The Cost of Ableism - A Higher Bar to Meet and Negative Attribution Bias.

Ableism isn't just about overt discrimination; it also involves the pervasive expectations and pressures that can lead to negative attribution biases and the need to meet a higher bar for inclusion. 

The High Bar for Inclusion

Ableism manifests as an expectation for individuals with disabilities, to meet a higher bar for inclusion. This form of ableism places undue pressure on autistic individuals to conform to standards and norms typically designed without considering their unique needs and strengths. 

Unreasonable Expectations. Autistics are often expected to conform to neurotypical social behaviors and communication styles to be accepted in social, educational, or professional settings. This higher bar for inclusion is exhausting and unrealistic, disregarding the natural ways in which autistic individuals interact and express themselves.

Proving Competence. There is often an implicit or explicit requirement for  autistics to constantly prove their abilities and competence beyond what is expected of their NT peers. So its not about having to prove yourself one time, its proving competence in every repeated interaction and with every new person and with every new situation.This can stem from prejudiced assumptions about their capabilities, leading to significant stress and anxiety.

Extra Effort for Accommodation:  The burden of seeking and arranging accommodations frequently falls on autistic individuals. They may need to expend significant effort to advocate for themselves, explain their needs repeatedly, and navigate systems not designed to accommodate them easily. Accommodations for autism can vary depending on the autistic and there is no standard list of checkbox to tick off and say job done.

Perceived Advantage of Accommodations. Accommodations are often seen as giving autistic individuals an "advantage," which perversely leads to higher performance expectations. This perception overlooks the purpose of accommodations, which is to level the playing field, not to provide an edge. As a result, autistics may feel compelled that they have to over-perform to justify the accommodations they receive (which leads to burnout) or conversely may not be able to meet that higher bar. 

Gratefulness for Accommodations. Accommodations are often treated as favors being granted, leading to the expectation that autistic individuals should feel grateful for this largesse. This can create an imbalance in power dynamics, where the need for accommodations is seen as a privilege rather than a right, adding another layer of pressure on autistic individuals.

Higher Performance Standards In professional or academic settings, autistic individuals might be held to higher performance standards to counteract biases and demonstrate their worthiness for inclusion or advancement. This can lead to burnout and mental health issues, as they strive to meet expectations not equally applied to their neurotypical counterparts.

Social Acceptance Conditions. Inclusion in social groups might come with conditions that require autistic individuals to mask their natural behaviors or suppress their autistic traits, which is mentally and emotionally taxing. This masking forces individuals to hide their authentic selves to gain acceptance, rather than being embraced for who they truly are.

Normalization Pressure. The pressure to appear "normal" or "less autistic" and "not stim" is a significant barrier to genuine inclusion. This expectation forces individuals to suppress their identity to fit into a predefined mold, leading to stress and reduced self-esteem.

Negative Attribution Bias

Living in an ableist-centered world significantly influences the development of negative attribution biases among autistics. 

Frequent Experiences of Discrimination. Continuous exposure to ableism, where autistics face discrimination, exclusion, and negative stereotypes, leads to a general expectation of negative treatment from others. This constant barrage of negative experiences can result in heightened sensitivity to potential negative actions and intentions, fostering a negative attribution bias.

Social Marginalization. Being marginalized and misunderstood in social contexts can erode trust in others. When autistics repeatedly encounter negative, dismissive or hostile attitudes, they might start to interpret ambiguous social cues more negatively as a self-protective mechanism. This social marginalization reinforces the cycle of negative attribution.

Internalized Ableism. Constant exposure to societal ableism can lead to internalized ableism, where autistics begin to believe negative stereotypes about themselves. This internalized negativity colors their perceptions of others' behaviors, leading to a pervasive negative attribution bias.

Lack of Positive Social Interactions. Positive social interactions can counteract negative attribution biases by providing evidence of goodwill and understanding. However, if autistics have limited positive social experiences (or a history that is predominately negative) due to societal ableism, they are more prone to expecting and perceiving negative intentions in others, reinforcing their negative biases.

Stress and Anxiety. Living in an ableist society is inherently stressful and anxiety-inducing for individuals with autism. High levels of stress and anxiety impair social cognition, making it more challenging to interpret social cues accurately and leading to more negative attributions.

To combat these forms of ableism, a shift in societal attitudes and practices toward a more inclusive and equitable approach is necessary. This involves recognizing and valuing disability, creating environments that are inherently accommodating, and reducing the emphasis on conformity to neurotypical standards. Promoting awareness and understanding of ableism in all its forms is crucial in fostering true inclusion for individuals with autism and other disabilities.

Genuine inclusion means ensuring that everyone has the support they need to thrive.

