Why Autistic Self-Advocacy is NOT About Being a Model Minority

A while ago, Bob Wright was axed from NBC. Now here is another thing to celebrate. Don Imus, the sponsor of terrorism against autistics who featured that horrible "shockumentary" Autism Everyday, was FIRED! CBS terminated Imus for his comment about the women's basketball team at Rutgers, mostly consistent of African-Americans, for calling them "nappy-headed hos". The impact of his statement caused advertisers to leave his program in droves, and the previously popular host is now damaged goods.

Now wait a minute, you say. What does this have to do with the title? Let me get you to think about something. No other ethnic group has been afforded the special treatement that the African-American population gets. Anytime they raise protest over some racial slight, real or perceived, everyone listens. Entire political careers are ruined if a person utters that certain six-lettered racial slur. Just last year at Johns Hopkins University, a student faced suspension for over a year before the decision was overturned. The student, who made a crude, tasteless Facebook invitation for a party called "Halloween in the Hood", was accused by the university Black Student Union for racial harrassment and intimidation even though there was no actual threatening of physical harm to the African-American community.

I felt especially bad for the Draconian punishment over the accused person, as he was an Asian-American just like myself. Unlike me, he was an Asian American who didn't grow up in the peaceful suburbs expecting to sail through life. He grew up in a tough environment because his family moved around a lot since his father was in the military. He didn't have a lot of money, but he was a bright guy and skipped several grades. Now his life was about to be stigmatized permenantly because of a tasteless joke made over the Internet. Now I ask you this.... if the Black Student Union made the same kind of remark about the Asian American community at Johns Hopkins, do you think the University would have cared? It would not have batted an eye because Asians are considered members of the "Model Minority" and have enough self-esteem to withstand anything.

The accused student and I grew up in different environments, but we are both expected to live according to the "Model Minority" stereotype of Asians. We're expected to get good grades and overachieve. Even if we do have problems, nobody will actively listen if we do not speak about them directly because they assume everything is fine. As long as everything looks fine on the surface, people won't give two craps about us.

Asians are known to suffer from poverty, domestic abuse, and unemployment, problems that any other ethnic group faces. However, because of our "Model Minority" status, no one cares if people in the population get hurt from these problems because the overall population seems to be doing fine. Just look at the film "Better Luck Tomorrow". It's about a group of Asian teenagers who fence stolen goods and deal drugs. However, as long as they kept their grades up, everyone including their teachers and their parents thought they were fine. I'm not saying people on the autism spectrum will do similarly, but I am merely pointing out that with certain cases of autism that are not as pronounced appearances can be deceiving, drawing attention away from any genuine problems a person may have.

I have experienced the "Model Minority" stereotype and I do not like it. You are expected to do well automatically, and everyone discounts your problems to be solely your fault in terms of personality and not that of the environment you're born into. When we autistic self-advocates ask to be respected for who we are, we're not asking for you to place us on a pedestal as a "Model Minority". Rather, we are asking to be included as a diverse facet of society. We are asking for a two-way road of communication rather than simply "reverence". We're no better, no worse than anyone else. We're asking for people to recognize the unique needs of every person on the autism spectrum and to learn to listen before making any assumptions about abilities and challenges. Therefore, when Internet trolls make distortions about Neurodiversity being about neglect, I get mad. THAT is why I think any stereotype, even a positive one, can be harmful.