Zen Master* Bear** Speaks***

Don’t think of inclusion as helping us get by in the structures built by and for ‘not us,’ rather think of how you can help us change the structure so that it is ours as much as it is yours.

While I think most people have at least heard of autism, and many of us have autistic people in our lives, there are still a lot of gaps in people’s knowledge about autism.

Misadventure The small band of adventurers are embroiled in combat. One of the monsters they are battling almost flies up a set of stairs. The elf asks how the monster moved so fast. The dungeon master (DM) responds with reference to the map. The elf points out that the DM’s description does not match the map. The DM testily replies that…

The idea that neurotypical and autistic might be different regions of the same spectrum seems sensible. The presumption that all members of either group maintain a position of inferiority or superiority relative to all members of the other group is deeply wrong and encourages anti-autistic biases.

If we really want to claim that our societies value diversity and inclusion we must expand beyond the disability model, and hold everyone to a standard of not just removing the barriers caused by difference, but of actively valuing the ways in which difference is a strength.