Exposing The Aspie World

Posted on July 9, 2019 by M

I am one of those people who seem to have the ability to cut through the drivel that is perpetuated by others.

I saw right through Daniel Jones of The Aspie World. I knew that there was something about him that didn’t sit right with me.

I have created two videos where I react to him. His content is truly repulsive.

1. Sensationalism

His content is chalk full of sensationalism, which is defined as “(especially in journalism) the use of exciting or shocking stories or language at the expense of accuracy, in order to provoke public interest or excitement.”

He uses clickbait titles which plays off the very same theme, essentially taking Autism to a level where it becomes something fresh, new and exciting – at the expense of others. He also pairs up with other YouTube creators who have the same thing in mind. I recently heard that he made a point of insulting “negative” creators at an event tied to the creation of his videos.

2. Self fulfilling prophecy

He creates content to boost his ego. He can’t take critiques from anybody. If you tell him he’s doing something wrong, you’ll be blocked very quickly.

@theaspieworld is an egotistical liar who believes that success is YouTube subs and that perpetuating misinformation makes him some kind of deity. I know he said this about me based on the timeline. #ActuallyAutistic pic.twitter.com/YHGqLBsh7D
— Margaux // Retrophiliac (@artfulretro) July 9, 2019

There have been other people in the #ActuallyAutistic community who have called him out and some that have even taken the time to private message him to express their feelings about his content, only for it to fall through the cracks and be disregarded. He has also written a book about a religion (he may or may not) have created and he also promotes his merchandise through his videos.

Edit (July 11th 2019): It’s also alleged that Daniel Jones is even more phoney than he lets on. User “yourfavehatesautismspeaks” on tumblr has added some very interesting talking points to the conversation.

Alex Watts is his producer and “community manager” who decided to send me this on twitter. It’s incredibly unfortunate that they will stoop to tactics like this as a means to communicate with me.

pic.twitter.com/uoWyGfqyHx
— Alex Watts (@AlexWattsBlog) July 12, 2019

Compelling debates are reserved for folks who would benefit from a discussion – you're simply still hounding on Dan daily like it's your 9-5. Check yourself. Dan may be peace and love – but I'm the asshole who'll call your BS.
— Alex Watts (@AlexWattsBlog) July 12, 2019

July 12th, still being heckled by Dan Jones “Community Manager”, who fails to uphold himself to any professional standards.

3. Misinformation

If you have the ability to watch my react videos, you’ll notice very quickly that he fails to cite sources for his information. When talking about Aspergers VS Autism, he prefaces it saying that it doesn’t apply to everyone, yet he makes generalizations. Autism absorbed Aspergers in 2015 — Four years before his video came out. He said he will be updating the video, but it’s not like he didn’t have the new information at the time of creation. I also am baffled at a lot of the things he says and he continues to perpetuate his information as fact. It’s not factual. If you can’t cite sources and you can’t show proof to people, you’re only as good as your word.

His videos are presented at different educational events which is a further way to perpetuate fiction.

He has also said that there is a lack of Autistic female youtube creators, which also is not true. Perhaps he said this because he’s not a fan of those who have challenged him and suggested that he change.

Emma Dalmayne created a video back in October of 2018 that I highly suggest you watch.

4. Preaching to Autism Moms

A vast majority of his audience seem to be Autism “Warrior” Moms. These are the type of people who generally won’t listen to #ActuallyAutistic adults in favour of people who are telling them what they want to hear. Daniel Jones has found that they are the perfect audience for him and he uses terms that are generally not well liked by our community like “WITH Autism”, “With Aspergers” — which I find a lot of these parents use. Plenty of them are Autism Speaks supporters as well and won’t hesitate to attach a shiny blue puzzle piece to their social media handles.

Mine has nothing to do with representing autism, it’s about representing my son and what he has had to go through. Nothing to do with his autism. I know there are people who don’t like the jigsaw piece, but it can represent for other things too. Thank you for your input.
— 🏉🦈🌹🧩Lisa 🧩🌹🦈🏉 (@lisa_j79) July 9, 2019

In closing:

If you’re not going to listen to the community you supposedly represent and are part of and you continue to promote yourself with the basis of your content being completely untruthful, manufactured, sensationalized and self-gratifying, you’re not helping anyone.

I also believe it’s so important to give a voice to my fellow Autistics and I have done so in this post. It’s not just me who is striving for change and proper representation. IF YOU HAVE AN AUDIENCE, DO SOMETHING GOOD WITH IT!

He's douch.

And supposedly he represents people here in
North Wales i for one think of him as Creditinal Youtuber.

Sadly Autistic Kids have to be referred and preferenced to him from Martyrs.

My Mum was told I about him at Meeting.

