Let Your Freak Flag Fly (Yay for...AUTISM?! Whaaaaat?)

New York State once again comes up woke n’ empty with a FLYING FICKLE FLAG of DIVERSITY competition

I just do not see why there should be a flag to “celebrate” a developmental disability—any of ‘em. What is “normal” is a chimera, an illusion, and many’ve us (at least us substack-erz)  are what they now call “neuro-diverse” which sounds like a disease, not a perk as it should be!  But truly, ya’ll, when it comes to something really debilitatin’ would we celebrate, I dunno, a stroke?  Alzheimer’s?  Maybe a brand new MERSA infection? An IQ under 70 perhaps?  So I’m not so clear on this flag thang... Frankly I think it’s the BUNK and a huge giant nose-on-yer-face distraction from helping real people who actually need it.

I speak of this:  CONTEST LINKY

Hmmm... so how about this unattractive entry—Infinity Autism Brain in the USA? Sunglasses Eyeball Brainball Loop-de-Loop? (Clearly this brain loop takes up the entire USA and since 1 in every 40 kids is on the spectrum maybe they ain’t whistlin’ Dixie here, ya think?  Also, was this drawn b a 5th grader? ...just wonderin’...

Or how ‘bout this one that promotes BOTH diversity AND inclusivity (per the description) WITH, as we see,-the LBTQ++ Qwerty RAINBOW of color too? Is Autism a RAINBOW?  Many on the “spectrum” are easily convinced into the trans agenda from what I have read. And meanwhile, how many woke-signaling buzz words can “we” (they? zir? zee? zipp-ah-dee-doo dah?) include in a description of an otherwise meaningless crappy image?  

Does it not look to y’all as if the “ace” team behind this year’s gob-smackingly bad Whitney Biennial show selected these doozies too?

In today’s topsy-turvy world of denying reality (folks’ve lost their MINDS), some ninnies are celebrating morbid/aka kill the whales obesity (eat the bug donuts y’all,Fat is Where It’s At!), while others cheer that their genitalia have been surgically removed like trimmin’ the fat off a steak (whoa Nellie is right!), and meanwhile the Happy to be Handicapped (oops, ya can’t say that either) bunch are just Wacky about their Wheelchairs (if ya hang around the newfangled NYC theater world too long you’ll learn the “best” dancers use wheels not feet...). OY and EGADS and GOLLY MOSES. This is insanity!!!!!  So of course the flag thing...

I’ll say (fer the benefit of any non-existent trolls here) that ANYONE regardless of weight, disability, or “gender id” deserves to be treated respectfully as an individual but to go so far as to flying Fat Flags or elevating Autism to Angelic heights of fist-bumping “Awesomeness” (which it AIN’T) is just too stinky a chamber-pot fer me to endure—throw it out da winda!

THUS, in the wake (a good word fer’it!) of this mental mayhem, my inbox today offered this linky dink (below) to the grand “Neurodiversity Flag Contest” aimed specifically at “people with autism” (now dubbed “stakeholders” in pee-cee land though I’ll tell ya honest, most would prefer to be “Steak Holders” as in a good aged 2” thick juicy grassfed rare number with apologies to the vegans out thar...) Anyway, THIS is what eye-spied in the ol’ inbox:

Simple response: This sucks cheezeballs ! This is STooopid! No flag represents something I do NOT want to celebrate or announce. Yer fulla crap!

Now, as a mama of a now young adult daughter on the spectrum (an Aspie though yer not supposed to say that either now...ask the DSM-V) I’m continually stunned by the lousy and shamefully limited services available in our fair city and state. There’s good folks here but ya gotta FIGHT to get’em!  (Many left fer good durin’ lockdowns by-the-by). And there’s more red tape n’ red herrings to git these services and supports than at a Soros-led color revolution in Ukraine, ya’ll.  Funny money for dumb flags abounds, U-Bet!, but not for—say, Occupational Therapy or, say, for Assistive Devices or even for a basic Sensory Corner some kids need? Spendin’ the money and the time where it counts…? Really?  And much much more...

Some parents here’bouts actually move to nearby “Joisy” just to get their spectrum kids better help and covered therapies (Most states offer little beyond the sub-par, it’s not just New Yawk—Joisy is THE one exception!)  Plus, things were SO bad during the plandemic that many kids got ZERO services at all—for over a year!  Go drool in yer mask at home ya snot-faced lil’ stinkers, we’z too bizzy to fret ‘bout yer losin’ skills or losin’ like just about EVERYTHING due to yer life made a living Hell. 

