My area must improve attitudes

For Supporting World Autism Acceptance Month

This document cover examples on my personal experences and perspactive

I have been an awareness campaigner for 25 years, a Latin dancing participant for nearly a decade, and a creative designer. I have lived in the West Midlands region and Worcestershire for most of my life. My region has gone through many challenges, changes, and transformations to make the importance continue where I live.

Education

I have studied art & design with futher & higher education in Herfordshire & in Northampton and have studied interactive design & digital mrketing in Birmingham

 
During the past decades, I have stepped up to change public perceptions through my awareness projects, including developing Plus Value Awareness. It was a privilege to be featured in a community legacy campaign for Birmingham since hosting the Commonwealth Games representing the autistic spectrum and Neurodiversity for my city.

Becoming a Latin dancing participant

Since attending latin related dace classes I have become a particiant including a dance classs assistant and a particiant at latin dancing conventions in & around Birmingham. In addition, I have developed a series of projects and publications to help improve a more inclusive dancing environment with my online feature Embrace Dancing .

Within recent years, I have been involved in several awareness projects, meetings, and videos for Transport for West Midlands to address travel safety matters which affect autistic and neurodivergent individuals when using public transport in the West Midlands region & beyond.

I've been involved in some autism awareness projects with the University of Birmingham, with one of the leading lectures at the school of education.

Elsewhere I have also developed other projects with leading awareness influncers and organisations including Autism West Midlands, Anna Kennedy Online and been involved with virtual events with London-based A2ndvoice run by Vanessa Swaby


Background
Despite all my progress, there are still ignorant and closed minds who are misrepresenting me & others with similar and other difficulties.

I have observed an increasing amount of prejudice and negative attitudes in public places and open spaces in the West Midlands region (which includes the rural county areas such as Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Herefordshire)

Within recent years I have seen some examples of good projects in the local community to help change perceptions. However, we still have a long way to go.
In early 2020, I have contacted the public authorities in my region, including local authorities and the police, to address the increasing amount of mistreatment and how it became a burden to my daily life.

The response when speaking out was extremely disappointing. Some organisations made a generic response including there's nothing they could do. Also I have recieved an unhelpful lecture from a local politian, which implies that my place in society was insignificant, which meant my voice won't be heard. One response was extremely offensive with dehumanising my experience, which implies that my difficulties are at blame by referring to the matter as a health and social care matter rather than as it should be treating me as an equal citizen.

Prejudice during World Autism Acceptance Month
Despite the month of April being the World Autism Acceptance Month, I received some disrespectful and prejudiced attitudes in public places and open spaces during April.

During the month of writing this article and within 24 hours in Birmingham City Centre, I had to face many disrespectful and offensive attitudes against me. This incluldes faced nonverbal discrimination. One woman in their 20s kept making hands behind the back gestures to imply that I should be locked up due to their disapproval. Later on in the evenings, when a male & female couple notices me nearby, they keep making a persistent mockery, nonverbal exaggerated mockery associated with different examples of disabilities. This includes exaggerating shoulder march, bending their backs up and down and exaggerating swinging arms while laughing.

A few years ago, also during World Autistic Acceptance Month in Birmingham City Centre, I was rudely interrupted by a man nearby when I was being served at a major supermarket who disrespected and attacked my communication skills. Not only was this person rudely intruding on how I was communicating with a member of staff at the newsagent, but also rudely interrupted and accused me as a lower class and rudely suggested that I just have an elocution class.

Elsewhere at a rail station at Worcester two teenagers were trying to humiliate me at the platform but kept laughing at me and kept making launching noises continuously. This was a stigma judgement related to mental health stereotypes. Despite there being plenty to witness, evety turned a blind eye to this hurtful & ableist harassment.

I have seen many public campaigns in my city and region against different kinds of discrimination, including racism, sexual harassment, misogynist behaviour, and hatred against religous backgrounds and those with LGBT communities. However, I haven't seen a single campaign in my region against discrimination and hatred towards any type of disabilities or difficulties.

Stigma being black and autitsic

I often received negative suspicions linked with sterotypes of mental health and those with multicultural backgrounds.

The consequences
If we do not change attitudes people like me and others will always be made to feel that we should never be permitted to integrate because of laziness and ignorance. It will mean many people on the autistic spectrum would be forced to live with exclusion and separation.

These examples can damage any autistic person's livelihood and life opportunities in employment education, having positive and fulfilling relationships, being inclusive in Society and having positive and stable health and well-being.

What has to change
Communities and public authorities must stop seeing the autistic spectrum as an insignificant member of society.

Stop dehumanizing autistic people when addressing serious matters and value them as an equal citizen. This means taking an autistic person's voice seriously on matters that affect their lives must be acted on and not making fashioned excuses to face the division of majority and minority.


The solution
Voices of autistic people must be listened to and taken seriously with respect and compassion.

Stop using care separation & segregation as an approach.

Find sensible solutions to improve autistic places in Society

Develop campaigns and programs against discrimination and hatred in an equal way over diverse groups in Society.

Final point
We cannot continue the culture of broken hearts because of ignorance and typecasting casting. We have to do better by valuing autistic people in society.