Decolonizing Communicationof Autism Inclusion: Interrogating InheritedAbleist Practices

It is time to interrogate our practices related to autism inclusion (and exclusion). For instance, how can inclusive, anti-ableist practices be communicated within an ongoing, colonial, oppressive, and ableist framework? To this day, there are relics of the settler colonial mindset present in the framework of current understanding of disability that structurally undermine meaningful inclusion of autistic people. This paper utilizes the scholarship of Decolonial Theory and DisCrit to unpack and dismantle some of the commonly-accepted practices of ableism in communication and action that deserve a second closer look. This work will utlize the lens of Decolonial Theory and DisCrit to unpack historical and scholarly examples tracing the colonial past through the communication of autism inclusion. In order to look at the true effects of coloniality and eugenics, this paper addresses the much-needed decolonization of autism inclusion efforts in institutions through reexamination, reframing, historical examples, and addressing an unmet need. Decolonial Theory helps to address thecommunication autism exclusion at institutional levels, exploring the links to coloniality to the communication of autism oppression.