I would only add that POTUS’s claims are an attack on pregnant people, too. Pregnancy is a complicated and physically painful condition to undergo, and that’s prior to labor which is different (and shorter, even when long.) Barry’s points about continuing to misrepresent and marginalize autistic people are well made and well taken. Pregnancy, as well, should not be misrepresented as something other than a serious medical condition.
From Barry:
Scottie's Playtime 
We are slowly being dragged backward in time, you may have noticed. Sooner or later women will be expected to birth their kids at home, with a midwife. In between gathering the crops and tending their six other children…
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Yep, that’s part of why I posted this. Mostly, though, Barry makes good sense about how people look at and talk about autism and autistic people without including them in the conversation, and how that affects the general perception of diversity: in this case, neuro-diversity. His piece is really good.
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Hi Ali. Thank you so much for posting this. I agree with you about Barry opening eyes on the situation of autistic people and the problems they face in a society that wants to make them fit in. The fact is this demand to fit into the majority mold has been seen in how the majority treated gay / lesbian people, how they treat trans people. It also is how the majority tried to force different religious groups to conform to the majority in that area. The saddest point for me is it took Barry asking me a question for me to understand the point he was making. His question: How would you like it if you were constantly referred to as a person with gay rather than a gay person? Wow when you think it through the first option assumes you have a problem, an issue, an illness. The second is just identifying your identity. I wish I could find that meme as I would put it on the right sidebar. Maybe Barry could suggest one. Hugs.
Side note Ali. I am struggling right now. I have missed a lot of posts you and Randy make. I have not even managed to do the cartoon / meme post. I know we talked about this. I have far too many comments from the last three weeks I really want to reply to rather than post. I will continue to post videos I champion but if I don’t do any other posting please don’t worry too much. My time online is just getting short. I got about 3 hours today with everything else. Thank you for all you and Randy do. Best wishes always to everyone and hugs to those that want them. Scottie
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Hi Judy. You are correct. Why do you think the “tRump Bible” did not have any of the amendments that were about the blacks getting citizenship, rights to vote, women getting the right to vote, and all the rest? They want to take the country back to a time when straight cis white Christian men were in charge and not questioned. Women were subservient to males dependent on them for financial security making them exploited as home keepers, children producers / caregivers, and sex on demand available. Black / brown people knew their place and stayed there. The entire LGBTQ+ were hidden from society and were terrified to be outed due to losing everything in their life. That is what the people behind the tRump administration wants. It is what many people in tRump’s administration want. It is what unable to make friends or find females attracted to him Stephen Miller wants. Scary is not even able to describe the country / world they want. Hugs
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Ali, thank you for your generous postscript and for reblogging the piece with such care. Your framing of pregnancy as a serious medical condition—and your critique of how public rhetoric can shame those seeking relief—is deeply resonant. I’m especially moved by your affirmation that my post helped shape your thinking. That’s the kind of civic ripple I hope for, and it means a great deal to know the work is landing.
I see autistic and feminist lenses as deeply aligned in civic critique. Both challenge dominant narratives that pathologise difference, dismiss lived experience, and obscure structural harm. I deliberately limited the scope of my post to the White House’s autism framing, because I feared that expanding into the rollback of women’s rights would risk doing insufficient justice to either concern. But your postscript reminds me how entangled these issues are—and how urgently they call for intersectional clarity.
Thank you again for your thoughtful engagement, and for amplifying the conversation with such principled generosity.
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Well, I’ve been feeling as if I should have bitten my fingertips (as in biting my tongue) about the pregnancy issue, so I appreciate your grace for me inserting that. All your writing is thorough and succinct, and this one is especially so. So I slid in the other aspect. But I didn’t want to overshadow that the issue is not including autistic people in research and discussion of autistic people and autism, as you were concerned about doing in your piece. Thank you!
Those two men (RFK Jr. and Trump) are just awful people.
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HI Barry. I am so very grateful that Ali seen your post and reblogged it here. I fully support the attempt you are making to educate the public on autism just as you taught me on the subject. I just replied to Ali with the question that you asked me that opened my eyes. “How would you like it if you were constantly referred to as a person with gay rather than a gay person?” You have always been willing to reply to even the most backward questions I might have. Thank you. You are a thoughtful wonderful person who shouldn’t ever be reduced to one part of you just as I a gay man shouldn’t be reduced to one just who I am attracted to. I can see how an autistic person would find that very offensive to be judged that way. I just wish I could be more on other people’s blogs and would apologize that I have not been to your blog site myself for a while as right now I find things ever more difficult. I really hope you understand it is not because I fail to value what you post because I do. Your posts on different subjects has opened my eyes on things I wouldn’t ever have thought of such as the issues faced by the Indigenous peoples in your country. Your ability with tech issues dwarfs what I was taught as a repairman / operator. I would challenge anyone to reasonably say you are a lessor person because you are autistic. They would fail so badly. Best wishes always.
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Thank you so much, Scottie. Your comment here, like the one on my blog, means a great deal to me. I’m deeply moved by your willingness to reflect, to learn, and to draw powerful connections between your own lived experience and mine. That question—about being referred to as “a person with gayness”—was never meant to confront, only to invite empathy. And you responded with such grace and clarity.
Your openness is exactly what I wish more people would embrace: not just recognising autistic experience, but listening to it as a source of civic insight. You’ve shown how lived experience—whether queer, autistic, or otherwise—can challenge assumptions and expand understanding. That’s the kind of dialogue I write for.
Ngā mihi nui 🌿💬🕊️🌈
kind thoughts, shared words, calm presence, quiet solidarity
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