Autism advocacy has been surging. Parents with autistic children are doubling down on their efforts to dispel the rumors and educate the masses. Yet all over, people and places do not understand or correctly acknowledge what the diagnosis means. A mother in Baltimore, Maryland has taken to TikTok to set the score straight with Target stores specifically. After they called police on an autistic female for stealing, she vows not to shop there again.
The Maryland mom runs the TikTok channel Autism In the City, and is a parent to a 6-year-old who is profoundly autistic. She’s appalled that Target called for the arrest of an adult with the same diagnosis.
In her video, she claims that Target accused the profoundly autistic woman of shoplifting. Yet she feels that it’s highly unlikely the female in question had knowingly committed any crime.
10 to 10, the woman that you guys put in jail for stealing from target – who has profound autism – has no idea she did something wrong.
The Maryland mom explained further, stating the profoundly autistic community will often grab things they see that look familiar. Whether a toy or a snack, they don’t always understand it’s not theirs, or that someone expects them to pay.
While she knows that Target likely won’t miss her few dollars, she says that’s not the point. She hopes other people will follow her lead, and stop shopping Target as well. Not only does she call their branding and marketing cringey. She claims the black community has already proven businesses will indeed miss their money, if they withhold it.
She addresses the Target brand directly, stating, “With the DEI boycott, we showed you the black dollar does matter. Now we need to make the autistic dollar matter.”
Maryland Mom Rallies Autism Community
Viewers and followers of Autism In The City seem to agree with her thoughts.
“It’s not even theft if she didn’t leave the property with unpaid items! This is so sad!” one comment reads.
Many other commenters stand in solidarity, claiming their autistic loved ones would likely take items off store shelves as well.
Though people may not all agree to stop shopping Target themselves, one thing is for certain. Autism needs more awareness and adequate representation, all across the board.
