View past chats on this topic here: June 3, 2018, November 22, 2020, and April 9, 2023.

“Presuming competence” means starting with the assumption that all disabled people are capable of understanding, communicating, learning, etc. #AutChat

The phrase “presume competence” is particularly often used in discussions about nonspeaking autistic children’s communication and education, though it is not limited to that. #AutChat

Links on presumption of competence:
https://emmashopebook.com/2013/03/07/presume-competence-what-does-that-mean-exactly/ and https://ollibean.com/douglas-biklen-begin-by-presuming-competence/ #AutChat

Q1 What does “presume competence” mean to you, with respect to autism and disability? Have you been in situations where people did not presume your competence, for disability-related reasons? #AutChat

Q2 If people have failed to presume your competence, what kinds of situations did it happen in? What were the consequences? #AutChat

Q3 How can we teach people to presume competence? How can we reduce people’s tendency to underestimate support needs when they recognize competence? #AutChat

Q4 Often failure to presume competence means non-speaking autistic people are denied basic education. What can we do as a community to push back against this? #AutChat

Questions for these chat are by @AutismDogGirl.