Posting pictures
I love looking at pictures. Cats, dogs, computers, landscapes, anything, except pictures of people.
This is not because I am autistic, it’s because I care deeply about consent. I commented recently on an autism mom facebook page (of which I will inevidably be kicked if I keep raising up issues that irc me as an autistic person), just a sincere question if they asked consent of their kids.
One mom replied that she didn’t have to because he was 3. To be fair, I would never post pictures of my kids online, here’s why:
You never know what happens with them. I have read articles about some people that use pictures of others people’s kids and use them to roleplay as if these were there own. I think this is insanely creepy.
Or (to be blunt, trigger warning for seriously bad stuff ahead): What if you post a picture of your kid in a bathing suit and some pedophile decides to jerk off on it?
I think this is really saddening, but a fact of the internet.
I don’t want my kids to have this. Or in the future (everything you post on the internet stays on the internet): you post a picture, with their name and all, and in 18 years your kids future boss decides to google him and sees all these embarrassing things you did as a toddler? Or as a teenager?
I have the luck that I grew up in an age where internet wasn’t a thing. I only got on the internet when I was 12 (I wasted the first 12 years of my life). But in high school they warned us about this: to not post anything only without thinking about it, so I would like to pass this on as well.
Don’t post anything about your kid online, autistic or not, without their permission, and really think about the future of the picture you post. Where is it going to end up after you post it. You are literally not in control what will happen with that picture, so watch out what you post.
In the early 2000s, Marius, there was a very cool and disturbing trend.
It was about stickmen fighting one another.
I was thinking – what about a stick person?
Even stock images are too unethical for me. Probably especially because of the assumptions involved in the creation and dissemination.
I am not against pictures when consent is given. I am against pictures when the adult thinks automatic consent is given because the child is seen as property, especially in case of autistics. It’s a sad trend and very difficult to fight.
Two links, the first about how I try to stand out in terms of the autistic community. The second has pictures of a 2018 update about travel books and the places I’ve visited in them, with accompanying photos (and there’s one in there from Brugge!). Hope you give them a read.
1. https://ericparisvangucht.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/not-your-typical-atypical/
2. https://ericparisvangucht.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/national-geographic-books-2018-updates-sacred-places-of-a-lifetime/