What is autism?
Autism is a neurotype. A neurotype pertains to the brain and the nervous system. The brain and the nervous system, at their core, are in charge of communication—communication within the body, and communication with the outside world.
Therefore, very simply:
Autism is a distinct way of communicating within the body and with the outside world.
Which means:
Autism effects every part of an autistic person’s life.
Autistics are as varied and individual as allistics.
Autism is our natural way of communicating and is best understood as a culture with shared language, values, and customs, and not as a “disorder.”
Autism is not a personality type, a set of interests, nor a particular look.
We are born this way. Neurodiversity is an important (and beneficial) part of biodiversity. Vaccines DO NOT cause autism and suggesting so is horrifically insulting—who I am is not an adverse side-effect.
Attempts to “prevent” autism and find a “cure” aren’t helpful—they’re eugenics. Any organization or charity who spends money searching for prevention or a cure is not advocating for us—they are a hate group intent on eliminating us.
If Autism Speaks ever succeeds in its wildly expensive and ableist search for “the cure,” the Autistic community would gasp in horror as we witness the invasion of the body snatchers. Most in our community would live in constant fear of a cure mandate and likely have to struggle even harder to get needed supports (since we could be “fixed” if we wanted to). And we would mourn for the Autistic children who would be at high risk of being permanently altered/erased (at doctor’s recommendation) without their consent.
Autistic communication is perfectly valid, the problem is, Autistics live in a world that was set up to receive, interpret, and send information in an entirely different way than what is intuitive to us. We are dis-abled by an allistic-centric world and often need accommodations. We are different, not deficient, and implying otherwise is neuro-colonialism.