So as a parent of two children with Autism there a few things I’d like you all to know. A few years ago the first thing I would have told you is to please not use the word “Autistic” when referring to anyone with Autism. It’s still widely used today and I think because it is so used that most people don’t realize how insulting it is to use it when referring to a person. They have Autism. They are not Autistic. They are people with a disorder. Why would we refer to them by their disorder? They have a personality, abilities and strengths, but most important, they have a name. I want my children to be known for WHO they are, and not by what they have. It would be like referring to a person as, down syndrome Jane, or eating disorder Ted. How silly does that sound? Most people don’t realize what it means to refer to them as Autistic, and I completely understand that. But awareness is key, so now you know. 

Now that a few years have gone by.. here are a few more things I’d like people to know about Autism. Alex Plank wrote the article below, and I think its fab. Hope you’ll take the time to read. 
Before we get to that though. I gotta mention my disappointment to find out about the use of the word “Autistic” in the new movie 21 Jump Street. In the movie trailer the one guy looks at a chart that his officers made and says “That looks like s#!t. What are you, autistic?”

Again..I’m going to copy and paste a write up by Stuart Duncan.

If you are in the autism community in some form or another, chances are that you’ve already heard all about the uproar surrounding the new 21 Jump Street movie… if not, keep reading.
So 21 Jump Street was a rather popular television show back in the day, in fact, it launched the career of several people including Johnny Depp.. and one other person quite well known within the autism community, Holly R. Peete.

Now, they’re making a movie by the same name but instead of teenage angst, real life, drama and emotion, it’s a ridiculously stupid comedy filled with cheap laughs.
Don’t get me wrong, I happen to love stupid comedies. I laugh even at cheap laughs.
The problem is that in one particular trailer, the one guy looks at a chart that his officers made and says “That looks like s#!t. What are you, autistic?”

Enter the uproar.

At this point, I want you to re-watch it and this time, imagine he’s saying the word “retarded” in place of autistic. See now what their intention was?

This is simply not ok. This is simply wrong.

There is many reasons, but let’s look at two of them:

First of all, anyone who knows anything about autism knows that, while not all people with autism are super organized or particularly amazing at building charts… if you were going to go by the stereotype, as is the intention here, you’d expect that thing to be freakin immaculate. Let me put it this way, if they are going for the whole rain man of over the top stereotypical, stupidly, outrageously funny offensive things to say about people with autism, that thing would have been the best damn chart anyone has ever seen.

So ya, they clearly don’t even know what they’re talking about if they can’t get the stereotype right… not that it would have been right either but certainly closer to some semblance of reality.

Secondly, this opens a door that starts a journey down a very dark road. Stereotypes, innuendo and hate in general don’t start out at full force… it starts small.

And if this is the type of precedent they’re trying to set for stereotypical movie humour about autism… let’s just say that none of us would want to see where that road will lead.

I’m all for overly exaggerated stereotypes in search of a laugh… I’m all for the extremely over done ridiculousness of what is real in an attempt to get a chuckle… but this is not ok.

For the record, Holly R. Peete, who makes a cameo in the new movie, has said that she had read the script in advance and that line was not in there at the time.

Article by Alex Plank

Nonverbal people with Autism are severely mentally impaired.

Because they have trouble communicating with the rest of the world, you may think they’re somehow less intelligent. The opposite is true. Low functioning people with autism have impaired communications skills but they are just as smart as your average Joe and many are even smarter.

People with Autism can’t be geniuses.

Actually, there are many historical geniuses who are thought to have had autism (Albert Einstein and Thomas Jefferson, for example). However, I think it’s foolish to use them as evidence when I can merely point to currently living people like Nobel Prize winning economist Vernon Smith and actor Dan Ackroyd who have made public statements about being diagnosed with Autism.

People with Autism want to be cured.

Most people with autism, in fact, do not want to be cured because they’ve already accepted autism as part of their personality, identity, and lifestyle. You may not understand why anyone would want to be diagnosed with a psychiatric condition, but even homosexuality was listed in the DSM as being a disorder at one point in time.

