Ever Heard of This?
CDs in Play this Weekend: Andy Summers and Robert Fripp, I Advance Masked. Praxis, Sacrafist. Deconstruction, eponymous.
June 18th is Austic Pride Day. Not to denigrate the austic in anyway as my Mum used to work with them, but this day really isn't about the "autists" as such. Let's face it: is an autistic person going to feel pride in anything at all, let alone his or her own condition. It has to be tough on people who live with autistic persons, but this day sounds dumb. Call me insensitive (most people have at one point or another) but Autistic Pride Day sounds too touchy-feely, too politically correct. What about Austic Awareness Day/Week?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autistic_Pride_Day
June 18th is Austic Pride Day. Not to denigrate the austic in anyway as my Mum used to work with them, but this day really isn't about the "autists" as such. Let's face it: is an autistic person going to feel pride in anything at all, let alone his or her own condition. It has to be tough on people who live with autistic persons, but this day sounds dumb. Call me insensitive (most people have at one point or another) but Autistic Pride Day sounds too touchy-feely, too politically correct. What about Austic Awareness Day/Week?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autistic_Pride_Day
posted by Magnus at 13:15
5 Comments:
What a cruel event.
"is an autistic person going to feel pride in anything at all, let alone his or her own condition?"
I'd hope they're proud of themselves. As for the day, my friends's son celebrates it...their whole family does. It's not a "hooray you're different" day, but've had it explained as a way of raising awareness. And her son does celebrate it - it makes him feel good that there is a day just for him that isn't about how he's "conquered challenges" or "special". He's just celebrating a part of himself instead of being ashamed of it (she explained to me to think of it like gay pride day...). Her son is a bit higher functioning than a lot of kids she knows with autism, but the condition seems to be one where depression and self hatred abounds, and social interaction is less and very structured, and this was a way of raising awareness about what autism is and how it isn't something to be ashamed of.
I admit it isn't the way I'd go about it, but I've seen it really help him feel better about himself and I've learned a lot about it as a result of it, so I can't see it being all bad.
I dunno, I don't understand gay pride either. Autism is neither something to be proud of or ashamed of, it simply is and we need to be aware of it. I just remember that people tend to transfer their own hopes and feelings into their children when they are special needs and particularly when they are autistic.
I look at it like anyother handicap...you wouldn't say "I'm so proud of my son for being a parapalegic" but "I'm proud of my son" period. Not even "I'm proed of him despite he's a parapalegic". The fact that he's a parapalegic shouldn't even enter into it...you wouldn't have a "Wheelchair pride" day, so that's wehre I see this day as wierd and not really fitting the purpose of it all...it'd be better off as an autism day to raise public awareness. I have seen it help autsitic kids tho, so I'm not sure now odd it is.
How does it help autistic kids, though? Autism kind of cuts a person off from the world at large and one of the typical traits of an autist is that he or she is largely unresponsive.
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