My answer was . No thanks. ✌
— VastMultiverse 🧠🌌 (@jay_jayowzen) July 7, 2019

I used to like his work, but then I seen through the cracks. It's all views and subs. Also, using people that are well known instead of actually going into the community, His advice is outdated. He should promote other autistic advocates out there. What a missed opportunity.
— O n i k a g e (@HanyouOnikage) July 7, 2019

I thought he was alright at first, but it's all about YouTube hits to generate cash and sponsoring products. He's always say symptoms and tested, like it's a contagious disease. It's "assessed" they don't stick a needle in you. They're characteristics.
— Rev. Rob Bailey (@RobBail36238690) July 6, 2019

I'd be concerned about misinformation. I didn't live his style so haven't seen enough to know how accurate he is.

However, I wouldn't begrudge him simply for trying to pay the bills via informative YouTube videos about his condition. I appreciate a few who do this.
— Autistic Priest⛪ (FrMatthewLC) (@AutisticPriest) July 6, 2019

He’s been giving tips on what the difference between autism and Aspergers is and won’t listen to people telling him there is none. He blocked me for doing so even though he lives locally to me
— Russell Elliott (@RussellRElliott) July 5, 2019

I have never liked him because he’s using being autistic to make money, and also spreads so much misinformation and is a terrible representation of autistic people.
Glad to see there are others who agree.
— kat (@autandabout) July 5, 2019

I watched a few of his videos and got off vibes. It was like some of his content didn’t really seem that genuine. I’m glad it’s not just me who thinks so
— Jamie ♿️ (@BlindFury_5428) July 5, 2019

Dan is a sad person. Followed you to support you.
— Marius Davrie (@MariusDavrie) July 5, 2019

Please note:

I no longer utilize the term Aspergers in reference to myself as it is harmful terminology. I am maintaining the Aspergers tag on 3 of my posts so they are easily searchable, however I am not condoning the use of this language.

Sharing my struggles

Posted on June 15, 2019 by M

Yesterday, I was absolutely taken aback by a comment I received on one of my twitter status updates.

I had posted a mini rant about my frustrations with my art and my mental health struggles. It felt liberating to be able to “clear the air” and be transparent.

Nowhere in my rant did I ask a single question. Not. One.

I had a few positive, supportive comments from fellow Autistics and followers of my page, which I was grateful for.

However, there was one person who decided to go off on me and write an entire paragraph about how I need to stop trying to sell my art, that I need to work on my mental health and that I clearly didn’t have it under control. Also, that I shouldn’t be posting these questions and not expect a response. There was no question. I wasn’t asking for advice.

I was pretty upset, shaken and I felt like this person had the clear intent of kicking me while I was down.

I posted a couple tweets which seem to be going viral. I penned them right after this person decided to delete their comments.

PSA: If someone is comfortable enough to express their mental health challenges, making rude, insensitive, critical & judgemental comments is NOT SOMETHING THAT IS CONSIDERED TO BE HELPFUL. Be supportive, be understanding, be kind and be patient. IT'S NOT THAT HARD. thanks.
— Margaux // Retrophiliac (@artfulretro) June 15, 2019

IF SOMEONE OUTWARDLY EXPRESSES THEIR MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES, IT IS NOT YOUR PLACE TO DECIDE IF THEY HAVE IT UNDER CONTROL OR NOT!
— Margaux // Retrophiliac (@artfulretro) June 15, 2019

stig·ma/ˈstiɡmə/
noun
1.a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.”the stigma of having gone to prison will always be with me”synonyms:shame, disgrace, dishonor;

I have said it before: I firmly believe that being open and honest about mental illness struggles is a way to start to end the stigma.
— Margaux // Retrophiliac (@artfulretro) June 15, 2019

With that being said, when you start soliciting unwanted advice towards someone who chooses to be open about it, you're actually contributing to the stigma that existed in the first place.
— Margaux // Retrophiliac (@artfulretro) June 15, 2019

If you’re looking to end the stigma of mental health, giving someone unwanted feedback and being insensitive is the absolute 100% WORST WAY TO GO ABOUT IT.

if you’re reading this and you’re going through something, don’t ever feel like you deserve condescending comments & unwarranted advice.

The unsavoury world of celebrity influence

Posted on March 11, 2019 by M

Celebrities – you know them. They can be kind, generous, and approachable. They can also be crude, negative and bigheaded. In this case, the latter applies.

Yesterday was an absolute firestorm on twitter and it all started with a joke: Someone posed the question of what they should wear when going to meet William Shatner. Someone else responded by saying “A Boycott Autism Speaks Shirt!”. William personally found this tweet and followed it up with the tweet you see here.

Just so everyone is clear on what is happening: an autistic woman cracked a joke to a mutual. Kirk was not tagged in this. Someone thought it was a great joke and screen capped it and tweeted it, tagging Kirk. Now he’s threatening autistic people with “consequences”. pic.twitter.com/JuO1JaBn8W
— CLLynch (@lynchauthor) March 11, 2019

Victoria responded and Shatner viewed that as a threat – which is completely ironic due to the statement he made in the above tweet.

