MORE Things To Stop Telling Autistic People!
August 23rd, 2023 Barry Posted in Ableism, Becky Hawkins collaborations | No Comments »
This cartoon was written by Barry and drawn by Becky Hawkins.
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has nine panels, arranged in a three-by-three grid. Each panel shows a different person speaking to the reader.
The exception is the central panel, which has the words “MORE THINGS TO STOP TELLING AUTISTIC PEOPLE” written in large, friendly lettering.
PANEL 1
A woman wearing a blue shirt and librarian glasses, with her hair in a bun, is leaning down to talk to us (i.e., we’re in a child’s perspective). We can see from the background that this is a classroom for small children.
WOMAN: If you’d just act normal you wouldn’t GET bullied.
PANEL 2
A man with freckles speaks to us with a dubious expression on his face and his arms folded.
MAN: You’re ALLOWED to drive?
PANEL 3
An older woman, wide-eyed with white hair pushed high on her head by a wrap, speaks to us, a concerned expression on her face.
WOMAN: You must be VERY high functioning.
PANEL 4
A cheerful woman wearing a button-up sweater open over a shirt shrugs.
WOMAN: Isn’t EVERYONE a little autistic?
PANEL 5
This is the central panel; there’s nothing in it but the title of the strip, “More Things To Stop Telling Autistic People,” in large letters.
PANEL 6
This panel shows the inside of a crowded subway car. There’s a lot of people; there’s a screaming baby, there’s a hot dog with scent lines coming off it, there’s a grumpy child with a spiked turtle shell backpack, and mainly there’s just a ton of people packed shoulder-to-shoulder. A bald man with a hip little chin beard holds on to a ceiling strap with one hand as he speaks to us, smiling.
MAN: Just don’t LET it bother you.
PANEL 7
An older woman, with white hair flowing down onto her shoulders, puts a finger on her chin as she speaks cheerily to us. In the background, we can see a dreamcatcher hanging on the wall, near a poster of a wolf howling in front of a full moon, and a big candle shaped like a headless Venus of Willendorf statue, with the wick coming out of the neck. (Becky: “Inspired by a candle I saw at People’s Food Co-op.”)
WOMAN: I bet YOU were vaccinated as a child, right?
PANEL 8
An older man, bald and wearing a short-sleeved polo shirt, grins at us.
MAN: You’re autistic? COOL! Quick, what’s 241 times 672.5?
PANEL 9
A man speaks with great intensity, his face looming so close in the panel that the bottom and top of his head are out of panel. He has wide, staring eyes.
MAN: I can’t trust anyone who won’t look me in the EYES.
