Neurodiversity Symposium at Syracuse University, August 5th

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The announcement below was reposted from the event page at http://neurodiversitysymposium.wordpress.com

On August 5, 2011, Syracuse University will be hosting a regional symposium on neurodiversity and autistic self-advocacy. Neurodiversity is a concept and social movement that advocates for viewing autism as a variation of human wiring, rather than a disease. As such, neurodiversity activists reject the idea that autism should be cured, advocating instead for celebrating autistic forms of communication and self-expression, and for promoting support systems that allow autistic people to live as autistic people.

The purpose of this event is to raise public awareness of the concepts of neurodiversity and the different facets of the neurodiversity movement, and to increase understanding and dispel myths about what it means to be against curing autism. The symposium will also address the ways in which the concept of neurodiversity can be expanded beyond just autism to include other atypical forms of neurological wiring, such as ADHD, hydrocephalus, and dyslexia, to name a few.

The event will kick off Friday with a keynote by Ari Ne’eman, Founding President of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network ( http://www.autisticadvocacy.org ) and the Vice Chair of Engagement on the National Council on Disability ( http://www.ncd.gov ). Ari’s keynote will address issues such as the history, current state, and future of the neurodiversity/autistic self-advocacy movement, and autistic self-advocacy in politics.

Following the keynote, local activists will lead panels and smaller discussions on more specific topics related to neurodiversity, such as: autistic culture; helping parents support self-advocacy; self-empowerment through facilitated communication and other non-verbal forms of communicating; and neurodiversity in the classroom.

Any updates will be posted to this page.

Cost: FREE!! !

Location: Goldstein Student Center (room 201ABC) on Syracuse University's South Campus area in Syracuse, NY.

Registration info: Preliminary registration is now available here.

The Neurodiversity Symposium is sponsored by:
The Beyond Compliance Coordinating Committee
The SU Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies
The SU Disability Cultural Center Initiative
The Institute on Communication and Inclusion
The SU School of Education
Cultural Foundations of Education, School of Education, Syracuse University
The Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education
The Department of Teaching and Leadership

To view the keynote address by Ari Ne’eman, go to:
http://thechp.syr.edu/keynote.html

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKEwXTXgw70[/youtube]

ASAN is one of the worse advocacy organizations because of how they use abortion politics and amount compassion to pity (unethical). Deriving respect not out of contribution and results but political fear tactics demanding they be heard. On the other hand their are many with autism that don't want the radical to represent us. Without making things up as if such great hate exists when it doesn't, using womens rights against the voting public and attempts at distorting advancing treatment against people that care and to get attention. ASAN doesn't deserve attention for making mountains out of nothing and guilting the public into forking over money to very high functioning people. They are by leadership example what not to ethically do, support or pay much attention to to derive success and should not expect others follow them and do what they say simply because of angry distortions.

Those who make compassion into pity and demean otherwise well intending people for not handing over control and say to them are the problem. They need to settle down and apologize for their behavior. People did not deserve to be talked to like they did in protest. Little silly mind games in PR against a public that has for years spent billions on helping those in need and the emotional extortion should be confronted by individuals with autism such as myself because the so called N.T's and who are our friends and those who have helped for so long may be continued to be manipulated if people with autism do not make that stand against this group.

Go ahead and invite your Ari and board here. An individual with autism who is a credited media advocate, community organizer and employment inclusion innovator is here ready to speak to him. That would be myself and those sponsors of ASAN should realize what they are getting into and the long lasting hard feelings that politically will harm everyone with autism if they further obtain success with their estranged methodologies.

I cannot stand idly by why these reckless, angry and attention seeking at all costs advocates cause major social and political problems for the innocent. I think they need to sit back and actually listen instead of put words in our mouths anyways. They are very high functioning college people and are extremely inexperienced putting a bad taste in the mouths of self-advocacy as a whole and it ought to stop.

Keynote that before it gets louder and beyond ASAN's ability to organizationally internalize in PR.

Nathan Young

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFLXxqoapPY[/youtube]

^^ He's just trying to give info about an event. Do you really have to make it all about you and your beef with ASAN?

You said cxompassion and pity were the same things not long ago

I had said compassion was made to mean pity by some political advocates resulting in at times intolerance toward compassion for the sake of politics. Essentially that's what has been done to make certain modes of expression out to be intolerance by so called N.T's according to some biased political advocates. As far as whom is posting it doesn't matter to me whom has a post about ASAN it shows support for a group who has not answered to their own and whom they ignore in favor of an agenda that is not by a diversity of advocates but a few whom have with poor methods forced their agenda on others. I raise concern in similar ways they have so as to intrude as they have on others expressions but toward them using the same and similar methods to derive attention to make a point. ASAN does not represent all self-advocates of course and should not been seen in their methods as representing all people with autism but just a very small select minority whom attempt to dominate with a generic name and whose very mainstream political agenda got them nominated for a government office by using abortion politics that politicians nominate at times to calm people down.

It's not to say other advocacy they do is bad it's just that all in all their methods and what they have gone up against like autism isolation advocacy to me is horrible and evidence of a very bad advocacy that is not in my and others best interest. It is highly unethical and I want government and groups to understand the injustice they have done and exactly what it is like to have a form of autism that is a disability and that it is not all about college genius simple differences and that disability really does exist. ASAN needs to learn to be balanced and that their approach is not supported by others and it's not discrimination to disagree with it.

