Change.org: Walk the walk

If you haven't already, get thee over to change.org and the new Autism blog. I have to give myself a pat on the back because when word got out that Change.org was looking for an autism blogger, all hell broke loose in the autism blogosphere. Much infighting, inarguing, and indisagreeing ensued. Some argued that Change.org should, in the spirit of change, hire an autistic blogger. Others argued that a parent or family member had just as much of a right to blog about autism as an autistic person.

I thought they were both right. I had applied to be the chosen blogger, but in the midst of the heated virtual discussions, I emailed Change.org and suggested that they split the position, hiring an autistic blogger and an autism family member so that both perspectives--which are both clearly important--had representation. Others may well have done the same. Change.org interviewed me for the position, and again, in that interview, I urged them to consider splitting the position. I felt very strongly that to be a power for change, Change.org would have to walk that walk and hire an autistic blogger. They would have to show people what many of us had long known: Yep. Autistic people can.

In fact, I had decided that I would not take the blogging position unless it were offered as a split. I did also feel that a parental blogger needed to be included, someone who could bring the perspective of the family member responsible for the first 18 years of life (and, in many cases, well beyond) of an autistic relative, usually their own child. Sadly for me--although I also have to admit to immense relief because it's going to be a tough, controversial job regardless--Change.org did not select me as their blogger. Happily for me and for the rest of us, they did select Kristina Chew, everyone's favorite (and now former) Autism Vox scribe, and Dora Raymaker, blogger on the autism spectrum and artist.

In every way, I believe that Change.org made exactly the right decision. So click on over and check it out. You'll find--as you might expect--that it's already knee deep in various controversies. I think that brutal directness--a hallmark of the world of autism--breeds these frank discussions. In my opinion, that's also a good thing. Walk on.