Seattle Punishes A Disability Activist For Doing Their Job

The mayor of Seattle has removed an autistic activist for disability civil rights from their Commission for People With DisAbilities for being an activist and advocating for disability civil rights.  Allegedly, disability rights work is the job they were chosen to do but unfortunately it seems that the Commission only wants disabled people to be compliant and wait politely for abled people to pretend that they actually care about what we are saying and fighting for.  

Shaun Bickley was instrumental in getting the city of Seattle to end subminimum wage for disabled workers and has led an effort for a statewide end to this practice in Washington state.  They have also worked tirelessly to bring attention to the ableist #strawban in Seattle and alerting people to how it hurts disabled people who rely on single use plastic straws for access, independence and to stay hydrated and to live.  In addition to this, they have organized an event that helped to amplify the voices of disabled women of color, have advised various agencies on accessible and inclusive practices and have successfully advocated against the court system expanding the ability to sterilize disabled people without their consent (literal eugenics).   Shaun has faced considerable harassment and worse from people opposed to the equality of disabled folks, but has continued to do their job effectively in spite of this.

 

The reasons given for Shaun’s removal (which you can read more about here on their facebook post, because there is a lot more that I didn’t even get into here including being punished for communicating as an autistic person, not being nice to a parent who was relentlessly harassing and stalking them,  and the fact that the city was okay with sexism, racism and more for a lot longer than they were okay with a disabled person disagreeing with them) seem to be more about their prioritizing the rights of disabled people over pretending that the city of Seattle is always right on disability issues.   Why have a Commission for disabled people to advise the city if you are not willing to support them effectively, are going to ignore what they say and remove them from office unless they agree with you?

 

On issues of civil rights, there should be no middle ground, so why is the city of Seattle punishing an activist who refuses to compromise on the rights of disabled people?  Do we want people fighting for us who are willing to throw some of us under the bus just to have a seat at the table? Or do disabled people deserve representation that is fair, inclusive and unwilling to allow the most vulnerable among us to be left behind?   The city of Seattle is often seen as “progressive” but those of us living in the margins know that this version of “progress” means nothing because it’s only for some people while the rest of us, like Shaun, are punished for not joyously accepting crumbs thrown at us when we are deserving of so much more.  

 

To support Shaun, you can help by doing the following (taken from their own words on their facebook post):

 

“I think it’s important that we use our voices to uplift members of our community and pushback against the ableist tendency to treat disabled people as disposable commodities. If my work, and Meg’s work, is of value, then I would encourage you to contact CM Lisa Herbold and ask her to appoint us to Council seats, and to fulfill the additional asks from the Commission–a replacement for Marta Idowu as Commission liaison, written notice of how much personal information (such as addresses and phone numbers) of Commissioners will be distributed to the public on demand, and support in dealing with the ongoing toxic issues surrounding Commission support.

CM Herbold can be reached at 206-684-8803 or Lisa.Herbold@seattle.gov. Her office isn’t responsible for this mess but she does oversee the Office of Civil Rights.

The Mayor’s office isn’t going to appoint either myself or Meg and have apparently already filled the seats, but if you feel it’s important to let them know what you think about how this situation was handled, Evan Philip can be reached at 206-684-8986 and his email is Evan.Philip@seattle.gov”

PACLA Condemns Judge Rotenberg Center

The Judge Rotenberg Center is a residential school for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities that is located in Canton Massachusetts.  The JRC uses behavioral interventions and ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) to manipulate and control their students.  These interventions include aversives, punishments and continued use of electric shock devices.   These electric shock devices have been determined as torture by the United Nations.  The JRC calls this abuse “therapy” when done to disabled people.

The abuse of disabled people at the JRC has resulted in numerous deaths and in overwhelming  pain and trauma for it’s survivors.*  Parenting Autistic Children With Love & Acceptance as an organization and community condemns the continued torture of disabled people at the Judge Rotenberg Center.

