A space without culture is a dead space. I argue that people build places and culture makes places. Culture acts as an undercurrent of every environment and act within. I argue that there is no point in designing and autistic space or doing an arts participation activity within a culture that counters or undermines the culture the participants came from. When people walk through the door they come from their own worlds and cultures. Autism and disability culture are vibrant and diverse and has been developing for over 30 years. It is with culture where space really becomes space. It transcends the incubating and nurturing physical environment to minds and actions out in the world. Culture provides the framework for positive creation, self image and self development. Social and cultural issues debates on disability are not widely known to the general public. This lack of knowledge and acknowledgement I argue keeps the disabled in a disadvantaged wider societal culture and gives them a secondary disability which is often more life affecting than any physical impairment. It is the duty of the culture and health sectors to bring autism culture and creations into the wider social forums. If this isn’t done then the damaging and disabling affects on health and wellbeing caused by social exclusion will continue to compound these impairments to a wider greater societal cost.
It important that any mentality and view of autistics not be negative, negating in language, deficiency-first approaches. Much of this is in the mind but it is picked up in the atmosphere of attempts to include the disabled. Such negativity would only contribute to potentially harmful and disabling social constructions that debase the whole objectives of autistic acceptance efforts. Many families of autistic members are raised on the deficit and medical model. A great deal of them primarily view what their child cannot do rather than what they can. If we look at this historically, this is understandable as the information they received was likely based on the medical model but we can help refresh their mindsets of the possibilities of a more social model of disability and hope for a better future for their child.
Cogs Of My Cranium 