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Dangerous "Beauty" products - an issue for CALD & disabled women

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By Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia I first heard about the US Sister Study, and its worrying findings regarding carcinogenic hair products used by many women, in late 2019. I then began researching coercive, dangerous beauty products of all kinds, and found out that they impact most heavily on CALD women and Women of Colour, especially those with disability. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/permanent-hair-dye-straighteners-may-increase-breast-cancer-risk The 2019 US Sister Study found “ Among African American women, using permanent dyes every five to eight weeks or more was associated with a 60% increased risk of breast cancer as compared with an 8% increased risk for white women.” The higher danger for Black American women is apparently linked to the type of breast cancer they develop. Because of health and socioeconomic issues, they are less likely to detect breast cancer in its early stages. These findings could well have parallels amongst African Aus...
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Autistic CALD women - being seen and heard

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  The late Jewish American feminist author Michelle Haimoff once wrote, “Black women wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and see Black women. White women wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and see women. White men wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and see human beings.” This sums up the experience of many Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) people, especially Women of Colour, living in Australia. We are defined by our differentness in a society which places whiteness and maleness at the centre and at the helm. For undiagnosed CALD Autistics, the path to discovering our Autistic identities is clouded by the way we are seen by society, which ultimately penetrates our own psyches. CALD women are made to feel that race, culture and gender are our ultimate immutable differences, that all our thoughts, actions and attributes are conditioned by these differences, that we are extensions of this otherness, forever on the outer, foreigners first, women s...
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Valuing people of all abilities

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by Helen Said, Autistic activist, Melbourne Australia Autistics often have to educate people around us and refute myths and fallacies about our differences. This is becoming more urgent since RFK Jnr became US Health Secretary and began researching non-existent "environmental causes of Autism".  RFK Jnr has stereotyped Autistics as being unable to pay taxes, go on dates, write poetry or use the toilet unassisted. This has, understandably, brought out an army of Autistic advocates defending our abilities and worthiness. Since most of us who do this are articulate people who have lower support needs, we often add on a reminder that Autistics with high support needs, and / or intellectual disability, also have valuable lives.  We tend to be less specific in our advocacy for our higher needs neurokindred. It's sometimes harder to advocate for people who seem, superficially, different from ourselves, but I feel that we all need to start doing more to advocate for people who ar...
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Could the Neanderthal DNA – Autism link be exploited by eugenicists?

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  By Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne, Australia In a political climate where conspiracy theorists rule in the USA, and Autism is being investigated by anti-vaxxers, should we reject or welcome a newly discovered Autism-Neanderthal link? In July 2024, scientists from Clemson and Loyola Universities released a study linking rare variants of Neanderthal DNA single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, pronounced snips ) to Autism. Almost all modern humans carry approximately 2% of Neanderthal DNA, caused by interbreeding, many thousands of years ago, between different human ancestors, homo sapiens , our direct ancestors and homo neanderthalensis , a similar but extinct subspecies of humans. The Clemson and Loyola scientists discovered that, while Autistics didn’t necessarily possess more Neanderthal DNA overall, we do have more of the rare SNPs which are associated with various typically Autistic strengths and social behaviours, as well as some common co-occurring conditions. F...
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Let's cure Narcissism, not Autism

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  By Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia The damage narcissists do to their fellow human beings is incalculable. Narcissists use aggression, manipulation and exploitation to gain power and control, and gravitate towards prestigious and influential professions like sales, entertainment, academia and politics (although most people in these professions are not narcissists). This allows them to abuse their power and create toxic and bullying work environments. Some even become cult leaders who brainwash their victims into believing conspiracy theories and committing unthinkable acts. Narcissistic parents damage their children and their partners. Up to 75% of narcissists are men and they can be more prone towards domestic violence.  Threats to their self-esteem can evoke feelings of shame, humiliation and wounded pride, leading to aggressive behaviour. According to psychologist Mary Trump, her uncle, President Donald Trump, is a narcissist and this contributes to him...
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Deconstructing the Trump – RFK Hatred Epidemic

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by Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia Why is the anti-vaxxer US Health Secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jnr, conducting a massive research and testing effort to find the causes of Autism before September? And why is Donald Trump targeting trans people, immigrants and DEI hires? Let’s do our own research and testing effort, and we are sure to get an answer, well before RFK publishes his anti-Autistic drivel in September.   Brown “genes”, “Black jobs” In early October 2024, Donald Trump “questioned immigrants’ faulty genes, saying without support that ‘ Many of them murdered far more than one person , and they are now happily living in the United States. You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.’ “ 1 This came only a month after Trump made the baseless claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating people’s pets. He also claimed, in June last year, that immigrants were taking “Black...
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Masking Autism, race and culture

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  by Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia As the Autism rights movement evolves, people are exploring the impact of Autistic masking.  Autistic masking is often described as hiding behaviours, personal tastes or interests that might "out" us as Autistics, or copying other people's behaviours, personal tastes or interests in order to "pass" as neurotypical. Masking is often linked to suicidality or mental ill health and vigorously opposed by Autism rights advocates. I often hear people talking about heavy masking and the impact this has had on their lives - people becoming exhausted from the effort of masking and not knowing who they are beyond the mask.  As an Autistic, I have never been a heavy masker, and I think this is because I grew up in a proudly multicultural household. At the time of writing, there has never been any research into the needs or experiences of Autistic adults from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds. Thi...
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