Upstaging Mother’s Day

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up·stage

/ˌəpˈstāj/

verb

gerund or present participle: upstaging

divert attention from (someone) towards oneself. “they were totally upstaged by their co-star in the film”

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I know there’s other big news in the world of autism lately thanks to Elon Musk, but since it’s Mother’s Day here in the US could we maybe celebrate some fantastic Autistic mothers in our lives?

And maybe let’s give a shout out to the non-Autistic moms out there who are loving and supporting their Autistic kids unconditionally, without making themselves out to be a Martyr to parenthood or making autism seem like some evil separate entity that’s stolen their child. There’s a thought. (BTW, thanks Mom! You rock my socks! If I wore socks, anyway.)

Let’s celebrate Autistics who are actually doing things for the community. What’s Elon Musk done, besides offer up a miracle-of-science “cure” for Autistics and perpetuate a harmful stereotype with an offensive functioning label to top it all off?

Do we really need yet another privileged white male stereotype as a representative? I don’t think so. Not when there are hundreds of others who have been doing the hard work in grassroots efforts for years now who are still being silenced and ignored because they don’t fit that same stereotype.

Not when he’s trying to sell us a “cure”. Not when he’s using a term that attempts to make him look superior to others. Only time will tell us how he’s going to move forward with this news. Will he learn and grow and become an actual advocate for the community? Will he put his money into any organizations founded by Autistics? Will he be throwing non-speaking individuals under the proverbial bus? I guess we’ll find out, eventually.

Until then, there are other people to celebrate. It’s Mother’s Day, remember?