Skool kids had it bad enough (most Americans know this) BUT special ed ones? Scorched Earth there during the plandemic—most Amerikans have no “idear” that as bad as it wuz for the typical kids, special ed kids had it “wurst” (liver – wurst as in their lives WUZ the wurst! ). Cornball aside, many have not recovered lost skills and lost “former” gains one iota. (Grrrr)

Of those who did get some wan / lame form of “services” (none with a smile, I’ll tell ya!), ALL were forced to accept their therapy on Zoom (vs in person as many special ed kids desperately need hands-on help...)  and said kiddos hated it SO much I learned that some of the littles had to be TIED to their CHAIRS (ok, not all were tied but plenty were buckled into high chairs and strollers and strap-equipped seating) because they were so miserable and didn’t want to be forced to sit!  They wanted to run away! I read this on parent lists and I personally heard from mamas (it’s always mamas) pullin’ out their hair with their screamin’ kids home all day (though thankfully I didn’t know of any of the tie-down folks personally).  Frankly, I believe parents were just fit to be tied themselves! 

The “wurld” thinks much of just regular school kids losin’ out, but the plandemic just about decimated the special needs population (de-population indeed!)   Ironically it made special-ed kids of typical kids as those fun masks and the O2 deprivation gave kids verbal and speech delays in spades, makin’ special ed kids of MANY of ‘em that would’ve been FINE otherwise—jus’ ask MSM meanies like Leana Wen!

Those of us who homeschool our special needs kids are used to BEING with our kids, teaching them, and managing their challenges no matter how difficult BUT many parents of schooled kids on the spectrum n’ such had NEVER previously spent much time with their challengin’ children (typically trusting the teachers to “teach” and care for ‘em to varying degrees—I’ll spare any judgment, it’s just a FACT) and thus they were hit with a TSUNAMI when everything was shut down.  They had NO CLUE what to do with their special needs (often screamin’) kiddos ALL FRICKIN’ DAY LONG. 

Anyone who says that most high-functioning kids are a piece’a’cake need to spend a day in our practical shoes—any cake is birdseed cake, fer the birds y’all.  (Another tale...I’ll spare y’all fer now)

BUT.. the THOUGHT of a state that has done nearly all of us parents wrong to a purdy obscene degree – to the degree that many of us have had to actually SUE for proper services and supports—this Jack Squat sitcom cast of lame-ee-o’s that wants us to CHEER what is frankly a none-too-fun developmental disability, is BEYOND ME.  Calling it a distraction ain’t the half’ve it.

This here’s my ballpark folks (‘er, one’ve ‘em at least)...

For a long time one of the other hats Daisy here wears (one far less amusin’ than my Minnie Pearl one, I’ll say!...) has been in helping other parents get their spectrum kids what they need (funding’, therapies, academic tutors or placements) because it’s a bear.  So this is my regrettable wheelhouse (an’ grizzly mama den) fer over 15+ years of helpin’ “fambllies” NOBODY, not a one, has said they want a frickin’ flag to celebrate their kid’s autism. They want good providers and services to HELP their kids improve and master life-skills like talkin’ and tyin’ their own dang shoes, Some need equipment or help with their kids that wander off to water or other dangers (it’s called elopement) or help knowing which approach is best for teaching math or what to do if the kid also has dyslexia or ADHD or sensory issues TOO--not a cry ugly promotional decoration for their living rooms or winda’ boxes. GAWD.

I know there are adult bloggers who want to cheer their autistic neurodiversity and that’s all ok n’ good by me, let’em cheer their cheers, it’s all fine. But don’t let them FORCE the rest’ve us to join their self-centered promoting serving songfests—nobody “represents” the so-called “autism community” (wot’z that?) any more than some crappy flag does.  And if Dan Aykroyd and David Byrne wanna claim spectrum cred, it’s also fine by me (I like ‘em both) but these are CAPABLE individuals and I’ll bet even these fellers have better things to do than to find FLAGS to make’em feel better about their social challenges and supposedly belated DXs.  (I also bet both men can tie their own damned shoes!)

