ASAN isn't militant. Really.
ASAN wrote:
Mission Statement:
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement in the world of autism. Drawing on the principles of the cross-disability community on issues such as inclusive education, community living supports and others, ASAN seeks to organize the community of Autistic adults and youth to have our voices heard in the national conversation about us. In addition, ASAN seeks to advance the idea of neurological diversity, putting forward the concept that the goal of autism advocacy should not be a world without Autistic people. Instead, it should be a world in which Autistic people enjoy the same access, rights and opportunities as all other citizens. Working in fields such as public policy, media representation, research and systems change, ASAN hopes to empower Autistic people across the world to take control of their own lives and the future of our common community. Nothing About Us, Without Us!
So... yeah. ASAN is basically a branch of the disability rights movement that specifically focuses on autism. There's nothing militant about it--they have never asked for anything more than equality and the right to speak for themselves. They are advocating for supporting autistics so that we can live in the community rather than being separated. Neurodiversity is not some kind of supremacist movement--it's the idea that people with different brains, people with developmental disabilities like autism, can be accepted as equals in our society and contribute to the world in their own way, rather than being seen as people who should not exist. The "cure focused" autism advocacy is highly damaging--it tends to lead to believing that until there is a cure, autistic lives cannot be worthwhile.
The fact is, there are many more important things than not being disabled: Equality, self-worth, and the right to be your own person and think the way you were meant to think. In fact, disability need not be thought of as a negative thing at all. Autism rights advocates are only following where others have gone before... the deaf community, wheelchair users, visually impaired people, intellectually disabled people... It's about time autistics joined in.
My papers will outline the ASAN approach and with hope they will see the problems as everyone I know sees the conflicts of interest in spite of the good things. Also ASAN is not all self-advocates which is a good thing for their PR image and a bad thing should they not embrace all views while welcoming all others. Equality of say is just as valid as the positive things they do because many other advocates far outnumbering ASAN also advocate for the same or similar things.
01 Feb 2011, 7:13 pm