Please sign and share the petition demanding the FDA end abusive electric shocks on disabled people: https://www.change.org/p/scott-gottlieb-fda-end-abusive-electric-shocks-on-autistic-disabled-people-for-behaviour-modification?recruiter=22005737&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=share_petition

PACLA is a grassroots, national organization by autistic adults, autistic parents and non autistic parents of autistic children.   Our goal is to connect parents to information about respectful parenting of autistic children and ways that they can engage with their communities to create a more inclusive, just and accepting world for autistic people.

*Autistic Hoya’s articles and resources on the Judge Rotenberg Center

 

16 MUST SEE Memes That Nail What It’s Like To Have an “Autism Parent”

Image: A small child with blonde hair and a confused expression on their face is buckled into a car seat.  White text reads: “When your autism parents get pissy with an autistic adult because they are not exactly like you even though you are only four.

Image is the character Inigo Montoya from the movie “The Princess Bride”.  White text reads: “We are all a little bit autistic.  You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means”

Image is a large crowd of people with black text that reads: “Your parents don’t want to tell you that you’re autistic…..but this many people get to know about your toileting habits.”

Image: Black text on white background reads: Autistic person writes about how “Autism Parents” treat them horribly: “YOU BIG MEANIE PANTS!” picture to the left is a crude drawing of an angry face
“Autism Parent” writes dehumanizing piece about how Autistic child ruined their lives: YOU ARE SO BRAVE!” picture to the right is a crude drawing of a face with wide, sad eyes, crying and clasping their hands over their mouth.

Image description: orange/brown background. there is a grey drawing of Saint John baptizing Jesus in the middle.
The black text reads: Being the parent of an Autistic child? Doesn’t automatically qualify one for sainthood. Or even decent parent status.

Image: is a small dog with it’s paws stretched out and mouth open wide, making it look confused.  Black text reads “When someone apologizes to your parents right in front of you for how hard it must be on them because you have the nerve to exist while being autistic.”

Image:  is a human skeleton laying on it’s side with black text that reads: “me waiting for people to recognize that autistic people are the only experts on autism.”

Image: is Captain Picard from Star Trek TNG face palming.  Black text reads: “When it’s April and your parent says “every day is autism awareness day in our home!”

Image: is a white female presenting person with their hands over their face.  White text reads: “When your parent gets a puzzle piece tattoo ‘for autism'”

Image: is a small light brown bunny with it’s paws over it’s face.  Black text reads: “When your ‘autism parent’ starts talking about “AWARENESS”.

Image: is the confused math lady meme, four pictures of a confused looking blonde woman images of various math problems next to her face.  Black text that reads “when your autism parent tells everyone how hard it is to put up with you then complains that nobody wants to include you.”

Image: two photographs side by side. The photograph to the left is a woman in workout clothes and boxing gloves smiling at the camera.  Image to the left is a close up of a woman’s face with her hand and finger over her mouth as if she is asking you to be quiet.  Black text reads:  “What your parents think they need to do when they find out you are autistic versus what they should actually do.”

Image: is a woman with long dark hair wearing a graduation cap and gown giving the “thumbs up” sign. Black text reads : When your allistic mom says she has a ‘P.h.D in autism’ but has never spoken to an autistic adult except to assign them a functioning label or correct them because they used identity first language.

Image: is a woman with long curly hair and a confused expression on her face.  She is wearing a pink top and headband.  Black text reads: “That feeling when your  parent tells everyone that autism doesn’t define you while also telling anyone who will listen that they are an “autism parent”.

Image: Is a hole in the ground.  Black text reads “an autistic person fell into a hole and everyone asked; “but…..how is the paaaaarent?!?”

Image: is a hole in the ground.  Dark text reads: An autistic person is shoved into a hole. Everyone takes their parent for tea and sympathy.

Introducing Neurodiversity & Parenting Library of Long Island

We are so excited to share this great resource from Long Island, NY.  Thanks so much to Carrie, the founder  of Neurodiversity & Parenting Library of Long Island for taking the time to answer our questions!  You can visit their Facebook page here.   You can also check out Carrie’s other Facebook page Neurodiversity + Parenting.

