The work Scott Frasard is doing in the world is and will make a huge difference in how clinicians, practitioners and the general public view and understand autism.  He approaches his research from a place seeking to not just understand but to learn what beliefs are held and why. 

Scott Frasard is an Autistic Advocate, researcher, practitioner and leader in the field of psychometrics.  Scott seeks to move away from the focus of measurement and evaluation which asks, “What do we want to ask?” towards the more important, “What do we need to learn?”

Meet Scott…

Social Autie: What is your specialty or focus area of Autism Advocacy?

Scott:  My advocacy work is still self-advocacy, but I am approaching it with a change management perspective. I am flipping the script and actively seek out non-autistics’ or autistics with differing perspectives than my own to understand how they see the key issues (such as language, behaviorism, identity, support needs, etc.). I still share my perspectives from my own experiences, but rather than having a unidirectional informational exchange (us autistics telling the world what is important to us and why), I am appealing to the human nature of needing to feel heard and validated and listening to others’ perceptions. In doing so, I open up a true dialogue, gain mutual understanding, and then can help bring others along for the journey to accepting autistics in an effort to reimagine a more egalitarian future.

Social Autie: Why did you begin advocating for yourself and others?  What makes this personal to you and Your Big Why? 

Scott:  In the months leading up to my formal identification as being autistic, I learned a lot about autism from what is popularly available online (almost exclusively framed in the medical model of disability). After being formally identified, I started learning about my autism and discovered the mostly hidden actually autistic community. I was horrified to learn the stark differences between the two perspectives and started feeling marginalized. I decided this was not acceptable and started sharing my experiences. In doing so, I became much more aware of the autistic community, its key issues, and felt at home with others. I started sharing more of my personal experiences, began challenging the status quo on social media, and attracted a small following. 

Social Autie: What is/are the top tip(s) or insight(s) you have discovered for advocating for a) others and b) yourself?

Scott:  When it comes to advocating for myself, my number one insight would be to be your authentic self. Yes, in doing so I found myself to be the target of ridicule and felt marginalized, but that happened to me the first 48 years of my life, so I found no harm in doing so. It actually made me feel more empowered and confident. In learning that I am autistic, I had answers and explanations for my life’s experiences, which was liberating and validating! I wanted others to experience that as well – or at least demonstrate that this is an option. 

When it comes to advocating for others… well, I really don’t do much of that. I am a very vocal self-advocate and am careful to state that I am not a representative of the autistic community as a whole. Even with this disclaimer, I am often viewed as a spokesperson, so I do make sure I stick to my authentic-self roots, keep social justice as my north star, and honor the individual differences/preferences while trying to articulate a vision for the future as a collective vision of the community. In doing so, I can serve both honestly, ethically, empathetically, humanistically, and responsibly.

Join me and my amazing co-host Scott Frasard on Wednesday, May 25th at 2pm Eastern US for a community zoom time to visit, share and learn some of the ways that we can De-escalate charged situations on social media and how we can shift using the methods that Scott has used so successfully this April to advocate.

Register for the community zoom event HERE.

Connect with Scott Frasard:

Twitter: @DrScottFrasard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottfrasard

#FlipTheAutisticScript
#AutismUnderstanding