Dear Friends,

Some of you, like me, are feeling disheartened or even overwhelmed by what is happening with our systems of governance.

As a law professor with a specialty in disability and mental health law (and by virtue of that, constitutional law), I’m particularly overwhelmed by this administration’s approach to neurodiversity, such as autism.

It may seem like they want to help, but don’t be fooled.

In a speech he gave after being announced as the new head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., called autism “tragic” and said that it “destroys families.” He said that autistic people will never “pay taxes” or grow up to “have jobs.” (You can read the full transcript of this speech here.)

As an autistic mother with two autistic kids, this language is frightening. What RFK Jr., speaking for the administration, is saying is this: If a person can’t contribute to the capitalist machine, then they aren’t a person at all. And you aren’t a person, then you do not have constitutional rights.

But is that true? Civil rights activists don’t “create products” or even make a lot of money, but the work they do is priceless. The same goes for artists.

And this is where things get personal for me, as a writer.

What is the purpose of art in the new world we are living in? Why write books, stories, poetry, or novels in the face of illegal deportations, disappearances, and US-led concentration camps? (And are we, neurodivergent people, next?)

What are we even doing as artists? It’s all pointless, right?

So what can we learn from this?

For a while, I was mentally paralyzed, unable to do any work because I felt so depressed and overwhelmed by the state of our society. But then I had a talk with my good friend and fellow author Lauren Faulkenberry, who helped snap me out of it.

Here’s what Lauren helped me see:

• Write your protest: Writing (for me, and whatever art means to you) can help make things better by calling attention to how bad things are. For example, I’m writing a piece for a magazine criticizing RFK Jr.’s attacks on autistic people.

• All art is (still) valuable: But remember: Our art does not have to be protest work in order to be valuable. If a novel you write helps someone feel better about themselves, you have done good work. If you help someone see the world in a different way and relate to other people better, you are doing good work.

• Care for yourself: And yes, you will need more breaks when things are this difficult. Artists tend to be sensitive people, and we are bearing a heavy weight. In order to create for others, we must protect our wellspring.

Love to you,

Katie

Updates

(1) Please preorder my new book from Johns Hopkins University Press, YOUR KID BELONGS HERE: An Insider’s Companion to Parenting Neurodiverse Children. Preorders are a gift to authors.

(2) Check out my latest article: “When People Pressure You to Change Your Neurodiverse Kids,” for Psychology Today. (That would be art that makes me feel like I’m making a difference.)

(3) Check out this ebook deal going on now: THE 1619 PROJECT is on sale on ebook right now. Check out this magisterial history of slavery and Black people in the United States for a great deal.