Can you introduce and tell us a little about yourself? 

I’m Carrie.  I live in New York with my husband and our two children.  Before children entered our family, I was a public school teacher.  I have degrees in English and English Education.  Now I’m a full-time homeschooling mom.

 How are you connected to autism & the neurodiversity movement?

I discovered the neurodiversity paradigm and Neurodiversity Movement through Nick Walker’s blog, neurocosmopolitanism.com.  I was looking for information to help me better understand and support my child, who has since been identified as autistic.

I was disappointed and discouraged by many of the conventional “autism support” groups and pages I found.  I felt so much better once I found neurodivergent writers speaking the language of acceptance.  Listening to autistic people changed our family’s life for the better.  And, in the process of listening, I discovered that I am neurodivergent, too.

Civil rights and social justice have always been important to me, so I was very drawn to the words of autistic activists, and others in the Neurodivesity Movement. For parenting support, I found and still love the Respectfully Connected blog, and draw a lot of strength and encouragement from their words.

I now admin the Facebook page, Neurodiversity + Parenting, curate the lending library, and admin a local group for families looking for respectful support and education from within the neurodiversity paradigm.

What thing or things motivated you to want to start a library in your community?

I was frustrated that my local library didn’t carry many books about autism that were written by actually autistic people.  The new book request process was cumbersome, and my first request, for “The Real Experts,” was denied because no other local library had purchased it yet.  That experience, combined with wanting to share the books I bought with the members of my local group motivated me to get a library organized. I was also inspired by the Ed Wiley Autism Acceptance Library,  by Erin Human’s Little Free Neurodiversity Library Facebook pages.

 What goals do you have for your library?

I want to make these texts available for individuals and families who may only have had access to more conventional, pathologizing books about neurodivergence.  I want to help others find, as I have, that there is more value in reading the words of actually neurodivergent people.

I also want to model the idea that gentle and respectful parenting can support neurodivergent children as well as neurotypical children.  My library includes parenting books that promote gentle parenting for ALL children.

 How can people support this project?

Right now our library’s collection consists of books and DVDs from my own personal collection, as well as several donated by friends, family, and members of my local group.   We’ve also received some donations from the Autism Women’s Network.  People can support us by sharing our Facebook  page, and by donating new or used books for us to add to our collection.  We maintain an Amazon wishlist at http://a.co/5qXJSxo

How will you run the library? (space, dates, etc.)

Right now the library is organized online, with our Facebook page.  I figure out how to get materials out, and returned, with each individual borrower.  I’m hoping to set up a browsing/lending event sometime in the future.

 What has the response been from your community and others?

The response has been encouraging! Many of the parents in my local group have borrowed books from the collection, and now, with the public Facebook page, it’s been easier for others to learn about titles and collections they might otherwise not have known existed.  I’ve also received wonderful support from other “neurodiversity librarians.”

 Is there anything else you’d like us to know or want to share?

A nice and somewhat unexpected result of having this library, is that local individuals have gone on to request their public libraries order some of the titles in our collection, and some of those libraries have gone ahead and acquired the books!  I know that “All the Weight of Our Dreams” and “What Every Autistic Girl Wishes Her Parents Knew” are now available from two local public libraries. That has been a wonderful thing to see happening!

 

Alex by Amy Sequenzia

By Amy Sequenzia

Alex, Autistic Teen, Victim of Hate

All the trigger warnings.

Alex Spourdalakis was 14 years old.
He was Autistic.
He was murdered by his mother.
He was murdered by a person who hated him.

Dorothy Spourdalakis will not go to prison.
She murdered her son, she committed a hate crime, but she claims she did not have another option because Alex was in pain. She claims love but her actions show hate.

Dorothy Spourdalakis believes autism is a disease caused by vaccines. She didn’t love Alex because she saw him not as the son she wanted, but as a problem to be fixed, as a burden on her life.

Dorothy Spourdalakis was a member of anti-vaccine, quack treatments, curebie group Age of Autism, and might have used dangerous “treatments” that might have caused Alex a lot of pain.

