Let's Not Be Ableist

Hi, I am EmKay Archlink. I am the author of the book Unseen Powers, the TikToker

NinjaGalEmKay, and now I have a podcast.

Welcome to the first episode of the RAW-tism podcast! I am so excited to be putting this out into

the world. Whether you listen to enjoy, hate listen, or just leave it playing on mute to support me,

I appreciate the effort you put into my little program. Thank you!

Let me explain how this is going to work. Every Monday, a new episode will be released. They

will alternate between scripted and more free-reign episodes. The scripted episodes are more

fact-based and heavily edited for quality and correct information. That being said, I can still be

wrong, and I will gladly post an update to correct myself. Even the most prepared people can

make mistakes. We’re only human, after all. The unscripted episodes will be more opinionated

and will have real-time reactions to stories I find online.

The main focus of the entire podcast is to spread acceptance of autism by sharing actual facts and

experiences about the autistic community. Not everything will apply to every autistic individual,

and some allistic (non-autistic) people will relate to autistic tendencies. Everyone’s different, and

I want to make sure everyone feels seen, so let me know your thoughts so I can cater my

episodes to your interests.

So, without further ado, welcome to RAW-tism, a podcast about my autistic experience and my

opinions on the world. The name starts with raw because I will be raw, unfiltered, and sometimes

a little unhinged. That’s who I am, take it or leave it. You are always welcome to disagree with

me as long as you do so respectfully and without name-calling. Using the r-slur will get you

immediately blocked.

This week’s topic is about a common negative comment that’s made about me. “Ugh, she makes

having autism her whole personality.”

Awe, I’m glad you noticed. Thank you so much for pointing that out. Of course, autism is my

personality. It is in every part of me and everything I do. When I go to karaoke on Thursdays, I

am autistic. When I stay home and play Disney Dreamlight Valley, I am autistic. I’m still autistic

when I am masking and pretending that I’m allistic. (Quick sidebar here for those that don’t

know: the word “allistic” refers to people who are not diagnosed and not suspected to have

autism. Allistic is the word we use instead of “typical” or “normal”.)

A similar comment that floats around some circles is, “Ever since your diagnosis, you’ve been

acting differently. Just because you’re autistic now doesn’t mean you need to act autistic.”

Let’s get one thing straight here. No matter what I do or how I act, I have autism, just like my

hair is sandy blonde. If I dye the ends with fun colors, that doesn’t change the fact that my hair

still grows blonde. My hair might gray over time or get damaged and darken with the use of

chemicals, but it’ll still be my hair. Autism is just like that.

I was born with autism. It’s part of who I am. It is me, and I am it. Not all blondes have the same

shade in their hair; even if they do, there’s always a different texture or something about it that

makes it unique. That is how autism is, too. When people come on my TikTok lives and feel

entitled to tell me I’m faking my autism because their cousin’s sister’s nephew doesn’t act the

way I do, that’s ignorance speaking. There is no “acting” autistic. You can be an actor who plays

an autistic character. Or you can be an autistic person acting like yourself. But you don’t act

autistic. It’s just too broad of a spectrum to be used in that format.

Over the years, my autism has fluctuated. There have been times when the world around me is

more challenging for me to help with, and there have been times when I feel like I’ve mastered

being a human. In either instance, I still have autism. It’s a spectrum. I was diagnosed with Level

Two autism, which means that on an average day, I’m about in the middle of the spectrum of

how my autism affects other people’s lives. Level One has a lesser effect on others, and Level

Three has more. This measurement has nothing to do with my experience, though. It’s just how I

make others feel. Their feelings are valid, but they don’t define me or my autism.

The “functioning” labels are inaccurate and don’t define me. For every person in the world,

allistics have periods of time in which they are higher functioning humans or lower functioning.

So the next time you see these labels, think about if it’s describing the color of our hair or the

sound of our laugh or any aspect that is a part of us or if it’s just meant to help you understand

something that most people aren’t willing to put the work into understanding.

It’s rare to find someone who doesn’t know that autism exists. Thousands of people in the world

know about autism. We don’t need autism awareness. We need autism education and acceptance.

We need people to understand how having an autistic brain affects them and those around them,

and we need people to understand how their behaviors affect autistics. You’re allowed to not like

me, but if you use negative words and actions against me because of the “symptoms” of my

autism, that’s ableist. If you hate a person for the color of their skin, that’s racist. You can hate a

person who is of a different skin color. You can hate a person who is the same skin color. The act

of hating someone because of the color of their skin is what makes it racist.

Hate me all you want. You can think I’m annoying. But if your only problem with me is the fact

that I am autistic and I’m fighting for advocacy and acceptance, then sorry, babes, that’s ableist.

If you continue listening to my podcast, I hope to help you rewire your brain. Bringing up racism

as an example again, right now, you may be someone who doesn’t see color or doesn’t think

they’re not racist because they have a black person on their football team. That’s not how it

works. Your cousin’s roommate’s grandma, who knew someone on a train once who had autism,

does not save you from ableist thinking.

I am not here to shame anyone. I’m not even here to tell you what or how to think. I’m here to

share the autistic experience with you from someone who is studying for their graduate

certification in Autism Spectrum Disorder, someone who – for the first 22 years of their life –

was under the impression that they were allistic and something was wrong with them, and as

someone who since September 30, 2022, has finally found their place in the world. I am autistic.

I am a part of the autistic community. And I’m proud of it.

I hope you enjoyed this first episode. Regardless of your thoughts and feelings toward me, I have

a love for every one of you. You are wanted by many, you are loved by many, and so many want

you to stay in this world. I am one of these “many”s and will always be.

Thank you for listening to RAW-tism. If you’d like to support this podcast, the description

includes links with referral codes to Cirkul’s water bottles, Pair Eyewear’s customizable glasses,

and my favorite Amazon products. The transcript for this episode can be found at

for free on my Patreon, also linked below.

Would you like to see more of me? In that case, visit emkayarchlink.com for links to my TikTok,

Instagram, and YouTube. My book Unseen Powers is available in hardback, paperback, or

digitally through Amazon. Remember to drink water, eat some nummies, and have your best life.

Bye!!