by Errol Kerr
It’s the International Day of Disabled Persons, and I don’t know what to say anymore. I was hoping to write something far more professional – but this day doesn’t feel like it’s ours anymore.
I’ve spent most of the day thinking about what precisely to talk about today in regard to autism and disability. I could use this time to talk about how media representation of autistic people is consistently poor, how it’s a symptom of the consistently poor representation of disabled people within the media. I could talk about how multiply-disabled people still find it hard to find their place within the autistic movement, how we’re still pretty dominated by white, cis-gender, male, straight and able individuals outside of social media. I could talk about how we are still forced to ‘debate’ whether autism, and other neurodivergent conditions, are in fact disabilities, or how we’re still bogged down in this needless conflict over person-first and identity-first language, when our views across the community are clear.
But I’ll do all of those throughout the month. Today, I’m going to take this day, tear it apart and put it back together.
We’re talked about but aren’t given the chance to speak. Businesses flash their purple emblems and their Disability Confident labels, whilst we can’t find work with them and they refuse to develop policies and implement support that actually allows disabled people to be a part of their workplace. Governments promote this day and show support our causes as they cut welfare and support. Charities laud this day whilst they put children like us in solitary units, forcing families apart and destroying our physical and mental well-being. Parents still want to cure those who do not want fixing, putting us through medically sanctioned torture in order to make us “normal” to them.
I recently had a conversation with a close friend about business events like “Purple Tuesdays” and “Autism Hours”. How, to me, they feel patronising and that it makes disabled people feel like they only exist for one day to these places. How autistic people and other neurodivergent people feel they’re allowed to shop by abled people for an hour every so often. How it’s another example of how our needs are only met when it’s convenient.
How this is an example of how we’re often treated in education – if funding isn’t there, if we’re doing academically okay, we won’t find support. How documents supporting educational support can be so easily taken away from disabled and neurodivergent young people. How this is a cruel way to make us realise that this is the life we’ll live, and how whether it’s an EHCP as a child, PIP as an adult, pensions as we get older, we’ve got to constantly fight just to have our needs recognised, never mind actually supported.
How do we feel comfortable supporting an international day of disabled people when people can’t even say “disabled”, or when “autistic” is a dirty word, a slur used across the board online and in public? We have to crowdfund to get access to materials that we need to survive – and people think lighting up purple is enough?
I’m multiply-disabled. For me that includes being autistic amongst other things. Today doesn’t feel like my day any more. I want to see and support disabled people, not companies with purple t-shirts. I want to see access improvements across the board. I want to see autism recognised as something acceptable globally. I want to discuss autism as something that’s more than white – because it is overwhelmingly white people like myself leading these conversations, and I recognise that.
This day is about us – our rights, our experiences. Outside of social media, it doesn’t feel anything like that. We’re an amazing bunch, and we exist every other day of the year.
I want any autistic and/or disabled person to use this post to promote themselves in any way possible. Tweet us (@AutisticUK) a link to your work or what you like to do. Join our Facebook group (Neurodiverse UK) and share your story on accessing benefits or accommodations. Email us (info@autisticuk.org) to send us a blog post for our web site to discuss disability and autism. We want this to be your space; your network. We want to promote you.