KenG - I wish I were close enough to attend - it sounds interesting.

I will be looking into ASAN and its activities. I don't believe there is a chapter yet in Minnesota, but perhaps there is something we can do about that.

Thank you for your posts.

By joining it it would truly help the cause to balance it out.

Just another way of removing the truth of the disability some experience. They removed in PR the ability for others to advocate about relevent concerns and did not advocate about those concerns themselves. Now to have those concerns made relevant again it's somehow selfish?

I think ASAN is more about a sugar coated version of autism using the worse kinds of PR such as abortion advocacy to estrange the needs of people who experience the disability aspects for the favor of their views. When it comes down to it no sensable public nor profession will realize ASAN represents a diversity. It's not all about them either but as a individual which self-advocacy is about I have just as much right and say as any other advocate. I'm a publicly credible advocate with a diagnoses of autism and not simply Asperger's Syndrome.

It is my intent to counter some of their extremes and to reduce the damages they have done in politics with their one sided pride agenda. It is about the truth and individual representations over that of an extremely small minority whom with social tact was able to derive the attention to attempt to control the advocacy for people such as myself on the national scene and within the neurodiversity movement.

My disabilities are nothing they should be ashamed of. I am mature enough to state what my autism disabilities are. A taste of their own medicine (social political tact) while doing so should be fair game.

Well how do you know people wont abort their children when they discover how to detect autism? Also I have seen ASAN now and I can't find the sort of propaganda-ish statements you are making.


So basically an eye for an eye. I can see you are the paradigm of moral virtue as compared to the 'disgraceful' ASAN. Your sense of logic astounds me. In fact you are to logic what a lead wall is to x-rays.

Look at the protest videos and how they intruded upon events when people meant well and cared. Accusing them of horrible things and in place demanding money for themselves. The issue of abortion is a side issue and is used by political advocates to hide away the truth of others for other political concerns. Meanwhile we have a group that has the worse kinds of approaches that seem setup to fail while seeking to hide the truth of disability for the sake of pride. While it cannot be proven their is mal-intention I'd say it's the perfect worse storm for the integrity of truth to be hidden with regards to the reality of disability. Should one focus on the disability aspects they might be scorned for indirectly potentially killing the unborn in the decision making of others and meanwhile they are asking for money for what seems like very high functioning people whom are using abortion as guilt trips. Seems to me the worse PR or the best of the attempt to fail on purpose using peer pressure and really bad PR.

Not so much an eye for an eye. Rather assuring others are protected from prides blind eyes toward truth and peer pressure for alternative political purposes. My suggestion is to be officially diagnosed or to steer clear of the politic because those not diagnosed it has nothing to do with them. It's an internal community matter and not a social clique fitting into autism because it seems cool matter. This issue effects real peoples lives in their day to day needs, hopes and integration. In other words I am really trying to be polite in saying how about take a side seat in this specific political affront.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HBWwJpGkZw&feature=fvwrel[/youtube]

Enough of those scare tactics about abortion to distract from the ineffectiveness of the ASAN and their disappointing goals. There's nothing admirable through living in fear by relinquishing rights to pursue progress.

I bet Ci never even watched that Arri Ne'eman video. Arri says if you are autistic just be yourself and don't try to act like some normal person.

I think what your forgetting is I was myself before I met you and some others online and was before I knew of Ari. It seems as if my normal and how it is I am is not the politically aspie for you enough. To express objections to ASAN and other political fronts does not mean I am not being myself or that I am what you call an N.T.

I say the same things. If others are not happy for your being yourself then let them have the misery of intolerance. Yet if I must agree with you and go along with some kinds of politics to be autistic enough then I'd say your version of autism is warped. Autism is a disorder label not a collective personality type.

I am definitely of my character when I speak against ASAN. There is no identity shame for speaking against ASAN either. If you want the disorder to be your motto have at it. The world of politics is a great more vast then that sort of themed influence.

But thats what Autism is according to Arri. Autism is a collective personality type that is considered a disorder because it deviates from the norm.

Not everything is designed to be a disorder because people hate and are intolerance. You speak of brain washing. Let me introduce you to a sensible social shampoo. Think outside of the pride box. People are labeled disabled many times simply because they are impaired in functioning within the range of so called normalcy. A diagnoses is there to assist and society in it's imperfect nature is neither angelic in intention nor fundamentally hateful. People at times in society ARE hateful but people don't receive a diagnoses due to intolerance. He can get your loyalty so as long as you allow anger to govern your common sense. It's that simple and he feeds on it for fame, fortune and all within a mal-adaptive premise that really doesn't change much but creates bitter sides which makes some comfortable and feel like they are belonging to people that understand. In reality however it's not so cut and dry and while disabilities and differences exist it's more important to create more allies then enemies when they were many times never intending harm! (The Anti-N.T Mentality is reckless nonsense I rejected since I first heard about it.)

Fighting real hate and intolerance is much more powerful and changing when the individuals fighting it were to begin with sensible. That's when good intending people fight along side of you. Watch YouTube history on MLK and read some of the history. It isolated hate and joined together with many walks of life to create change and did not really force people or else they hated and were haters. That's my role model as an example and not bitter pride politicians.