Idk, it really seems like that podcast involves many unqualified people (one of whom is an anti-vaxxer) and that what’s really dehumanizing is using pseudoscience to puppet autistic children. I get wanting to believe, it’s a good story, but it seems more for the parents and producers than for the kids.
I'm with you on this one. I feel really uncomfortable with this podcast. I work with autistic children and it's important to separate the caretaker's desires from the student's desires. Practices like Facilitated Communication have resulted some terrible situations, as the facilitator puts their own words into their client's voice. There was a well-known case in which an autistic adult was taken advantage of sexually, because their facilitator believed they were capable of consenting to a relationship with them.
I believe that my students have access to a wonderful part of human experience, sensorily, spiritually and emotionally. The best way for me to challenge abelism is to try understand them for who they are, not who I wish them to be.
I came here intending to say something similar, thank you for saying it so well! It's tempting to think "What's the harm, whether I believe it or not?" but there are documented harms related to the use of these techniques. They hurt people with autism, the people they are supposed to be helping.
Great piece, as always. The part here about community responding to disaster more efficiently than government, is something that became really apparent to me after reading Rebecca Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell. Almost every disaster in modern history has unfolded this way. First, people on the ground come together to take care of each other. Then, the government steps in to make sure they’re taking care of each other in a way that meshes with the requirements of our capitalist system, and stamps out anything to the contrary. I’m not a libertarian by any means, but I think the present moment has continued to convince me that the strongest force we have against the horrors of climate change is simply taking care of one another.
Idk, it really seems like that podcast involves many unqualified people (one of whom is an anti-vaxxer) and that what’s really dehumanizing is using pseudoscience to puppet autistic children. I get wanting to believe, it’s a good story, but it seems more for the parents and producers than for the kids.
I'm with you on this one. I feel really uncomfortable with this podcast. I work with autistic children and it's important to separate the caretaker's desires from the student's desires. Practices like Facilitated Communication have resulted some terrible situations, as the facilitator puts their own words into their client's voice. There was a well-known case in which an autistic adult was taken advantage of sexually, because their facilitator believed they were capable of consenting to a relationship with them.
I believe that my students have access to a wonderful part of human experience, sensorily, spiritually and emotionally. The best way for me to challenge abelism is to try understand them for who they are, not who I wish them to be.
I came here intending to say something similar, thank you for saying it so well! It's tempting to think "What's the harm, whether I believe it or not?" but there are documented harms related to the use of these techniques. They hurt people with autism, the people they are supposed to be helping.
really helpful to know! thanks for sharing
I appreciate this perspective! thanks so much for sharing
Great piece, as always. The part here about community responding to disaster more efficiently than government, is something that became really apparent to me after reading Rebecca Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell. Almost every disaster in modern history has unfolded this way. First, people on the ground come together to take care of each other. Then, the government steps in to make sure they’re taking care of each other in a way that meshes with the requirements of our capitalist system, and stamps out anything to the contrary. I’m not a libertarian by any means, but I think the present moment has continued to convince me that the strongest force we have against the horrors of climate change is simply taking care of one another.