I Fall and I Rise Again
My life is in constant motion So different from a
My life is in constant motion So different from a
After a three-day conference, I needed to sleep. I needed to sleep because I was dreamy, trying to keep the feeling of being in a place where I can be myself and also be a little bit like a star. Also, building community.
Presumption of competence is more than an abstract idea. It has real and concrete effects. Here is one: it is better than a makeover.
Because I stood with Henry I am happier today and you should too. Henry not only got his rights, he proved that presumption of competence should be the default for every student.
This is not directed at anyone in particular. It is about several people I’ve met throughout my life. I sometimes need to remind myself that being me means following my own agenda and not pleasing the ones who will not be part of my story.
Should it matter that some of us are labeled intellectually disabled? Read the definitions, look at us in a realistic way and ask yourself; Does it matter? Aren’t we all worthy?
This is for every person who embodies the meaning of motherhood. This is for the ones who nurture and protect, who never consider their lives more important than the lives of the ones being nourished, educated, protected and loved.
I stand with Ashley because she is part of our community, she is brave and she survived brutality.I stand with Ashley because I hope to show her, one day, that the joy of belonging to our caring community trumps the memories of pain.
Listen Up! the PSA from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and Autism Acceptance Month has been released!
The one thing in my life I would like to cure.
Autistic People Are Awesome! Autistic People are the
The title of the book should be enough for anyone who wants to know, know more or know anything, about autism and Autistics to buy it and read it.
Some parents understand that autism is a natural part of some children’s lives and they fight the societal attitudes toward autistics. That’s love. Some parents don’t, and they fight, and hurt, their own children. This is not love and is one of the things that make me very tired.
I want to talk about Autism Acceptance again. I want
I love Larry Bissonnette- artist and disability rights activist. If
“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree…”We know how functioning labels are not helpful, despite being largely used by neurotypicals. But some autistics also grade members of our community and I want to understand why.
Autism is not a set of deficits. Autism is complex and all of us can self-advocate despite the difficulties we might face. Autism is life. I am Autistic, I self-advocate and I am happy.
Respect for one another is one basic quality if we want to have meaningful conversations and relationships with other human beings. The ableism that disabled people experience is a form of disrespect.
After “Non-speaking, ‘low-functioning’” was published, lots of people wanted to hear from me. I met so many amazing people, autistic bloggers with so much to share and the smartest people I know. Parents of autistic children also valued my words.
Autistic self advocate and poet, Amy Sequenzia's thoughts on the outcome of young self- advocate, Henry Frost's battle for inclusion in Hillsborough County.
Why would a parent of an autistic child decide that it is better not to listen to other autistics? Why? I, Too, Want to Understand.
Autistic advocate and poet Amy Sequenzia's message of acceptance and respect for young autistics for 2012 Autistics Speaking Day. "There is nothing wrong with being who you are. You are perfect in your uniqueness."
We hope that young autistics today will be proud of themselves and without shame. The message that boy received at that moment was the opposite of acceptance. It was ableist and it came from someone who is part of our own community.
You look at me But you don’t see me You
What Henry is doing is advocating for his rights, at the same time that he reminds us of our own rights and about how far we still have to go.
Other people have written better articulated articles about the same things I write in this poem. It is hard for me to elaborate beyond the words in the poem. It could have easily been me in some cases, it can happen to any of us.
It is a mistaken idea that we, autistics, lack empathy. It is also a myth that we are not social. My friends and I, we understand and respect differences. And we understand that we all have a lot to contribute, in a diversity of manners.
"Storm" a poem by autistic self-advocate Amy Sequenzia.
"Presume competence. The same way I want people to assume I am competent, I also assume that others are competent".
I am an autistic woman, non-speaking and I have many needs.Yes, dear mainstream media, I am the autistic supposedly too “low-functioning” to deserve to be heard. You pity me and you ignore the facts.
Amy Sequenzia is a poet and autistic self-advocate. Her writing is as beautiful and powerful as she is. She is an extraordinary voice in the disability rights community .
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