Related Posts [Hostile Attribution Bias] [Neuroception]

Negative Attribution Bias

Autism Lexicon: Negative Attribution Bias

Negative attribution bias in autism is the tendency to interpret ambiguous social cues as having negative intentions or untrustworthy, often stemming from past trauma or lifelong experiences of discrimination and ableism.

PlainSpeak: Negative attribution bias in autism means seeing others' actions as negative due to a lack of trust, often caused by past bad experiences or ongoing unfair treatment

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Read more on Negative Attribution Bias: [Version for Scientific/Academic Audience],  [PlainSpeak for the Lay Reader], [A Simple Definition]

Related Posts: [Hostile Attribution Bias], [Neuroception]

Ableism

Ableism refers to systemic discrimination and prejudice against individuals with disabilities, including autism, often manifesting through societal norms, policies, and practices that marginalize and devalue their experiences and abilities.

PlainSpeak: Ableism is when people with disabilities, like autism, are treated unfairly or seen as less capable, because of biased attitudes and rules in society.

Most Posts on [Ableism]

Troubling Ableism in Neurodiversity

Written Oct 13 22. Still ironically relevant. 

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Troubling Ableism in Neurodiversity

Is Neurodiversity an Exclusion Club?

JUST HEARTBREAKING AND DISAPPOINTING

 

The Thursday morning Plenary Session of the College Autism Summit was an employer panel of companies hiring neurodiverse employees. The dictionary (dictionary.com) defines "plenary" as the most important session of the day "attended by all participants in a conference." ie: some impactful words of wisdom were expected. But...

These are remarks by a neurodivergent panelist who works for one of these large hiring companies. 

1. Most jobs hiring neurodiverse are in tech

2. Neurodiverse employment target "low-no" support-needs

3. Suggestion by this person as to what to do with the rest, the higher support neurodiverse:                 "Have companies ask their janitorial vendors to hire."

What was disillusioning - the comment was by a neurodiverse panelist on this employer panel. 

SERIOUSLY!!  An "othering" of remaining autistics.  So these "other" autistics, the moderate-high support needs autistics are only fit to be the cleaning crew!!

The irony in the choice of profession mentioned by the panelist is not lost on me. It's not that janitorial jobs have less dignity (all professions deserve dignity and respect) - but it's the idea of furthering the invisibility of this 'other' group . For instance, don't many cleaning crews usually work after the offices close for the day - out of sight of the public eye; a reminder of the UGLY LAWS (1867-1974) where disabled were fined/arrested for being seen in public as they were “visual disturbances.” (I remember being absolutely shocked and horrified when I had first learned of the existence of these laws in my first Disability Studies class at UC Berkeley with Prof Victor Pineda. Even cities were planned, such that “institutions” housing the disabled, were placed at the very outskirts of the city)

As it is, many many of the autistics peers I have grown up with (in the 'other' group) in my special education classrooms are disappearing into the black hole of day care programs/ group homes /institutions as adults, where they can be out of sight for the majority of society, even as families are struggling to support those individuals. Out of sight, out of mind, is a clean solution for society, as nothing more need to be done. In the meantime, they struggle in systems that trap them in the cycle of dependency, neglect and poverty due to inadequate services, supports and opportunities.

In the meantime, neurodiversity employment per this person is essentially an exclusive club where 'club members' will ask for rights derived from the long-fought-for Disability Rights Movement - that there must be employer cultural change where "low-no" are accepted, accommodated, advanced, given access to higher paying jobs, a chance at upward mobility, given a voice; even as they shut that avenue to other fellow disabled with a dismissive wave of - you are not good enough to join us, fit only for low wage jobs. A throwback to how disabled were viewed before the Disability Rights Movement. 

Isn't this imposing the very ABLEISM you are fighting the neurotypical world for?

Duplicity. Shame on you!'

With all sarcasm intended, the suggestion of "companies have their janitorial vendors hire," these 'other' autistics would  be a neatly packaged solution - corporate social responsibility accomplished as all autistics are now employed!! 

The new employment solution given for these 'other' autistics during this National Disability Employment month, apparently is not just LOW-WAGE but also preferably rendered INVISIBLE. 

If this is what the neurodiversity movement amounts to, then the whole idea of neurodiversity is a disillusioning sham. It's promoting exclusion, not inclusion. It's not upholding the disability rights mantra of "Nothing about us without us" or the Sins Valid Disability Justice principle of "Leadership of the Most Impacted" ie: there is no Disability Justice unless there is justice for the most marginalized. 

JUST DISILLUSIONING AND DISAPPOINTING

It's like being invited into the neurodiversity dining room cuz bad public image to leave you standing at the door. But once inside, you find you are not really at the main table with good food but the plan was to redirect you to the side table with scraps. Outside the dining room, society thinks the entire neurodiverse community has been fed.

So I have to ask what is the difference between other groups asking for a separate label/room and the neurodiversity community creating the same hierarchy inside the dining room.

