal of all admins and the swift removal of all participants. All in the matter from finish to start of about one hour. A whirlwind of implosion.
The second implosion is still going on. A very active and vocal autistic advocate was forcefully kicked out and blocked from a very large group on Facebook that was 22000 plus members strong. There had been some tension between the Autistic point of view and the parent point of view. Without going in to too much detail, there are a lot of hurting and confused people in the Aspergers and Autistic community online tonight. This is not acceptable. This will not help the cause of acceptance and inclusion. Worse it may push us backwards.
Please fellow Âûtistics and true Allies. No more implosions, no more explosions. No more ego driven bullshit about who can and who can’t speak out for acceptance of Autistics and neurodiversity. No more of this rubbish please. The winds of change need to blow through us, into our hearts and minds, into our attitudes and voices to speak for inclusion, to speak for acceptance. This acceptance we desire, this inclusion we want it starts at our very own front doorstep. Our very own hearts and minds. We have to show it in our own communities, in our own interactions. If we don’t or won’t then I fear it is a lost cause.
Yes blow winds of change blow.
Blow into my heart.
Into my fellow Autistics heart.
Into all the true Autistic Allies hearts.
Blow winds of change blow.
Without those winds of change we are defeated…
We will not be able to counter the deficit rhetoric of Autism Speaks and all the other Autism peaks around the globe.
We will not be able to counter the deficit rhetoric by the professional fraternity. (Yes there are exceptions to that rhetoric)
We will not be able to counter the popularity of the aversion or change therapies like ABA and CBT and the pressure to pass as Allistic.
We will struggle to find a strong voice against the horrible therapies of CD MMS GCMaf Hyperbaric Chambers, Stem Cell, Chelation and the like.
We will continue to struggle to change the rhetoric of the vaccine causes autism myth.
Yes Winds of change Blow. Blow with all that you have. Blow into us. Blow through us. Blow us together. Blow us into a united, committed, tenacious force for Autistic rights. After all are not the Âûtistic rights we seek simply the human rights that Allistic people count on.
Basic things like the right to privacy, safety, employment, health. Aren’t these the things we believe we have a right to. A right to not be forced by swallow bleach. Not to be treated to dog training therapies. A right to be heard by those that make decisions. A right to use alternative communication methods. A right to have some accommodations to make our environment bearable. A right to express our sensory needs.
Are these not the types of things we seek. Are these not the human rights we desire. The right to congregate together. A right not to be wished dead. A right not to be researched to the nth degree in order to discover a war to eradicate. A right to not be presented in media as a curse, an epidemic, a catastrophe?
Are these not the things we seek?
Three Wind Turbines
Yes Blow hard winds of change blow hard.
Unite us.
Strengthen us.
Freshen us.
Blow winds of change. Blow.
I seek to be an Âûtistic advocate. I speak out when I can, at times with too much passion, but all the same it is because I have discovered my identity as Âûtistic, I have discovered that I am not broken, I am just different. I have challenges and differences but they are not because I am less, they are because my difference is a minority difference in a majority environment.
Yes Blow winds of change. Unite us together to speak out. To speak out our message of #DifferentNotLess of #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs of #ActuallyAutistic of #IDontNeedACure
Yes this is the message we need to proclaim, continue to proclaim as we are already proclaiming it. United we need to proclaim it.
Blow Winds of change. Blow.
No more explosions and implosions.
Blow strong Winds of change blow strong and fresh and free through this community. Revive and strengthen us.
Blow Winds of Change. Blow.
Reblogged this on Never Less Than Everything and commented:
A passionate call to action for a world where can succeed as individuals not be broken into puzzle pieces. Comments are disabled here, please comment on original post.
Reblogged this on helpfulhev.