Frankly, most of our kids, even the bright ones, have far more basic and plebeian needs than freak flags (or logos or cheesy rainbow puzzle lapel pins) and tend NOT to want to advertise their challenges, let alone CELEBRATE (?!) ‘em.  I know for my older daughter, even though many figger’ it out she’s an Aspie after four minutes a’ talkin’ to her—she wants no mention of her being on the spectrum—this is NOT her “identity” -- so offering her some bullsh*t “identity” flag would be mortifying to her—it would be, to her, like takin’ pride in being the Blistex Girl showin’ off yer nasty cold sores ya’d rather hide. (Do they still make that suff? It smelled bad...). 

Autism is NOT a superpower...

For most of us parents of kids with autism (young adults included), exceptions aside, it SUCKS and if we could “fix” the autism we would n’ could and certainly not celebrate it with a flag. And fixin’ it is NOT taking away personality or character (as some say)—it’s making asocial kids connected, it’s giving them essential life skills that are like ten times as hard for them to do. Stuff like that. (To distinguish re the flag stuff, there are organizations hopin’ to find a cure for autism that may have flags or logos or what have you but that is muey different). 

But of course, if you make it a SUPERPOWER and keep injectin’ AmeriKan Kidz with all sorts of chemicals and feedin’ em chemicals and sprayin’ them in the air...then Autism becomes NORMAL and having a flag that makes it normal and a GOOD THING makes sense.  It’s a CON and a SCAM and it’s backed by IDIOTS who are backed by deep-pocketed DEMONS (well, not literally, but they belong in the fiery pit).

PRIDE used to be a sin (har-dee-har) and usually one might take “pride” in their own work (work! imagine?!) ‘er accomplishments (best Possum Pie in the county!)--now it’s just an advertising angle.  Spare the flag, y’all, and by all means spoil the kid!!!!

And—as an aside—these designs are butt-ugly.  Could not NY State (this is NEW YORK folks, fashionista and design capital of the EU-S.A.) so it’s not exactly hard getting some amazing talented designer (a young’un even) to DONATE their efforts for such an “honor.”  I’m thinking of the late great Tibor Kalman for example (who, speaking of Byrne, designed a few of their awesome Talking Heads album covers)—to design a flag or logo if this sort of ill-conceived movement MUST happen?  Lazy, lazy, an’ cheap...cheap...cheap these local bird brains.  Nope, have a toddler make the winning design…especially a “stakeholder” toddler…

And there is this THING that everything special needs must be BIG BUTT UGLY from the logos to the fonts...I mean no aesthetic sense AT ALL is allowed...just look at the puzzle symbol I mean berk!

The whole idea is for the birds... and indeed remains a distraction to mask with bright colors all the REAL problems of this particular disability—all’of ‘em.  Shiny bright, watch the birdie! Look here, pretty pretty!   Just make a crap-o FLAG, elevate it as if it’s something to CHEER about, and fergit the gritty ugly reality of havin’ a kid that walks into traffic (like mine did yesterday) or refuses to bathe (like a friend ‘o’ mine’s teen) or is not yet potty trained (like some 20-somethings I’ve met in our community). And more. So yeah, raise the identity flag ya’ll --berk again..

Cheap cheap lazy design birdies aside, the other ELEPHANT in the room is how many kids have autism due to bogus medical interventions like vaxxxines and conventional allopathic medicine (think Big Phama) medicines, eh? Add that to the toxic environmental contributions to Our Whirled which some of us who “don’t detox well” and are susceptible to... and you have instant karma instant autism!  (Add water, stir, mix.)  I STILL to this day wonder if this was part of the plan—i.e. Camp Rockefeller... another story fer another time...

So welcome elephants, c’mon in the room and show what’s in yer trunks!

And Pfuck the Pflags and the shameful bogus scam-paigns from the bowels of NY State!

Daisy (callin’ it like it “iz”)...and scratchin’ my head about all the “freak flags” a flyin...

yes this is a Fat Furry Fartin’…. (and it IS an identity gawd help “them”)

PS My eagle-eyed hubby jus’ caught that Competition No. 5 is the Con Ed (aka Con Edison) logo—just in black ‘stead’o blue. Ho ho ho—even the judges didn’t ketch’it—if it wins I hope they get a big SUIT of the legal kind…