Puppetry

Link to this month's episode 

I am so sorry for not posting as of late. I had virus issue with my computer and I have made a new episode of PrismVox for everyone to enjoy. I deleted the Maka entry because I have lost interest in writing :/ 

Anyway I haven't lost interest in blogging. I read Sarah's entry this afternoon about Autspks being, the same old ableist nonsense. However I did catch sight at the mention of a fifteen year old girl writing about her non-verbal brother in a very off-putting verse. I had to read it just so I get a good idea what she is talking about...lo and behold it's the same sort of crap I've always have seen

The Voice Unheard

I scream
I cry
I bang
You still don’t understand
The words won’t form for me to speak
But alas I have much to say
If only there was a way
A way for you to hear me
From behind the prison bars

The children on the streets stare
Like illuminating eyes in the night
I appear not to care
As they ponder over the sight
Of me walking on my toes
And screaming without no cause
To them I’m an alien
If only they could understand

There’s more than meets the eye with me
I’m not just some freak
If they could only see
I can’t help what I am or how I act
There’s much more under the surface
A truth waiting to be found
I’m not going to die
But that doesn’t make things alright

My mind, my body
Don’t work like they should
I’m trapped
A prisoner
No one’s knows how it happens
Why I can’t talk to you
It’s something in my brain
That went askew

There are others like me that can talk
But their case is different than mine
See we are all very different
Even with the same infected mind

In my case, I’m severe
I can’t talk
Only scream and yell
I bang walls and slam doors
And windows in cars
My senses aren’t like yours
My sense of feeling is off
I bang my head down on a table
Just to be sure it’s still there

Autism isn’t like cancer
There’s no cure
Or solution found
Only drugs and medication
To try and calm us down
But I am lucky to have a family
That loves me so much
They make sure I’m taken care of
And do everything they must

So next time you see me on the street
Or others of the same fate
Think of all we go through
Just to get through each day
Autism has a voice
If you take time to listen
You will hear

Where do I even begin? I know the lot of you will throw up the "She's only 15" excuse, I don't buy it. 15 is not an excuse to take step back and be aware of the language and the context she is using. 

Lets start with the first fact is that she is puppeting. She sticking her words into her brother's mouth. She uses language that ends up objectifying her brother and end up making her look good. "But I am lucky to have a family
That loves me so much" This seems like a typical trope you find in most "poems" written by parents and siblings. They turn the head-banging and the screaming as some sort of symbol of suffering. It never occurs to them to actually talk to an autist on why does their brother scream and cry. It never occurs to them to you know...ask. 

This kind of ego masturbation and martyrism is common among the AutSpks community. It seems all that parents do is go on how either their son/daughter is suffering and how they are suffering too...so you must feel sorry for us. It irritating but that does shit. How is pity grabbing going to stop your kid from doing SIBs? I mean c'mon. Take a step back for a moment. 

Now I know some people think that I am puppeting my thoughts into "Hanai", you might even remark that Hanai is even my soap box. First off. Hanai is fictional, their for I am not really puppeting in the same context if she was a real person. Second though, Hanai is based off of real moms. Not just some idealized version of what a parent of an autist should be but what I have read and heard from other moms. They help color Hanai. 

Siblings need to seriously take a step back and try not to assume what they feel about their siblings is mutual. You go on about we having a voice, but why are you not bothering to really hear it?