Week 1

Hi!

This week was a bit of a busy one for me. I did some more research in my free time and added what I learned to my important basics tab (overstimulation, diagnoses, and functioning labels).

I mostly devoted time to start reading We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation by Eric Garcia on the bus ride to my Science Olympiad tournament. Specifically, I have read the introduction, Chapter 1, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood: POLICY” and Chapter 7, “Not Sure If You’re A Boy or a Girl: GENDER” (which I haven’t read by the time of posting this but will finish over the weekend and possibly update the info on this post accordingly!),

I’ve found this book super educational so far and really appreciated how the author is very honest about the nuances and expansiveness of the autistic experience beyond what he is able to portray, as well as the ways he is actively seeking to combat personal bias in his book by incorporating voices of different autistic people and various reliable sources.

I would really recommend this book to anyone—it is super accessible to read as well as very informative: so far I have learned about the fraught history of autism in the public consciousness, combating misinformation, “toxic tropes,” and popular misconceptions held by even the most well-meaning of people, and uplifting autistic voices across the spectrum, as well as very interesting intersectionalities between autism and gender and the way exclusionary perspectives towards autism as a “male disorder” impacts the lives of women and transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.

Next week I will definitely read Chapter 2: “In My Mind, I’m Going to Carolina: EDUCATION” and “’Till the Next Episode: WHAT COMES NEXT,” as they seem most relevant to my independent study in particular. However, I am definitely going to finish the rest of the book in my own time because it is very informative and it is of course essential to learn about the various other aspects of the autistic experience (work, health care, race, relationships, etc.) as well as the ones directly pertinent to my research topic.

Until then, here are some notes and quotes I took in these first chapters (SO many more that aren’t listed here, but these were some that stood out to me)

“… more than a critique, this books is an exploration of how misinformation and fear can drive even the most well-intentioned parents and people to make harmful decisions.”

~Eric Garcia, Introduction of We’re Not Broken

Okay, that is all for this week! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you learned something new 🙂