MosaicYoda and Autistic Empowerment

Autistic self-advocates have perspectives we need to understand

Autistic self-advocates have perspectives we need to understand

Sometimes the planets just seem to align…

I won the cool program (Photo Mosaic) from Deanne Shoyer, who has a plethora of resources over at Small but Kinda Mighty and Smart Apps for Kids. I used it to make the above image, which is really pretty amazing as the entire thing is made up of photos of H and our family and even some of his notes and drawings.

After supporting me with about a billion emails (sometimes I am a bit of a techno-peasant), I told Deanne I would post her a thank you pic, but the Force and Yoda must have been stronger than even I would have suspected!!  Today Deanne, too, shared a Yoda image and also a spectacular and thoughtful post, which I very much encourage you to read: Thoughts about divisions Part III: Autism parents and autistic self-advocacy. She states:

“A neurotypical parent doesn’t get to define autism – autistic people do – and in overwhelming numbers, autistic people do not view their autism as a disease and they do not want to be cured. Parents can say as often as they like that they hate their child’s autism and wish it could be cured but it won’t make them right and it’s possible that the only impact of them saying this will be for their child to grow up feeling ashamed, inadequate and resentful.”~ Deanne Shoyer

Thank you, Deanne, for the wonderful program, your patient emails, and your eloquent post!!

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30 Days of Autism is a project designed to fight stigma, promote civil rights, and increase understanding and acceptance for those who process and experience the world differently.

©Leah Kelley, Thirty Days of Autism (2012)