Autistic people are represented by non-profits like Autism Speaks and Cure Autism Now; donating to these causes helps people with Autism.

Actually, most autistic people feel that these non-profits are doing a disservice to those living with Autism by running campaigns that dehumanize people with the condition and painting an inaccurate picture of what Autism is like.

For example, Autism Speaks, the largest Autism organization in terms of financial capital, has no employees with Autism and no board members with the condition. They disallow individuals with Autism from speaking at their conferences with the rationale that “it wouldn’t be appropriate.”
While a lot of the research they fund may be conducted by good scientists who are unaware of the organization’s political slant, Autism Speaks’ end-game is establishing prenatal screening. Any good that comes from this research is consequently undermined by the negative messages they send.

Most people with Autism are “low functioning.”

Due to the negative connotations autism gets from the term “low functioning,” the bigger non-profits like to focus on low functioning people with Autism because people are more likely to donate to help severely affected people (these same organizations use the statistic of 1 in 150 but they imply that 1 in 150 people are low functioning). However, the most recent studies show that a little less than half of people with Autism are low functioning. A lot of autism experts point out that Asperger’s is underdiagnosed, which indicates there are an even lower percentage of people who would qualify as “low functioning.”

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Looking for an awesome gift idea? How about giving a gift certificate from Digi KidZ Photography?

Digi KidZ gift certificates make it super-duper easy to give your family or friends a portrait session, a discount on a portrait session, or even help them to order reprints from past sessions. Any value can be added to the certificate. Gift certificates will be mailed to you immediately after purchase. And…because it’s Christmas, we are having a sale on our Mini Sessions.
Questions? Email me for more info – jodie@digikidzphotography.com

Adorable Package – $250.00
ONE 11 x 14
SEVEN 8 x 10’s
FIVE 5 x 7’s
8 wallets

Cuteness Package – $200.00
ONE 11 x 14
FIVE 8 x 10′s
FIVE 5 x 7’s
8 wallets

Pretty Package – $150.00
ONE 11 x 14
THREE 8 x 10′s
TWO 5 x 7’s
8 wallets

Looking for an awesome gift idea? How about giving a gift certificate from Digi KidZ Photography?

Digi KidZ gift certificates make it super-duper easy to give your family or friends a portrait session, a discount on a portrait session, or even help them to order reprints from past sessions. Any value can be added to the certificate. Gift certificates will be mailed to you immediately after purchase. And…because it’s Christmas, we are having a sale on our Mini Sessions.
Questions? Email me for more info – jodie@digikidzphotography.com

Adorable Package – $250.00
ONE 11 x 14
SEVEN 8 x 10’s
FIVE 5 x 7’s
8 wallets

Cuteness Package – $200.00
ONE 11 x 14
FIVE 8 x 10′s
FIVE 5 x 7’s
8 wallets

Pretty Package – $150.00
ONE 11 x 14
THREE 8 x 10′s
TWO 5 x 7’s
8 wallets

Why not give a Digi KidZ Gift Certificate?

Looking for an awesome gift idea? How about giving a gift certificate from Digi KidZ Photography?

Digi KidZ gift certificates make it super-duper easy to give your family or friends a portrait session, a discount on a portrait session, or even help them to order reprints from past sessions. Any value can be added to the certificate. Gift certificates will be mailed to you immediately after purchase. And…because it’s Christmas, we are having a sale on our Mini Sessions.
Questions? Email me for more info – jodie@digikidzphotography.com

Adorable Package – $250.00
ONE 11 x 14
SEVEN 8 x 10’s
FIVE 5 x 7’s
8 wallets

Cuteness Package – $200.00
ONE 11 x 14
FIVE 8 x 10′s
FIVE 5 x 7’s
8 wallets

Pretty Package – $150.00
ONE 11 x 14
THREE 8 x 10′s
TWO 5 x 7’s
8 wallets

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