Why we need more autistic advocates? We need to change people’s perspectives and ideas of what Autistic People really are or how they do things in their everyday life that can really make people angry or misunderstand us as a whole! (Image: GEEKCLUBBOOKS.COM) Everyday is a struggle for many of us autistics as well as our fellow peers that are going through something of their everyday mental health problems or just something that they need to try and fight the fight. We are therefore lacking in some parts of the world people who can advocate for others that are in dire need. It’s a shame really when you look at this as something need to be done yet sometimes there are reasons to why people doesn’t want to help each other nowadays as the world or mostly people are there for themselves and not others. Just recently I heard about the hype for a movie that is called, “Please Stand By”. It is about an autistic young woman living in California. I won’t give any spoilers in case you have or haven’t watched it as for myself. I have heard good things about this movie but it got me thinking about why advocacy is so necessary. Attitudes toward the autistic woman were very much that she had no capability to live independently and little to add to the world but as the film unfolds it becomes clear that the young woman is highly talented and resourceful. I was impressed to hear about a female that is portraying Autism of what her everyday life is like as an Autistic. Don’t get me wrong. There need to be more showing of female roles that acts as autistics as there is a long way to go for doing so. As we know that there are many male roles that has been portraying Autism. Not trying to sound biased or sexist here far from it. Just speaking my thoughts or in this case writing down my thoughts on this topic. I’m not sure of the disability politics of the filmmaker but I will hope to watch the movie trailer or something and share my thoughts and reactions to the movie. TBA. One person, mentioned that it had Applied Behaviour Analysis which were very hard for them to watch. Yet, there will be varying opinions on this topic alone which I may talk about or write later. When the film finished I said to my move night visitors ‘I need to write a blog post about this.’     In fact my blog post is a bit broader than the film in itself. I am not a movie reviewer! No, far from it. I am your normal everyday Autistic/Mental health creator sharing her thoughts and experiences based on some important topics that hasn’t been shared before or may have but thought to share my very own insights as well as a little bit of my experiences. Take them or leave them. Yet, this is how I see and feel the world differently to others and am sure that many of my fellow Autistics in the community may agree. The thing which struck me the most about the film after someone shared with me briefly trying not to giveaway too much about what it is all about from start to finish is that it demonstrated quite well why advocacy is so important. The film showed this through: Highlighting that many people view autistic people as incompetent and like perennial children There are ‘therapies’ for autistic kids which essentially mirror training a dog. This needs to stop. Why does it need to stop? Because we are still humans and that how it depicits about us Autistics that we are almost like nothing to others. That this is demeaning us to who and what we are as Autistics and to some of the Autistics in what we may stand up for into what we believe in. Autistic people often have so much to offer the world but this is not noticed or understood by many people due to some lack of knowledge and understanding of what autism is and how the people who has Autism really function on a day to day basis. As I shared before, I can’t stress it enough that every autistic you meet will be different. There is still a view that autistic people have no feelings or empathy.That folks ISN’T ALWAYS TRUE. Many autistics do feel more deeper than others and that they take on a lot more from others too. This viewpoint about us with no empathy towards others also has to stop. Image: GEEKCLUBBOOKS.COM) – This says it all about us Autistics. Once, you’ve meet an Autistic, you’ll be amazed to what they can share with you. NEVER ASSUME THAT WE HAVE NO OR LACK OF EMPATHY WHATSOEVER. In terms of the ‘real’ world, I have been advocating and educating others on YouTube since 2013. Things have certainly changed since then boy has it ever and it’s really daunting and disgusting after hearing to what other fellow autistics go through on the daily and that they don’t get heard. Even if they did try to speak out they get slammed down from either their peers or just the Neurotypicals but there are still things which really need attention. I myself – and presumably other autistic speakers – used to only be viewed as a token or the ‘colour and light’ when I have now had the courage to speak with the help of the Social Media along with networking with other Autistics but now there is a growing knowledge that autistic people are the experts in autistic experience (I know hey, who would have thought??!). There are autistic-led organisations like Yellow Ladybugs and the I CAN Network doing great work in empowering autistic young people along with maybe a few more that I can’t think of right now but just to name a few. Autistic viewpoints are often featured in the news media and not