Why Wouldn’t Autism Parents Want to Presume Competence?

Jaden Walker about.me/jaden.walker A few days ago, congress held a panel on the rising prevalence of autism. As I worried, a great portion of the debate devolved into the long debunked connection between autism, vaccines, and mercury. To put it mildly, I spent a lot of it with my palm firmly attached to my face. One of the redeeming portions was near the very end, where two actual autistics were allowed to speak: John Michael Carley and Ari Ne’eman. While I won’t get into everything that was said (these two were brilliant, as always), one moment is stuck in my head and I just can’t shake it. One of Carley’s comments was (my quote is probably not exact), “Your sons and daughters with autism can hear what you say about them and read what you write about them.” Before he’d even fully finished the sentence, several people behind him began…

Total Customer Service Fail: One Autistic’s Story

Have you ever been in a customer service situation in which your or your child’s need for accommodation was either ignored or dismissed? We suspect Jaden’s story is far from uncommon. This needs to change.  Jaden about.me/jaden.walker I have autism. Since my diagnosis at age 25 I’ve never been shy about this. After never understanding why I’ve had trouble with so many simple things my whole life, I absolutely love that I have the answer now. It’s been six years since my diagnosis, and it still blows my mind every day to realize it. I never use it as an excuse for bad behavior, but simply as an explanation if I need more time or help with something. Many years back, I signed up with AT&T for an iPhone. I do not use phones if I can avoid it. My girlfriend and I had a home phone if it was…

photoon2010-09-13at13-11-2205756

Jaden and Autism Acceptance Month

We’re featuring “Slice of Life” conversations with Autistics of all ages — kids through adults — throughout April’s Autism Acceptance Month. Our goal is to help TPGA readers understand that autistic people are people who have interesting, complicated lives and who are as diverse and varied as any other population united by a label. We are the people in each other’s neighborhoods, and the more we know about each other — the more visible autistic people and children are — the more common autism acceptance will be. That is our hope. Today we’re talking with entomology academic & enthusiast Jaden, who is also a tattoo collector and musician. What is your name and age? Jaden. I’m 31. Do you have a website? Several: Personal (for my music): theeternalmusic.com Twitter: twitter.com/theeternal Autism advocacy: aspergersissues.tumblr.com Professional (entomology): boyandbugs.blogspot.com  What would you like a one-sentence description of yourself to say? Entomologist, musician, and…