Diversity Fellow Project, Timotheus Gordon Jr
Identifying as an Autistic Person of Color
Identifying as an Autistic Person of Color [download]
Project Narrative
1. Please describe your activities during your Fellowship experience. Describe your final capstone project(s).
During my UCEDD Diversity Fellowship experience, I accomplished three major tasks. First, I have attended my first AUCD Conference in December 2016. There, I met more disabled self-advocates and learned how I could join the fight for Medicaid and other important disability issues under the current presidential administration. Aside from the conference, I have also attended an Illinois Council on Developmental Disability meeting; my focus was to get a sense of how a developmental disability council would run (should I be elected into such council in any state) and network with disability community advocates in that council.
My final capstone project consisted of an online survey where autistic people of color describe their experiences identifying as autistic people in their communities and how their cultures view their autistic identity. Thirty people completed the survey. It was a final capstone project for UCEDD Diversity Fellowship and Illinois LEND.
2. Who did your project inform, help, influence or impact? (UCEDD, individual, community, state) How?
The project enabled autistic people of color to anonymously discuss how their cultures and neighborhoods see their autistic identity and ways for building a safe space for autistic people of color in their respective communities. Additionally, the final capstone project also has the potential to reach people of color in general; information from that project can be used to promote autism acceptance in those communities.
3. Why did you choose to work on that project(s)?
I chose to work on that project for two primary reasons. Autistic identity in communities of color affects me greatly since I am an autistic African-American male who is searching for an autistic community in my culture and ways to promote autistic acceptance in my community. Also, while I have been reading more accounts of autistic people talking about their life in memoirs, blogs, and movies, I seldom find similar accounts of autistic people of color. At any rate, I began to be curious of why autism is taboo or unfamiliar in communities of color.
4. What did you gain from being a Diversity Fellow?
I met more people from the self-advocacy field and related disciplines to add to my growing network. I have learned to be bold in not only networking with potential collaborators, but also take in various perspectives of the autism community from multiple fields. For instance, I became more attentive to learn about the organizations that advocate for autistic people and the research being done to improve employment and education opportunities for autistic teens and adults.
As a result of my experience as an UCEDD Diversity Fellow, I would like to continue to make autistic identity in the African-American community as my primary research interest through the remainder of my time as a Ph.D student at the University of Illinois at Chicago. However, since I am also interested in autistic culture and sexuality, I am currently looking into researching non-monogamy among autistic people of color and how it intersects with autistic identity. I will remain a self-advocate in those areas while I research those two areas of interest.
6. What are your future goals? Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
I will continue to advocate for building a vibrant culture and safe space for autistic people of color all over the world, especially in the Chicagoland area. I yearn to not only take on projects that would make it happen, but I would also like to mentor future autistic self-advocates of color to maintain the growth of that culture and safe space. Additionally, I want to create literature on promoting non-monogamy in the autistic community and provide resources to those in the autistic community looking to practice non-monogamy.
Five years from now, I envision implementing a resource and cultural center for neurodivergent people of color and sexual education programs for non-monogamous disabled people. I would like to create both programs from a collegiate level in Illinois as a staff member in an university or college that is disability-friendly.
7. What recommendations do you have for other Fellows?
For all current and future UCEDD Diversity Fellows, take every opportunity to network with Diversity Fellows outside of your college/university, self-advocates, and leading researchers and figures in your field. While it is important to focus on the capstone project and learn about how it could impact your target communities, I believe it’s also crucial for fellows to connect with people within their field. You may run across someone wants to collaborate with you on a project, meet your potential supervisor of an advocacy organization, or learn about opportunities for leadership positions in your field through your networks. In addition, networking enables you to reach out to self-advocates for a cause or community you care about (e.g., autistic community).