 

MINDSET CHANGES, HAS TO START WITHIN THE NEURODIVERSE COMMUNITY FIRST

No wonder service organizations like the Department of Rehabilitation are reluctant to support the college aspirations of these "other” autistics; why encourage college if the end goal for them is a minimum wage job at best. And even before that in the special education pipeline, a majority of 'other' autistics in special education are pushed towards the non-diploma track at the middle school age itself (never mind their personal goals that may be otherwise). 

Acceptance and inclusion to education and well-paying jobs is not just the right of some autistics/ neurodiverse, it must be for ALL. This is not why 8-year old Jennifer Keelan along with many others pulled themselves up the steps of Capitol Hill before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990. This is not why 150 disabled people occupied the HHS offices at a San Francisco federal building for 28 days (the longest sit-in in US history) to get Section 504 passed. 

If the "remaining autistics" (the ones without privilege) don't get acceptance from our own autistic/neurodiverse community in the spaces they want to be in, how can we begin to expect acceptance and inclusion and belonging from the wider neurotypical community? 

MINDSET CHANGES, HAS TO START WITHIN THE NEURODIVERSE COMMUNITY FIRST

Regarding the first points 1 and 2, I can still take it as a work in progress. We are still figuring out the how's

• Tech jobs are a START and I saw awareness of the need at various sessions of the conference to push autistic employment into non-tech fields. At least people are thinking about this. 

• The fact that companies are starting with  autistics perceived to be easier to support, can again be thought of as a START that we can build on - but by no means does it end with one subgroup. 

• It's ok to say we don't have all the solutions now. At least leave this door open so that we can continue to think on the hows. 

I will draw a parallel to scientific research to illustrate. We don't have all the explanations currently but we keep chipping away and will slowly unearth solutions. At times it's about arriving at the correct question and also the methods and evolution of available technology. But science and tech has kept pushing those frontiers. 

Likewise in autism research, most current research/tech looks at testable autistics -  which at least gives us a broad overview of issues. But we cannot stop there - for the next step we need to dig deeper at physiological level so we get to what's going on so we can find ways to better support everyone including these "other" autistics. 

Please be part of the solution and not part of the problem. 

For instance if we make headway in 

• Sensory areas (understanding at a physiological level to better support with tech or other solutions) 

• Communication piece (think  BCI that can bypass motor and sensory systems, more affordable intuitive AAC…) 

• Technology supports, that simplifies motor tasks/ executive planning around daily living skills (think robot helpers, self-driving cars, hybrid employment, more intuitive tech…)

• Translational precision medicine for underlying health issues and co-occurring conditions (in place of current diagnostic overshadowing).  

• Development of better meds to help with mental health needs, self-injurious behaviors, obsessive compulsive behaviors etc. Instead all we have is Big Pharma recycling/ rebranding drugs dating back to the 1950s. I was shocked to learn in my undergrad "Drugs and the Brain" class at UC Berkeley that even a minor tweak in just one branch of a drug's chemical structure allows for re-patenting which means continuation of the exorbitant high prices/profits. Did you know that ~30-40% of autistics are on medication for behaviors (Logan et al., 2012)?  I once also heard Dr Antonio Hardan of Stanford mention at the Stanford Autism Conference that these behavior drugs don't work the same way in autistics as in the general population - so why are we still over medicated with these same drugs.  

• empathic equitable policies

• ... more

Think then (with just this far-from-exhaustive list) of the incredible inclusion we can have of the entire spectrum of autistics in society, in higher education and in the workplace. What a huge improvement in quality of life that would be, not just for the autistics, but also for the world. 

I see policy, legislation, research, healthcare and societal mindsets as varying angles of the very same disability rights movement. 

I also have to wonder how much of a role negative media representation of these ‘other’ autistics plays in exclusionary practices by both society and segments of the neurodiverse community itself, especially if media continually shows you mainly in the context of meltdowns, or in other words as “visual disturbances” (Ugly Laws) that better be tucked out of sight. 

Worth does not have to be defined by how productive you are seen to be or how much you can contribute to the economy. But I am hopeful ALL AUTISTICS (the ones who aspire to higher education and aspire to work) will get to higher education and WORK at the job they want to work at. That some don't have to "settle" or be "steered" towards minimum-wage type work because society (which apparently also includes a segment of fellow neurodiverse individuals) think your life has less worth than theirs. 

Though we may not have all the solutions and are still working on the "How",
the message I want to send to ALL autistics is:

ALL does not mean SOME. 

ALL autistics have the right to any benefits/policies derived from the hard-won-struggles of the disability rights movement. 

ALL autistics have the right to access supports, and to spaces and opportunities you aspire to

ALL autistics have the right to Belong.

ALL autistics have Worth. 

(PS: The better parts of the CAN conf are in this post.)