Autism Politics Discussion Group (Autistic NYC)

Meetings this month and next

The meetings listed below are online chat meetings (text-based). To view the meeting details (including a link to our chatroom), you must first join the Autistic in NYC / Queens Meetup.com group (and be logged in to Meetup.com) if you have not done so already.

• Thursday, March 28, at 7:00 PM. (See meeting details, find chatroom link, and RSVP here.)

• Thursday, April 25, at 7:00 PM. (See meeting details, find chatroom link, and RSVP here.)

If you are planning to attend any of our chat meetings, please RSVP on the relevant Meetup.com page.

About the Autism Politics Discussion Group

The Autism Politics Discussion Group is not an advocacy/activist group. It's a group in which we can discuss political and social issues pertaining to autism, including controversies about topics such as the following:

• The goals of the neurodiversity movement and how they can best be achieved.

• The relationship between the autistic community (groups and online spaces created by and for autistic people) and the autism community (various organizations and online spaces led by mostly-NT parents and/or autism professionals).

• The goals of autism research (e.g., why many of us do not desire a total "cure" but do desire treatments of various kinds).

• The people who do autism research. (It seems that very few of them are on the autism spectrum themselves, or at least openly so.)

• Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA): Many autistic bloggers who have experienced it say it is abusive and harmful to autistic children. ABA apologists often claim that this is no longer true of current versions of ABA. How should this be decided, and by whom? How can we, in the autistic community, convince the scientific establishment to take our concerns more seriously?

• Other therapies and educational methodologies for young autistic children: How to decide which ones are truly beneficial?

• The rights of severely disabled autistic people: How best to maximize their communication abilities, maximize their ability to make informed choices, and protect them from abuse and other dangers.

• Who can speak for the most severely disabled autistic people, who cannot speak for themselves?

• How can the autistic community, and the autism community more generally, better serve the needs of multiply-marginalized autistic people, e.g. people of color and LGBTQ+ people?

• How can we prevent sexual harassment in autistic spaces, and how should allegations of sexual harassment be handled?

• The relationship between the neurodiversity movement and the larger disability rights movement.

• How can we best encourage more autistic-friendly workplaces to be created?

• The representation of autistic people in the mass media.

Political topics not directly related to autism should not be discussed here, but should be discussed in the separate General Societal/Political Discussion Group.

Although this group is not primarily a support group, one of its purposes is to help us figure out ways to communicate effectively with other people in our lives about controversial matters related to autism. We will also treat our group meetings as an exercise in improving our communication with each other.

The first few meetings, at least, will emphasize the question of how to keep our discussions civil and how to discuss our differences in a way that leads to mutual understanding rather than hurt feelings. We will examine methodologies such as the Socratic method, and we will discuss such questions as which sources (if any) we consider to be reliable and why.

At least for now, the Autism Politics Discussion Group will hold text-based chats on the last Thursday of each month. Please RSVP via Meetup. Currently we use the Autistic In NYC / Queens groups Meetup.com site. (Eventually a separate Meetup group may be created, if and when this group gets big enough to justify it.)

As the COVID crisis winds down, we will decide whether and if so when and where to hold in-person meetings. We will probably continue to hold text-based chats as well.