Dorothy Spourdalakis didn’t love Alex. She hated him.

When she refused services and respite from DCFS, it was hate.

When she refused appropriate medical treatment from doctors in the three hospitals she took Alex to, it was hate.

When she demanded that Alex be treated with dangerous non-medicinal approaches, it was hate.

When she signed authorizations for the hospitals to keep a very distressed Alex in a four-point restraint, it was hate.

When, in an attempt to gain sympathy, she exploited Alex by publicly posting pictures of him semi-naked, it was hate.

When she allowed disgraced, opportunistic former doctor Andrew Wakefield to film semi-naked, distressed Alex for a non-factual, anti-vaxx movie, it was hate.

Dorothy Spourdalakis wants us to believe she loved Alex, but she is not sorry she drugged him, stabbed him four times in the chest, and cut his wrist – almost severing his hand.
She is relieved she survived her “attempted suicide”.
She is relieved she will not spend time in prison.

Dorothy Spourdalakis did not love Alex. She hated him.
If she loved him, she would have asked to be sent to prison, instead of trying to portray herself as a victim.

Dorothy Spourdalakis violently murdered Alex and the “justice” system believes that, when the victim is disabled, no crime is heinous enough.

Alex, your community will not forget you.

Note: what I wrote is based on what Dorothy Spourdalakis posted before she murdered her son, on posts and public actions by her supporters after she murdered Alex, and on Andrew Wakefield’s interviews, posts and claims of “knowledge”.

More from Amy Sequenzia:

nonspeakingautisticspeaking.blogspot.com

2016 PACLA Holiday Gift Guide #ShopAutistic

We are excited to make our 2016 PACLA Holiday Gift Guide available for download!

You will find jewelry, original art work, writing, designers, crafters and  so much more!  The autistic people featured in this guide offer unique and beautiful gifts  to give and share this holiday season.   The best part is that you will be supporting autistic adults with every purchase!

We also have listed worthy organizations that support the autistic community.  If you  would like to make a holiday donation in someone’s honor to any of these organizations, we can provide a free, printable and personalized high resolution pdf certificate for gift giving with a huge thank you from PACLA!  Just provide a receipt (you can block out any private financial  information) to autloveaccept@gmail.com by December 20th!  You can choose one of four styles we have available and we will personalize it for you!

We hope you enjoy the gift guide and use it to help support the autistic community  not just during the holidays, but all year long!  (link to pdf below)

#ShopAutistic 2016 PACLA Holiday Gift Guide

 

Remembering Sandy

Parenting Autistic Children With Love & Acceptance are devastated by the news that Sandy Kinnamon, who had been missing since Sunday, was found deceased earlier today near her home in Allen, TX.  Sandy was formerly a part of the PACLA team, an advocate, an ally to the autistic community, a friend, and most importantly, a loving mom to her beautiful daughters.  Sandy helped to build the PACLA community by advocating for autism acceptance.  In her words and in her actions, she was helping to make a better world for autistic people.  We have lost a dear friend who was known for her compassion, dedication to her daughters, her sense of humor and generosity.  We are overwhelmed with grief for our friend, who has touched so many lives in the autism community.  While this is an incredibly sad day for us at PACLA, we find comfort in knowing how much she meant to so many.   We were all privileged to know Sandy and call her our friend.  
Please share your stories about Sandy at her memorial page:

https://www.facebook.com/RememberingSandyKinnamon/?fref=ts

Image is of Sandy, beautiful and smiling at the camera

Introducing: The Little Free Neurodiversity Library!

We are so excited about another neurodiversity lending library!  The Little Free Neurodiversity Library serves the community of Omaha, NE and is run by the awesome and multi talented Erin Human.

 

Image is a blue little free library box with a gray roof filled with multi-colored books.  The letters underneath are LFNL.

 

1.Can you introduce and tell us a little about yourself?

Hello, I’m Erin, cartoonist, blogger, book lover. I’m married with two kids and a cocker spaniel and we live in Omaha. Originally my husband and I are both from the East Coast but we moved to Nebraska in 2006.

