Neurodiversity - Figure it out

I realize it's not in the spirit of the season, but I am pissed!  And this time, it's not because of either (any?) of the recent meetings I've had with the schools/school district.  It's because of an article that has been posted and "oohed and aahed" about on several of the lists I'm on.  It was called "The Crappy Life of an Autism Mom," and was published at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kim-stagliano/the-crappy-life-of-the-au_b_37742.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false.  Understand: I have no problem with Kim Stagliano complaining about the difficulty of raising three autistic daughters, or wanting to see them grow, progress, "recover" (whatever that means to Kim).  I have no problem with Kim referring to her life as "crappy," if that's how she's currently experiencing things.  My problem with her post was her constant, inaccurate, sniping at the neurodiversity community.


Like many who have set the neurodiversity community up as a bogey man to blame for whatever they are angry about at the moment, Kim claims that ND folks berate parents for trying to help their children.  What???  She implies that the ND community wants nothing "better" for autistic people than whatever they were born with - no growth, no learning, nothing.  


I have never heard anyone - whether they identify from the ND community, from the "recovery" community, or anywhere else, suggest that any child should be denied services that the child needs in order to learn and grow.  The ND community disagrees with certain unproven "therapies" that have known risks, such as chelation and HBOT, since they can be extremely dangerous for the child, and there is no scientific proof that they have any benefit.  Similarly, they object to certain kinds of therapy that they find dehumanizing.  They do not object to mainstream therapies such as speech/language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy.  In fact, ND-identified parents fight hard to obtain such services for their children. They believe that people (including family members) who work with autistic individuals should consider that behavior is communication, and rather than always trying to make autistic children learn to "look normal," they should try to figure out what the child's behavior is doing for the child.  No one suggests, by this, that a child should be allowed or encouraged to engage in dangerous or self-injurious behavior.


I came across an excellent essay about what Neurodiversity really means, as opposed to what opponents pretend it means, in Mike Stanton's "What is Neurodiversity?"  http://mikestanton.wordpress.com/my-autism-pages/what-is-neurodiversity/.  It is one of the many excellent offerings in the new book, Thinking Person's Guide to Autism: What you really need to know about autism: from autistics, parents, and professionals, edited by Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Jennifer Byde Myers, Liz Ditz, Emily Willingham, and Carol Greenburg.