hi list:
autism is a subject we've discussed a number of times here so I thought some
of you might be interested in the following extract from todays Inclusion
Daily Express
(www.inclusiondaily.com) there are a couple of links at the end of the
article including one to the american national autism society.
***APRIL IS AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH***
HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA--April is Autism Awareness Month.
I am aware that this is Autism Awareness Month because I have found and
saved no less than 60 different articles on autism so far this month.
I have ruled out sharing most of those, frankly, because I believe they tend
to reinforce the general public's misperception that people who have autism
are hopeless, helpless and deserve pity, and that those who spend time with
them deserve some sort of gold medal.
It's what I might call the
"You-must-be-a-VERY-special-person-to-work-with-THOSE-people" syndrome.
There are also a lot of articles that have to do with the debates over
preventing autism, and the latest therapies, medical treatments, or miracle
"cures" that would change children with autism into children without autism.
In all of this, I found the following gem. It's an article by a father whose
son was diagnosed with autism five years ago.
David R. Fine asks that you think about autism this month, but not as a "set
of clinical definitions".
"Think of it as people with different strengths and weaknesses," Fine
writes. "Think of it as people who achieve, people who love and people who
are loved."
No pity here, folks.
Fine's story is available from the San Francisco Chronicle's website:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/17
/ED224314.DTL
The mission of the Autism Society of America is to promote lifelong access
and opportunity for all individuals within the autism spectrum, and their
families, to be fully participating, included members of their community.
http://www.autism-society.org
Adrian Higginbotham.
SURFACE (Salford University, Research Focus on Accessible Environments).
tel: (44_-161-2953949,
fax (44)-161-2955011,
Email [log in to unmask]
textphone (44)-161-2953599.
web: http://www.scpm.salford.ac.uk/surface/
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