2. How are you connected to autism & the neurodiversity movement?

I am autistic and have neurodivergent family members. Since I realized I was autistic I’ve made lots of autistic and otherwise neurodivergent friends too!

3. What thing or things motivated you to want to start a library in your community?

I opened a Little Free Library in 2014 when a PR company reached out to me to promote their campaign on my blog. I love reading and I love sharing books! After following the Ed Wiley Autism Acceptance Library for a while and seeing the idea of a neurodiversity library begin to catch on, it suddenly occurred to me that I could combine the two and make a Little Free Neurodiversity Library.

4. What goals do you have for your library?

The main goal of my library is to educate my community about neurodiversity, autism acceptance, and disability rights. I’d like help some high quality but lesser-known books about neurodiversity and disability, and their authors and editors, to reach a wider audience. And if somehow this could bring together people with a shared interest in neurodversity, even better!

5. How can people support this project?

One way people can support LFNL is to purchase something from my Amazon wish list: http://www.amazon.com/registry/giftlist/LCLMTFOOIKSE

Another thing people can do is to purchase something from my Redbubble store where I sell LFNL shirts, totes, stickers, and more – all of the proceeds from Little Free Library designs will go directly toward purchasing items for the library.  And of course, Liking and sharing the Facebook page is much appreciated!

6. How will you run the library? (space, dates, etc.)

The Little Free Neurodiversity Library is run through my official Little Free Library, Charter #11920. The updated catalog can be viewed at http://lfnl.libib.com and anyone who wants to borrow a book can email me at littleneurodiversitylibrary@gmail.com to arrange a pickup.

7. What has the response been from your community and others?

The response has been great so far from the neurodiversity community and from other local Little Free Library stewards. And also I’ve had tremendous support from the neurodiversity librarians who came before me. I’ve already received three wonderful donations of books and a DVD. The LFNL is still very new so I’m working on getting the word out to the Omaha community; I’ve got a small but growing catalog so I would love to start lending out these wonderful books!

8. Is there anything else you’d like us to know or want to share?

I’d just like to encourage people to email me if they have any questions about the library, neurodiversity, what books I recommend – or if they want to start a neurodiversity library of their own. I’m happy to help when I can!

To learn more about Erin’s Little Free Neurodiversity Library, check them out on Facebook and also, check out Erin’s blog too!

Here’s another article about the LFNL: BookRiot

#PACLAOWies Double OWie! Autonomous Press/Ink & Daggers

PACLA is excited to reveal our 5th and 6th OWie Awards!  

 

The 5th OWie Award in April goes to:  

Autonomous Press!

Image: blue/green certificate with green filigree frame.  Top left is stamp of PACLA icon.  Bottom of image is watermarked with an arrow shooting through an open window.   Green text in multiple fonts reads: Honoring Autonomous Press.  In appreciation of your radical activism & shifting the Overton Window toward Autism Acceptance & the Neurodiversity Paradigm.  Thank You!       Parenting Autistic Children With Love & Acceptance

 

From the Autonomous Press website:

Autonomous Press (also known as AutPress) is an independent publisher focusing on works about disability, neurodivergence, and the various ways they can intersect with other aspects of identity and lived experience. We are a partnership of  disabled workers including writers, poets, artists, musicians, community scholars, and professors. Each partner takes on a share of the work of managing the press and production, and all of our workers are co-owners.

 

PACLA loves Autonomous Press and if you are the parent of an Autistic child, you should too.  The book “The Real Experts” from Autonomous Press , which was also edited by PACLA contributor and moderator Michelle Sutton, is the first book that every parent of a child with a new diagnosis needs to read.

 

While most books that are geared toward parents of autistic children promote the tragedy and medical models of disability and autism, “The Real Experts” is different.  It’s a resource for parents who choose to embrace autism acceptance and who celebrate neurodiversity.

 

Autonomous Press is pushing the Overton Window and centering the experience and writing of disabled people, who are far too often denied a voice in conversations about us!  

 

Thank you to Autonomous Press and we can’t wait to see what you do next!

