#ActuallyAutistic
Hi, my name is Joe and for my birthday this year I want you to learn about autism so you can learn to accept autistic people. To start, I’m letting you know that I’m actually autistic myself.
If you want to help me grow autism acceptance, donate here. I'm trying to build a helpful community for autistic adults in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota area. I promise I’ll keep none of the money for myself.
Check out the video that Nate Poeppel helped me make. 👇
If you want to help me grow autism acceptance, donate here. I'm trying to build a helpful community for autistic adults in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota area. I promise I’ll keep none of the money for myself.
Check out the video that Nate Poeppel helped me make. 👇
What I might do differently. |
I’ve heard from a lot of people that the video I made about being autistic has helped them learn a lot. I’m happy to hear it—that was my purpose. A bunch of people have asked my permission to share it at work—the answer is always yes. (You don’t need to ask my permission, but I appreciate it from those who have.) I’ve been invited to speak at a school, talk about it on TV and podcasts, and meet with university leaders. I even got invited to hang out with a young new friend in Mitchell sometime.
I’ve learned a lot in the last few weeks too. Other autistic people around the world teach me every day with their tweets and videos and books. Many have connected with me personally since I put the video out there. So, if I were to go to my friend Nate Peoppel’s basement studio today and re-shoot the video, here are a few ways I would make it different.
*Autism acceptance, not just awareness.*
It does seem to me that awareness might need to come along with or even before acceptance. The danger is stopping there. There's lots of awareness that autism is a thing. There’s very little /acceptance/ of autistic people--especially adults. Many people (and some well-funded charities) have the idea that getting rid of autism is the right thing to do. That’s a terrible idea. It would mean eliminating autistic people, not “curing” anything. Awareness isn’t going to change beliefs or behavior. Acceptance of autism as a naturally occurring and important nuerodivergent condition is what we need.
*More about neurodiversity.*
I introduce a term that was new to many people who watched the video. If I made it over again, I’d talk a bit more about being neurodivergent, and how autism is one specific type of human nuerodiversity. Here’s a link to an explanation of nuerodiversity by the person who coined the term [NeuroDiversity 2.0](https://neurodiversity2.blogspot.com).
*Help, but do not fix.*
I didn’t realize that when I said “please never fix an autistic person” it might come across as a sub tweet to people who do important work to support autistic people of all sorts. Like my educator wife and my speech therapist sister-in-law. So let me just clarify: support is great. Essential, actually. But, like I said in the video, there’s nothing broken here. The only problem is the expectation that everyone should be nuerotypical. And far too many autistic people have been mistreated in an effort to “fix” them (force them to act less autistic). I count myself in the lucky group who never experienced that abuse.
I’ve learned a lot in the last few weeks too. Other autistic people around the world teach me every day with their tweets and videos and books. Many have connected with me personally since I put the video out there. So, if I were to go to my friend Nate Peoppel’s basement studio today and re-shoot the video, here are a few ways I would make it different.
*Autism acceptance, not just awareness.*
It does seem to me that awareness might need to come along with or even before acceptance. The danger is stopping there. There's lots of awareness that autism is a thing. There’s very little /acceptance/ of autistic people--especially adults. Many people (and some well-funded charities) have the idea that getting rid of autism is the right thing to do. That’s a terrible idea. It would mean eliminating autistic people, not “curing” anything. Awareness isn’t going to change beliefs or behavior. Acceptance of autism as a naturally occurring and important nuerodivergent condition is what we need.
*More about neurodiversity.*
I introduce a term that was new to many people who watched the video. If I made it over again, I’d talk a bit more about being neurodivergent, and how autism is one specific type of human nuerodiversity. Here’s a link to an explanation of nuerodiversity by the person who coined the term [NeuroDiversity 2.0](https://neurodiversity2.blogspot.com).
*Help, but do not fix.*
I didn’t realize that when I said “please never fix an autistic person” it might come across as a sub tweet to people who do important work to support autistic people of all sorts. Like my educator wife and my speech therapist sister-in-law. So let me just clarify: support is great. Essential, actually. But, like I said in the video, there’s nothing broken here. The only problem is the expectation that everyone should be nuerotypical. And far too many autistic people have been mistreated in an effort to “fix” them (force them to act less autistic). I count myself in the lucky group who never experienced that abuse.
In the Wild
Since I released my birthday video, I've had a chance to visit with some interesting folks. Some of them invited me to talk about my autism experience.
Catch my visit with John Meyer on the Leadmore podcast
Who made this?
My name is Joe Bartmann. I was diagnosed Autistic on March 1, 2020 at age 42. I lead a nonprofit, hike a lot, and compost with worms. My wife and our four daughters live in a tiny town in South Dakota.
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Hit my social media to learn more about me. You can also check out joebart.com.
Also check out Nate Poeppel. He recorded the audio and video, and he's an amazing guy.
Also check out Nate Poeppel. He recorded the audio and video, and he's an amazing guy.
