We're Not Broken

Changing the Autism Conversation

Eric Garcia

• Verlag: Harvest
• Jahr: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781328587879
• Thema: Sozialwissenschaften
• Thema: Sozialwissenschaftliche Biographien

"This book is a message from autistic people to their parents, friends, teachers, coworkers and doctors showing what life is like on the spectrum. It's also my love letter to autistic people. For too long, we have been forced to navigate a world where all the road signs are written in another language." With a reporter's eye and an insider's perspective, Eric Garcia shows what it's like to be autistic across America. Garcia began writing about autism because he was frustrated by the media's coverage of it; the myths that the disorder is caused by vaccines, the narrow portrayals of autistic people as white men working in Silicon Valley. His own life as an autistic person didn't look anything like that. He is Latino, a graduate of the University of North Carolina, and works as a journalist covering politics in Washington D.C. Garcia realized he needed to put into writing what so many autistic people have been saying for years; autism is a part of their identity, they don't need to be fixed. In We're Not Broken, Garcia uses his own life as a springboard to discuss the social and policy gaps that exist in supporting those on the spectrum.From education to healthcare, he explores how autistic people wrestle with systems that were not built with them in mind. At the same time, he shares the experiences of all types of autistic people, from those with higher support needs, to autistic people of color, to those in the LGBTQ community. In doing so, Garcia gives his community a platform to articulate their own needs, rather than having others speak for them, which has been the standard for far too long.

Index

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

ABA. See applied behavioral analysis (ABA)

Abbott, Greg, 68–69

Abrams, Abby, 207–8

academia. See education

accommodations/education

asking for, 33, 34, 35–37, 41

changes in, 37–38

college/community college, xiv, xix, xx, 6–7, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35–37, 38, 39–41, 42

distrust and, 34

faculty importance, 39–40

high school/elementary school, 34

inspirational vs. successful, 40–41

See also Marshall University, West Virginia

accommodations/work, xix–xx, 74, 75, 81–82

AC/DC, 8

Acosta, Alex, 69

ADA Generation, xvi

adjustment disorder, 179

Aerosmith, 9

Affordable Care Act, 203

Alberta, Tim, 207

Albright, Amanda, 45, 46

All the Weight of Our Dreams (Brown, Onaiwu, Ashkenazy), 200

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 100

American Prospect, 58

American Psychiatric Association, 5

See also Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

ADA Generation and, xvi, 72–73

Amendments Act (2008) and autism, 5

effects, 5, 6–7, 93–94

Harkin and, 17

Angres, Ronald, 85

applied behavioral analysis (ABA)

controversy over, 116, 117–18

description, 116, 117

health insurance and, 116, 117

punitive components, 117

Apprentice, The, 23

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 167

“Aria,” 37–38

ASAN. See Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN)

Ashkenazy, E., 200

Asperger, Hans

autism spectrum and, 4, 158

Nazi child euthanasia program and, 4

“Asperger’s syndrome,” xvii, 4–5, 6, 135, 136, 178, 186

Aspies for Freedom, 21

assimilation, 183–8...