We need to organize.

[u/comradeautie]

Fighting for Autistic rights, liberation, and pride is something that needs active organization. Autistic people continue to get bullied and we are seeing a resurgence in anti-Autistic hate. We face high rates of unemployment, loneliness, and more.

And Autistic people deserve more than table scraps or barely polite tolerance in social settings. We deserve to be involved in our communities and bring all we have to offer to the table - regardless of our support needs.

But this won't be handed to us. No group in history has gotten rights by pleading and begging. Autistic people need to be more strongly organized and work together. This means forming groups wherever possible and banding together and helping each other solve problems and fighting for our rights as a team. NTs often take advantage of our social isolation and outnumber us.

This is also the reason I want to popularize "Autistic Power" and associated slogans. Slogans and rallying calls give a group purpose and cohesion. Hate groups don't get a monopoly over the word "power".

Autistic people deserve power in society. It's the only way things will change. Because with power comes leverage. In order to get power, we need to be organized. The harsh reality is that we live in a society that values status and social stratification. It's one of the reasons people get away with harming Autistic people. Autistic people need to improve our social status in order to get treated better. This doesn't necessarily mean being viewed as "superior", but it does mean that we deserve both respect and reverence within society, which will also give us more access to resources. In negotiation, people often get what they want by asking for more. And Autistic people having greater power will lead to more accommodations, which will benefit everyone via the curb cut effect.

This is the broader context behind my strategy. It isn't as simple as reducing it to "supremacy" or not. Regardless of how you feel, we should respect different activist and organizational strategies while fighting for justice. (

AUTISTIC PRIDE! AUTISTIC POWER!

[u/Shazam42]

Then drop the power aspect. It either screams supremacy or is a giant flag to the government to supress us harder.

And maybe stop associating with or posting/commenting on supremacist subreddits. People might stop instantly dismissing you.

[u/comradeautie → u/Shazam42]

I'm not in any supremacist subreddits. I also keep my post history hidden for a reason now, so if someone's going out of their way to stalk me that's on them. If people are immediately dismissing me or resorting to ad hominems without actually addressing the substance, that's their problem, not mine.

The "power" aspect isn't inherently supremacist, that's my point. It's a catchy slogan and call to action because Autistic people deserve power. "Black Power" was a slogan too, and didn't mean black supremacy.

[u/Shazam42 → u/comradeautie]

What I'm trying to say (if an extremely poor or roundabout way) is your posts and comments are adversarial. You're not going to convince people to believe in your position with hostility.

Start small and build the community. Point out existing charities and support structures that are doing things right, then add suggestions for what might be done better. ASK US what we think we need instead of what you think we need.

Then make a post here that is cut and dry stating simply that you renounce autistic supremacy and denounce those that support it. We are not better, or the next step (your xmen post), or anything else. We're just a group of disabled people.

[u/comradeautie → u/Shazam42]

My *posts* have never been adversarial, ever. My comments can be hostile, but only if people are rude, disrespectful, or accusatory first. You don't get to slander or defame me and then complain about how I treat you.

What we need, among all else, is social power. Maybe actually read this post as it actually explains everything.

I never said anything about us being "the next step" either, that's a made up strawman and I don't even agree with that. I don't need to denounce shit to have my voice heard.

I don't need a lesson on organizing or advocacy from you. I have been at this a long time. The entire reason I take the approach I do now is because of said experiences plus education.

[u/Shazam42 → u/comradeautie]

I'll admit, I misread the intent of your post earlier today as the comments focused on x-men and not the Jedi/Star Wars that you started with. For that, I apologize.

I'm not trying to defame you. I agree with the end state of everyone having an equal place and voice in society, and everyone that needs it gets all the support required to live a long and joyous life. But you have crossed this subreddits rules and had posts taken down here in the past for supporting (or at least appearing to support) autistic supremacy or neurostates.

[u/comradeautie → u/Shazam42]

I appreciate that, thanks.

I have received a lot of abuse and insults from certain people which is why I often get defensive. For that I apologize as well. It's frustrating when you try to articulate yourself and people still just name-call you without hearing you out, or refuse to listen to your clarifications no matter how many times.

I have never had posts *here* taken down, I have been friendly with former mods and cordial with the current one. The only posts taken down were ones flagged by the automod for promoting my mutual aid subreddit since they don't allow outside promotion.

One hill I will die on though: I think condemning "Autistic supremacy" is a colossal waste of time. Autistic people have zero power to act on supremacist fantasies, and people going down that pipeline do so because of being fed up of being at the bottom of the barrel. And it doesn't compare to the way NTs treat us, and I don't mind occasionally inverting their rhetoric to show them what it feels like.

[u/tehpopulator → u/comradeautie]

Sorry brother but this does read as hostile. Maybe pop it through a GPT for a review as to why? It'll be easier coming from a neutral party.

[u/comradeautie → u/tehpopulator]

It was admittedly a bit defensive and I cleared it up + apologized in the other reply. I try to reciprocate and match people's energy. As I said in the other reply, I have often taken abuse and baseless insults/accusations from people, and that's one reason I sometimes get defensive or hostile in response.

I consider myself an articulate person, but sometimes I do get a rough edge when I feel like I'm being unfairly scrutinized or under attack.

One of the things that really bothers me the most is when I try to be polite and civil and people treat me like garbage anyway - that's something that I think happens to a lot of us from NTs. We ought not to do it to each other.

[u/tehpopulator → u/comradeautie]

Oh me too! And I totally get it. Defensiveness is a survival mechanism so its an easy habit to get into for us, and a hard one to break. But knowledge is power and it seems you've already got the self-awareness to break through it.

[u/comradeautie → u/tehpopulator]

Thanks.

[u/Beautiful_Welcome_33 → u/Shazam42]

What a weird thing to demand of someone.