Here’s the tweet. pic.twitter.com/SxGnrWbllI
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) March 10, 2019

@autismspeaks @Autism @AutismSociety thought u may want to educate William Shatner for attacking a dad that was asking him about bring his autistic kid to see him. He then retweeted us for his followers to attack. Apparently @twitter doesn’t care how famous people treat others. pic.twitter.com/NXMi4yVaZ8
— JEN, PROUD PANSEXUAL LIBERAL RESISTER 🌈❄️💋😂 (@JennaForTruth) January 25, 2019

It also appears that this is not the first time he has become very hostile towards someone who was asking a very genuine question about their Autistic child.

I wonder where his publicist is and how his unprofessional behaviour has not reached the mainstream media. If you are going to attack a marginalized group of people, defend Autism Speaks and expect that the #ActuallyAutistic community is going to be quiet, you’ve got another thing coming. A lot of his fans are blindly following him and hanging on to his every word, without doing research on the subject. They are attacking us and creating an extremely stressful environment because of their perceived allyship to Mr. Shatner. I would only hope that asking for donations to ASAN would be welcomed, but sadly that is just not the case.

What Happens When Autism Speaks Appoints A New Ambassador

Posted on January 2, 2019 by M

Before any opportunity is offered to me, I always do my research. I search up the positives and negatives so I can make an informed decision. That seems to be common sense; at least that’s what I thought.

Occasionally, i’ll do a twitter search for “Autism Speaks” to see what kind of propaganda is being perpetuated. I’ll usually see parents, this running app (CharityMiles) that donates to them and merchandise with puzzle pieces for sale.

Yesterday was a bit different. The last big rift between the Autistic community and an outspoken supporter of Autism Speaks would be the whole Niantic deal. The Makers of POKEMON GO decided it would be excellent publicity to partner with the Autism Speaks Run and have their own family fun booth. They were met with outrage and rightfully so. Pokemon Go gave some individuals a reason to get outside and engage. I wasn’t one of those people, but there were other reasons given that made it seem like the Autistic community embraced it–that is, until, they made an incredibly rash decision without any research.

So, back to yesterday, I noticed there was a gamer by the name of Ash or Clash With Ash (CWA) who was incredibly excited to share the news of his ambassadorship with Autism Speaks. His video was complete with puzzle pieces in the background. What a lovely touch.

He’s even gone so far as to raise money for AUTISM SPEAKS, already.

We, the Actually Autistic community have been on it. We’ve let him know that this isn’t helping us – that it’s actually hurting us. Ash’s followers are commending him and don’t seem to be questioning him. I’m assuming they believed he did his due diligence and researched Autism Speaks before he went full out and posted all his puzzle-piece laden propaganda for them to eat up and praise him for. He’s been incredibly quick to thank his supporters and put us in the backseat. Part of me believes he thought this would be good publicity and paint him as some kind of saint because his late Brother was Autistic. Here’s the initial tweet that started this all.

If you take the time to scroll through his twitter, you’ll see the calm before the storm. I took it upon myself to let his followers know that his actions are the opposite of commendable-by informing them that Autism Speaks is not a good organization. I don’t recall any of them responding to me.

I’m not sure how this benefits him. Perhaps it gives him a greater sense of purpose and believes that because he has a platform and an audience, that he could bring some kind of awareness to a cause he says is so important to him. We don’t need that. We can advocate for ourselves without hiding behind the guise of a hate group. There’s also better organizations to donate money to, like ASAN.

If you wish to add your opinion and let him know that we don’t need him to speak on our behalf, his social media platforms are:

If you want to learn why Autism Speaks is so terrible, here’s a great list: A Roundup of Posts Against Autism Speaks

The power of misunderstandings.

Posted on February 25, 2018 by M

Today I was told that I come across as “a bit entitled”.

I feel like that’s the farthest from the truth. I am an incredibly direct person who tends to include factual information and I ask a lot of questions. If a certain channel doesn’t yield any answers, I try another channel. Yes, I am an incredibly persistent person but that should not be confused with entitled.

I seek informative answers, I seek consistency. I seek an answer, whether that’s acceptance or rejection, I feel as though I’m worthy of either versus just being ‘ghosted’. Being completely ignored.

My story and my passion is one that is mixed with drive, acceptance, awareness and equal opportunities. I have a mission to showcase products, attractions, experiences and opinions with my wide array of different visitors–both Neurodiverse and NT.

https://twitter.com/curlyhairedalis

I wish there was a general understanding that I am not doing this blog to get free stuff. I am creating content because I want to show the world a very unique point of view. This is a niche. This is my passion and I love to create media rich content—it allows me to be creative which is a huge part of my identity. I have been told by a very prominent local blogger that I should be charging for all the work I do. I have not made a cent.