 

Autonomous Press on Facebook

Autonomous Press on Twitter

**************************************************

 

Our 6th Special Ally OWie award goes to Ink & Daggers Illustration!

Image: blue/green certificate with green filigree frame.  Top left is stamp of PACLA icon.  Bottom of image is watermarked with an arrow shooting through an open window.   Green text in multiple fonts reads: Honoring Ink & Daggers .  In appreciation of your radical activism & shifting the Overton Window toward Autism Acceptance & the Neurodiversity Paradigm.  Thank You!       Parenting Autistic Children With Love & Acceptance

 

Congratulations and thank you to  Ink & Daggers for your activism and for pushing the Overton Window toward acceptance.  Even in the face of harsh criticism, Ink & Daggers has held their ground and pushed back against intensive interventions and ABA therapies that harm autistic people.   

 

Through their art, Ink & Daggers celebrates autistic communication, neurodiversity, noncompliance and honoring the stim while also helping to bring attention to therapies that dehumanize and traumatize to show people that there is a better way, based on love, respect and acceptance.  

 

Thank you to Ink & Daggers for your activism as an ally to the autistic community!

 

Ink & Daggers on Instagram

Ink & Daggers on Facebook

Ink & Daggers on Twitter

Honoring Amy Sequenzia #PACLAOWies

Parenting Autistic Children With Love & Acceptance is excited to reveal the fourth OWie Award in April!  

Awarded to Autistic Activists who are changing the conversations and shifting the Overton Window toward acceptance!

Image: blue/green certificate with green filigree frame.  Top left is stamp of PACLA icon.  Bottom of image is watermarked with an arrow shooting through an open window.   Green text in multiple fonts reads: Honoring Amy Sequenzia in appreciation of your radical activism & shifting the Overton Window toward Autism Acceptance & the Neurodiversity Paradigm.  Thank You!       Parenting Autistic Children With Love & Acceptance

 

Congratulations, Amy Sequenzia!

 

Amy  had the second highest amount of nominations for an OWie award!  We love Amy and she is also a part of the PACLA moderating team.  In addition to PACLA, Amy writes for Autism Women’s Network, Ollibean and at her blog NonSpeaking Autistic Speaking, and is a leader in the grassroots Boycott Autism Speaks Movement.  

 

From Amy’s bio:

I am a non-speaking Autistic activist, writer and poet. Once said to be less than human, I found my voice and I now make sure I am heard.

I have epilepsy, which sucks and slows me down but does not stop me, and cerebral palsy, which does not suck.

I look and am very disabled but I have self-determination, my thoughts are my own and my words flow from my brain through my fingers to the screen. I need help with the rest.

NeuroQueer, human rights activist, civil rights activist, disabilities rights activist.

Neurodivergent.

Disabled.

Autistic.

Proud.

 

Amy is also a published poet.  Her young fan, Fallon says this about Amy and her poem “Respect”:

My favorite in the book is “Respect”.   One of the reasons I like this book is because the poet has disabilities, like me.   For one thing, we are both Autistic.  It actually makes me feel good.  I guess you could say that we are both pretty smart.  

“Respect”  teaches what is the name of the poem.  Sometimes, she might not feel respected.  Sometimes, I feel that way too.  I think she knows that she is perfect the way she is.  Maybe people without disabilities don’t think that about us sometimes.

An anonymous parent who nominated Amy for the award had this to say:

Her writings really helped me stand up for my daughter in many situations. She really made me re learn everything I had learned about anything. You all have 🙂 but there’s one article that sticks out in my mind that really changed everything for me. She was talking about a sad incident in her life/ but it made me realize the bad info and how I’d fight my hardest for my daughter to get respectful education/therapy and relationships.

But I’m so thankful for her writings. I’m so sorry for the injustices that have been done to her. She’s extremly brave for sharing. I’m nervous just writing this nomination..😬. But long story short/ she woke me up and made me aware.

Thank you, Amy for your work, your writing and your activism that is shifting the window and making a better world for Autistic people every day!