Ari Ne’eman, president and founder of the Autistic Self Advocacy
Network, which seeks to empower people with autism, spoke about the
importance of celebrating the neurological diversity of people with
disabilities Tuesday at the Biotechnology building.
During the lecture, Ne’eman — who is diagnosed with autism and a
member of the United States National Council on Disability — focused on
promoting “neurodiversity,” a movement to shift the public perception
away from viewing disabilities as weaknesses.
“We don’t view autism as a disease to be cured and we don’t think we need fixing,” Ne’eman said.
“We do feel comfortable with the word disability because we understand what it means.”
Ari Ne’eman speaks about shifting the public’s perspectives regarding people with disabilities on Tuesday.
The neurodiversity movement ultimately aims to inform the public about the strengths that people with brain differences have and to change the discourse about disabilities to an “appreciation of difference,” according to the event’s website.
Ne’eman said the principles of neurodiversity directly oppose that of eugenics, an earlier movement that sought to prevent people with disabilities from having children.
“Eugenics was also about isolating them from the general population,” he said.
Additionally, Ne’eman said a goal of ASAN is to move away from the idea that people with autism should feel pressured to act as if they do not have a disability.
“We didn’t agree that the objective of autism intervention should be to make us appear, look and act as normal as possible,” he said.
According to Ne’eman, ASAN seeks to create an environment in which people with autism are treated with respect.
“It’s about changing the conversation from creating a world without autistic people to creating one where autistic people are respected and enjoy the equality of opportunity,” he said.
“We don’t view autism as a disease to be cured and we don’t think we need fixing.” — Ari Ne’eman
Ne’eman said he prefers saying “autistic people” instead of “people with autism” because he views autism as part of his identity.
“We don’t view our autism as an appendage — as something that snuck in and attached itself to a normal person,” he said. “We don’t refer to ourselves as people ‘with’ Judaism or people ‘with’ Christianity.”
Ne’eman added there is a growing consensus within ASAN to use the term “autistic people.”
“Our history of abuse, dehumanization and being disempowered is
closely tied to the idea that we somehow can separate our being autistic
from ourselves,” he said.
However, Ne’eman said that the preference of whether to use “identity-first” language ultimately depends on the individual.
“No one should go to someone and tell them ‘I know how you should refer to [yourself],” he said.
Katherine Fahey, director of Student Disability Services, said the goal of the autism advocacy movement is closely related to Cornell’s own goals regarding diversity and inclusion.
“[We’ve] had an initiative of understanding neurodiversity and building a more inclusive campus for the past year or so,” she said. “The goal of the autistic rights movement is part of a broader social justice movement for inclusion that aligns well with Cornell’s diversity initiatives.”
Prof. Kathleen Long, romance studies, who has a son with autism, introduced Ne’eman, commending him for his contributions to the community of people with autism spectrum disorders.
“He’s probably one of the people I most admire in this regard,” she said. “He’s been a tireless advocate for people on the spectrum.”
Long said that Ne’eman is a qualified lecturer because he has had a leading role on the National Council on Disability.
“Not only does he have political experience, but he has educational experience,” she said.
Fahey added that the lecture was particularly important because of Ne’eman’s firsthand experience with autism.
“It was very important to us to have … people with autism speak about the empowerment and advocacy of the neurodiversity movement,” she said.
The lecture was co-sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Office of Academic and Diversity Initiatives, Residential Programs and Student Disability Services.
Source : The Cornell Daily Sun , 12th Feb 2014
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