By: Annum Shehryar
Ableism is defined as the discrimination of people who have disabilities. This could either be done directly or indirectly. A recent event where an autistic male was bullied by a group of young people in a group chat for his disability had led me to discuss on how widespread this stigma attached with neurodiversity is and how we unknowingly promote ableism, specifically towards those with autism. Autism is a life-long developmental disability that is categorized by difficulties including limited social interactions, communication, repetitive and restricted behavior. This disorder takes place on a spectrum so the characteristics vary from person to person.
It is our responsibility to understand the complexity of such disorders and to make our community more friendly and comforting for our peers who are diagnosed with them. We must identify on how we are or may be actively or passively engaging with Ableism and carry out measures on how to tackle it. This ideology is very common in our society and we should educate ourselves on how to eradicate it. First of all, if someone diagnosed with autism is showing symptoms, we should not hold them accountable or blame them for having it. These signs are not in their control and it is not something that is learned, they cannot help it. Most hurtful comments are relating how they deserve to have these disabilities because of something bad that they did in the past or that it is just a ‘’trial’’ by God, that He is testing you etc. It often goes unnoticed on how such comments make them feel less of a human being, they feel small, helpless and they punish themselves for being born this way. It is also bewildering on how neurotypical (people without disabilities) justify their rude behavior or language towards neurodiverse (people with disabilities) by mentioning that they did not like the way they behaved with them when they were trying to be “friendly” or they were unable to speak or react. The reality is, disabled people are just people, they can have bad days, they can swear, shout and have mental illnesses too, on top of that, they have their neurological and/or physical disabilities as well. It’s not rare that many people feel awkward about disability, they are ignorant on what impact it could cause, which is why Ableism isn’t seen as the big deal that it should be.
Many others also excuse their ableist ways by mentioning that they feel “scared” or they have to be “careful” around people with autism since their behavior is unexpected and they are likely to cause any sort of ‘’harm” to them. Disability comes in all shapes and sizes. We can never assume if someone is neurodiverse because not all disabilities are visible. Whenever we interact with autistic people, we must be patient, listen to them attentively and avoid using sarcasm, rhetorical questions, irony and exaggeration. We should not keep eye contact with them for too long but also not turn a blind eye to them. We should not treat them like children. Every individual is a person before their disorder. They are not able to comprehend neurotypical societal norms so it is unfair to subject them to these norms. We must be aware that their reactions under certain situations may differ from neurotypical people who go through the same circumstances.
Another thing to help promote inclusivity is to change certain phrases or terms that we use. Never use the word r*tard or p*ycho. These are slurs towards people with autism or ASD and it should never be used as an insult. The word autistic itself is not an insult, we should stop using it as one. People with autism are also unfairly discriminated against in employment and housing, lack of representation in media and in educational institutes or any other obstacles they have to face because of their disability. One of my relatives is autistic and through all the experiences and times I have spent with him, I have always been reminded that a disability does not define a person’s value and worth. It is only a part of them, they are so much more than their disability and we should always remember that they are as human and deserving of love, care and attention as neurotypical people are. We should raise and continue to raise awareness on the disabled by joining or contributing to campaigns that cater to the needs of these people and overall communicate amongst our peers on how important it is to break the stigma around Ableism.
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