barcaheaux:

• bean
  
• loaf
  
• egg
  

deadwoodstagecoach:

I know it’s Easter and Lindt does really good chocolate, but they give money to Autism Speaks.
Please avoid buying Lindt chocolate - especially their bunnies, as the more they sell the more money goes to Autism Speaks.

theconcealedweapon:

(I have previously posted this. This is an updated version. I will be posting this on my facebook on April 2. Let me know if I should add anything.)

Time for some real autism awareness, and not any of that “light it up blue” bullshit.

• The consensus among the autistic community is that Autism Speaks is a hate group. If you want to know why, just google “what’s wrong with autism speaks”. Some examples are their videos “I Am Autism” which makes autistic people seem like burdens, and “Autism Every Day” which features a mother talking about wanting to murder her autistic daughter. If you want to actually help autistic people, you should support Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
  
• Light It Up Blue and the puzzle piece are not supported by the autistic community.
• Contrary to popular belief, most autistic people prefer “autistic person” over “person with autism”. Autism is something we are, not something we have. You cannot separate a person from their autism. The only time “person with autism” should be used is when they specifically ask to be called that.
• The number of people diagnosed with Autism is not “shocking”. We exist. Get over it.
  
• There aren’t more autistic people now. Those who are autistic are just more likely to be diagnosed now.
• It is up to each individual disabled person to decide whether their disability needs to be cured. Abled people should not be the ones deciding that. Also, acceptance must come first, because some disabled people may want to be cured only because they don’t know that acceptance is an option.
• Most autistic people do not want to be cured. We want to be accepted, not removed from the gene pool. Most autistic people believe that the struggles involving autism are caused by how society treats autistic people, not by autism itself. A non-autistic version of an autistic person would be a completely different person. Curing us would be like murdering us and putting someone else in our bodies.
• Even if a cure was possible, it would most likely be very dangerous. People have tried bleach to cure autism, and that doesn’t even work. If a cure actually did work, one can only imagine how dangerous it can be with society still accepting it.
• Autistic children become autistic adults. It is impossible for an autistic person to grow out of their autism. We just figure out ways to appear less autistic in order to be accepted, so it may appear that we grew out of it.
• An autistic adult who hasn’t been diagnosed yet has most likely spent their entire life trying to be normal, which causes their autistic traits to be less visible, so it’s very difficult for an autistic person to be diagnosed as an adult. 
  
• Functioning labels do not help autistic people. They just label us based on how well we can pretend to not be autistic. Instead, state a person’s needs directly (nonverbal autistic person, autistic person who also has a learning disability, etc.) Many autistic people can’t be put into a category because they fit some characteristics of being high functioning and some of being low functioning. Also, unlike the autism condition itself, a person’s functioning label can change over time.
• It’s commonly believed in the autism community that autism affects all genders equally. Women/girls are just severely under-diagnosed.
• Autistic people are just as diverse as non-autistic people. Not every autistic person is going to remind you of that one autistic person you know.
• For a detailed scientific explanation of how vaccines cause autism, go to howdovaccinescauseautism.com.
• Even if vaccines did cause autism, you must really hate autistic people if you’re willing to expose your children and any immune-deficient children to deadly diseases in order to prevent autism.
• You are not an “autism family” unless your entire family is autistic. Actual autism families exist.
• You’re allowed to think that an autistic person is annoying. Just know that we’re allowed to think you’re annoying too.
• “I didn’t know they were autistic” is not an excuse. Do not make fun of anyone for being different in a way that’s not hurting anyone else.
• Do not accuse someone of faking a disability. The harm caused by a person faking is much less than the harm caused by a person being wrongly accused of faking. Not all disabilities are visible. Not all disabled people fit the stereotypes. Not all disabled people have been diagnosed.
• Do not dare someone to do something, pretending that people will like them if they do it, then laugh at them when they do it. Autistic people can’t read your mind and won’t know whether doing something will cause people to like them or think they’re weird.
• It’s okay to be surprised to find out that someone is autistic, but don’t compliment someone by telling them that they don’t seem autistic. It implies that being autistic is bad.
• Do not use “autistic” as an insult.
• Saying “talk to people” as advice for how to make friends is like saying “write numbers” as advice for someone who needs help in math. It’s just about as vague as you can get. If your advice cannot be taken literally (meaning that it’s possible to do something wrong while technically following the advice), it’s bad advice.
• Say what you mean. Not everyone can understand subtle hints and hidden meanings.
• Don’t expect something to come natural to everyone just because it comes natural to you, even if it actually does come natural to most people.
  
• Talking to people does not come natural to everyone. Not knowing how to talk to people is different from being shy or being afraid of rejection.
• If someone says that they’re unable to do something, the correct response is to help them find something similar that they are able to do (or maybe they’re okay with not being able to do it and don’t need your help at all). Do not just say “yes you can”. It’s not a compliment. It’s not reassuring. It’s just denying their personal experiences and making them feel like no one understands them.
• If someone tells you about a problem they have, don’t say that everyone experiences it. They know that’s not true. There’s most likely an important detail that you’re missing.
• Positive stereotypes are still harmful, because they erase those who don’t fit the stereotype.
• Autistic people are not all math geniuses. (I just happen to fit the stereotype.)
• If we try to be funny and end up offending someone, we’re expected to stop and apologize. You should too. Do not say “I was just kidding” and expect a free pass. In many cases “I was just kidding” is code for “Normal people consider what I did funny, so you should shut up and accept it.” If you make fun of someone as a joke, that person must be your target audience. If you make fun of someone to get laughs from someone else, you’re just being a bully.
  
• There is nothing “rude” about wanting to be left alone, not wanting to talk, or not making eye contact.
• Do not assume someone is lying to you just because they don’t make eye contact or they don’t maintain a straight face.
• Do not post videos online of your autistic child having a meltdown.
• Do not defend parents who murder their autistic children. I don’t even know why that has to be said.

skeletonmug:

mrs-garrett-hawke:

so the democratic party caucuses for Hawaii, Alaska and Washington state are ALL on Saturday, rather than Tuesdays like primaries. a LOT of younger voters get trapped in part-or-full-time jobs on the weekends and miss out on the voting (this is what happened in Nevada, where all the younger Bernie supporters were stuck working casino jobs on the weekend), so let me just remind everyone that your employer is legally obligated to give you enough time off to vote. If you want to vote in the caucuses, be it for Hillary or Bernie (I prefer Bernie but I won’t tell anyone who they should vote for, it’s your decision), you have a LEGAL RIGHT to do so. If your employer tries to tell you no, or give you hell for it, you can contact authorities on the matter, or if your employer has an anonymous report system (which most are required to), file a report with a district or regional manager (if you work for a larger corporation or company) that your manager is not allowing employees time off to vote. It’s a violation of federal law and I promise something WILL be done.

Get out there and VOTE!

I just want to add a link here for State-by-State Time Off to Vote Laws

I see a lot of posts saying that you are legally entitled to time off to vote in a primary. However, that is not true for all states, and voting legislation is managed at a state level and not federally.

This post referring specifically to Alaska, Hawaii and Washington is correct - in those states there is legal protection for you to take (paid) time off too vote if there is not a two hour window before or after your shift. The wording varies for each state so check carefully.

This is not the case for every state - many don’t have any legal requirement at all, and for some it doesn’t require the time to be paid. Please check your state before going to your primary. I don’t want people to get in trouble with their employers due to a misunderstanding.