AUTMISIA

autmisia
PRONUNCIATION: awt-mee-see-yah│ / ɔtˈmisiyɑ /

Neologism combining aut from “autism” and “autistic”, with misia from the Greek “misos”, meaning “hatred”.

There is no such thing as “autphobia”. Phobias are legitimate conditions. This doesn’t apply in this context and using the term “phobia” related to anti-autistic ableism would only provide legitimacy, justification, and excuse to autmisia. Even what some consider “legitimate” fears regarding autism are rooted in autmisia.

I decided to coin this term because while autmisia is ableism, it is a specific kind of ableism, experienced by a specific group of disabled people. We need to be able to call it out and dismantle it specifically.

NOUN

[1] anything that, intentionally or unintentionally, is or contributes to negative views of or harm against autistic people (e.g. discrimination, segregation, institutionalization, prejudice, antagonism, hate, silencing, erasure).
[2] anti-autistic ableism.

As in: Discrimination against autistic people is autmisia.

OTHER WORDS FROM AUTMISIA

autmisic
PRONUNCIATION: awt-mee-sik │ / ɔtˈmisɪk /

ADJECTIVE for a person who contributes to autmisia [Can also be used as a noun].

As in: Saying that autistic people aren’t fully human is autmisic.

autmisiac
PRONUNCIATION: awt-mee-si-yak │ / ɔtˈmisɪyæk /

NOUN for a person who is autmisic.

As in: Not hiring autistic people because they’re autistic makes you an autmisiac.

EXAMPLES FOR AUTMISIA

Autmisia can and does present in many different ways:

– speaking for and over autistic people
– not consulting with and listening to autistic people regarding autism matters
– ostracizing autistic people
– silencing autistic people
– bullying autistic people
– abusing autistic people
– institutionalizing autistic people
– segregating autistic people in sheltered workshops
– accepting sub-minimum wage for autistic people
– segregating autistic people in “special” schools
– patronizing and infantilizing autistic people
– harmful “treatments” like ABA, MMS, chelation, and electroshock
– murdering autistic people
– treating autistic meltdowns like tantrums
– autism organizations led and dominated by non-autistic people
– seeing autistic people as burdens
– complaining about “how expensive” supporting autistic people is for society
– blaming and shaming autistic people for autistic behavior
– prohibiting and punishing autistic behavior
– not hiring autistic people
– withholding access to accommodations for autistic people
– mocking or complaining about accommodations for autistic people
– not wanting to have an autistic child
– trying to make your autistic child (more) non-autistic
– preferring your non-autistic child over your autistic child
– staring and pointing at autistic people in public
– withholding access to AAC and other alternative communication methods
– not creating autistic friendly spaces and practices
– withholding an official autism diagnosis from autistic people
– questioning autistic people’s autistic status
– functioning labels
– sharing your autistic child’s private experiences without their informed consent (e.g. blogs, books, youtube channels, social media accounts sharing meltdown videos, self-harm, toileting accidents, etc.)
– not funding support for autistic people
– eugenics

A complete list would be near endless.