Proudly Autistic by Amy Sequenzia
by Amy Sequenzia Being Proudly Autistic Being proudly Autistic. Being proudly Disabled. Being me. Telling my story because my voice is my own. My story is mine to tell. I define myself. Since I was very young I have had an independent mind. Sometimes - no, many times - for a long time, I was silenced. I was told to comply. I was called names. To many, I didn't have dignity, I didn't deserve dignity. But I persevered. Perseverated. Persisted. Some people saw my humanity. To them, I let myself known. Without words. With smiles. An occasional hug. And
Being Comfortable In My Skin
When I shared my post "Celebrating My Life" one commenter pointed out that “very few people are as comfortable in their skins” as I am. This got me thinking about what makes it possible for me to not only be ok being me, but to be proud of who I am. What makes me an unapologetic, unabashed, proud disabled woman? According to followers of the medical model of disability – most doctors and all the self-proclaimed “experts” – I have a long list of “devastating”, “severe” and even tragic deficits and impairments. Their “deficits list” would look like this: Non-speaking
Celebrating My Life
Celebrating My Life Amy Sequenzia won't stop celebrating her autistic, disabled life. le I am writing this prompted by something John Elder Robison (I will refer to him by his initials, JER) wrote about Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month, in particular this quote: “We may have gifts too, but disability remains the basis for diagnosis. Some autistic people are rendered non-speaking by their condition, and I can’t imagine who would celebrate that. Others live with significant medical complications like epilepsy. I’ve yet to meet anyone who celebrates that either.” I commented that JER does not have to “imagine”. I am here, I celebrate being non-speaking, I celebrate
Autistic Pride
This week someone asked me if I was proud to be autistic. It made me think about pride in general and about the term autistic pride. In general, feeling proud of myself is not something that is front and foremost in my life. When I think of who I am, words like female, adult, Dutch, heterosexual, white and autistic come to mind. None of these things are anything I am proud of or not proud of – they are simply words that describe me. I think of it as a launching pad. This is my originating place from where I
Autistic Pride
I am proud of being Autistic And of my Autistic friends I am proud of young Autistics Who have Autistic pride They amaze me I am proud of young Autistics Who are discovering themselves They are learning to understand the world Through creative Autistic eyes They make me smile Young Autistics showering us with love Bonding, sharing, exploring and laughing With words, gestures and looks Their Autistic selves leading the way They lead their own way Henry stands up for his right to be We follow his lead and stand with him He teaches the meaning of never giving up
How to Figure Out If an Autistic Needs Fixing
I have autism. I am autistic. Both these statements describe me and both are true. However, these two statements are NOT equal.
Are You a Bully in Sheep’s Clothing?
On Dec. 16, 2013 I wrote a blog titled “Autistics Can BE Friends” and posted the link on social media sites. Regardless of how often or how many of us autistics write about why many of us choose to call ourselves autistic many in academia and in the medical fields continue on to let us know we “should not” be doing this. I am including in this blog a public conversation I had with a Linked In reader on this matter. The entire conversation had nothing to do with the blog I had posted – only the fact that I