So many overlaps here. There’s also General Assholes (because this is all in the context of a journal about how awesome ABA is), Late Stage Capitalism (because the author was trying to justify Vulture Capital investing in Autism Services, meaning that she’s trying to make a case that there are massive profits in doing ABA to children), and Just Call me AI, because it seems she used a ChatGPT to write it.
Scale invariant fractal fuckery: any part of it taken alone is just as fucked as the whole thing.
That sucks… I’m sorry. I wish we could build a society that isn’t so unnecessarily to everyone who doesn’t into the neat and narrow boxes of “normal”… why is that so hard?
When I read articles like this, I’m very upset and sometimes need a reminder - as a non-believer - that not all Christians have shitty attitudes. Many of them are very upset by things like this too. This is one of those palette cleansers I use. It’s from a nearby Christian school that has a specialist section for kids with autism.
Wycliffe Hope School is a Kindergarten to Year 12 Christian learning community with the specific focus of catering for students with mild to moderate ASD or moderate intellectual learning needs. God tells us that every child is formed in His image and is fearfully and wonderfully made. Wycliffe Hope School provides an inclusive learning experience for students with diagnosed additional needs which celebrates the truth that they are treasured and essential members of our school community.
I don’t know anyone enrolled there, and I’ve no idea what their methods are, but at least they’re going in with a decent attitude.
This is from an amputee not an autist, but the mindset she’s talking about is the same.
It’s the same toxic place that Prosperity Theology comes from.
“God rewards the faithful. If you are poor or suffering or different or broken or wrong, then you must not be faithful enough. Therefore it’s your fault, because of choices you made. QED.
Corollary: if you really wanted, you could just Believe Enough, and then you would’t have autism any more. Because that’s how it works, apparently.”
And by extension, if you have chosen not to be faithful enough, then you have deliberately and explicitly chosen to be against God, which makes you a devil on earth. It doesn’t matter how much you’re trying to believe, or what good works you do, or how literally fucking impossible it is to heal a missing limb: if you’re not physically perfect and healthy, then you must have chosen evil, because if you hadn’t, then you wouldn’t be “broken” or “sick”.
Toxic religion is like toxic masculinity: it’s not that religion or masculinity per se are bad, it’s that these expressions of them are poisonous.
I had a situation like this a few years back. Teenaged diabetic winds up in the ED in DKA after being pretty well controlled. Can’t figure out what went wrong, until the pastor comes in and asked what was i doing. I said saving this girl’s life. He informed me i was damning her soul. He had cured her diabetes and i was supporting the devil’s efforts to take her back. I professionally and bluntly told him to get stuffed and had security escort him out. I really despise that version of Christianity.
