Ari Ne'eman, and all of those persons who oppose research aimed at finding treatments and cures for autism disorders, oppose the right of choice of autistic persons and their families. Mr. Ne'eman and his supporters oppose the right of other autistic persons to seek to be cured of their autism disorders.
In Mr. Ne'eman's case he has clearly stated that HE does not want to be cured of his Aspergers Disorder and I respect that right as I am sure everyone does who is involved in debates about his disability council appointment. Unfortunately Mr. Ne'eman takes it a step too far and asserts that not only does he not want to be cured but other persons with autism disorders do not want to be cured, should not be cured and should not have the option and right to choose not to be cured.
When Mr. Ne'eman says to his many high profile media contacts that WE do not want to be cured he purports to represent all persons with autism disorders, even those much more severely affected by autism than he is, which is almost everyone with an autism spectrum disorder. He has no such authority to speak on their behalf. When he makes such statements he is attempting to prevent the research from being done that is necessary to finding treatments and cures for autism disorders thus hoping to deprive autistic persons and their families of the option and the right to choose to be cured.
When he protests parent driven organizations seeking to raise funds for research aimed at curing autism disorders Mr. Ne'eman is again seeking to prevent that research and to deprive other persons with autism disorders of their right to choose not to be cured. When he describes as morally reprehensible, as he has done, efforts to cure autism disorders, Mr. Ne'eman, the high functioning university student with Aspergers is trying to deprive other persons with autism disorders, or parents rightfully acting on their behalf, of the option and right to choose to be cured of their autism disorders.
Mr. Ne'eman does not respect the rights of other autistic persons to choose to be cured, to overcome the limitations of their autism disorders. He does not respect the right of parents acting on behalf of their autistic children, some with severe Autistic Disorder, to overcome those deficits through treatment and cure.
When it comes to cure oriented autism research Mr. Ne'eman seeks to deny to other persons with autism disorders the same freedom of choice ... to be cured or not ... that he asserts on his own behalf.
I am astonished and disappointed that US President Obama, who I greatly admire for so many other reasons, would appoint to an important disability council position a person who opposes the right of choice of other persons with autism disorders and the parents who often, by necessity and by law, act on their behalf.
Ari Ne'eman is the only person I can think of who has no degree, no work or relevant volunteer experience, no substantive history of political office, and gets a top gov't office at 21.
ReplyDeletePeople work their entire lives in the political arena and never get there. What sense does that make?
Besides, this is not just a post that presides over autism but other disabilities as well. There are hundreds of thousands of other disabilities that he would be responsible for. What does he know about those?
Harold: I never, ever doubted (as I am sure you have held the same view) that 'curing' my children from autism was the appropriate route to go as a concerned parent. I have asked Noah if he would prefer to go back to the way life was before when he couldn't talk, didn't have any friends, didn't understand most of the things that happened in a day, etc., etc. and he said 'no way' -- he talks about how he use to have the words in his head but couldn't make his mouth say them, how frustrated he was that he couldn't communicate what he wanted (or needed,how sad he was that people didn't understand him and how scared he was in so many new situations... Mr. Ne'eman is a cruel man to think that my son (or anyone) would want to spend a lifetime like that.
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