Autism Pride = Autistics are Superior?
Genius doesn't make you better. It only means you have a skill that's above average.
Disability doesn't make you worse. It only means you have a skill that's below average.
Neither genius nor disability changes your worth as a human being.
Autism is a neutral trait--a characteristic of a person just like (but affecting more of one's life than) being blue-eyed, female, left-brained, gifted, fat, Christian, German. Et cetera.
Self-esteem includes accepting yourself for who you are, and being proud of who you are.
It's good to be proud of any of your traits, including being autistic. Both benefits and drawbacks help define you; they are what make you unique.
When you are open about and express acceptance of your own autism, you employ the most powerful known technique to promote acceptance of a minority: A personal experience with someone from the minority group. Thus, autism pride helps not only you but others.
It's unrealistic to claim that being autistic makes you better than anybody else--because no matter how many positive autistic traits you have, they do not make you intrinsically more valuable than the most disabled autistic person with the most negative autistic traits.
Autism pride is a matter of identity, not superiority.
Disability doesn't make you worse. It only means you have a skill that's below average.
Neither genius nor disability changes your worth as a human being.
Autism is a neutral trait--a characteristic of a person just like (but affecting more of one's life than) being blue-eyed, female, left-brained, gifted, fat, Christian, German. Et cetera.
Self-esteem includes accepting yourself for who you are, and being proud of who you are.
It's good to be proud of any of your traits, including being autistic. Both benefits and drawbacks help define you; they are what make you unique.
When you are open about and express acceptance of your own autism, you employ the most powerful known technique to promote acceptance of a minority: A personal experience with someone from the minority group. Thus, autism pride helps not only you but others.
It's unrealistic to claim that being autistic makes you better than anybody else--because no matter how many positive autistic traits you have, they do not make you intrinsically more valuable than the most disabled autistic person with the most negative autistic traits.
Autism pride is a matter of identity, not superiority.