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Well going back to Machiavelli and Hobbes the only rights that exist are those that you can fight for and win (which is why we should continue in the strife) I think you have all seen at least by email the extent of my skills in diplomacy, I like to carry a big stick and not just to prop me up :)That is the way of things like the earthquake that threatens San Francisco, it maybe, it maybe, and someday it's gonna happen. Do you think I am not listening, and that was not partly what my DVD was about, the danger of extreme positions, believe you me I am mild when it comes to the far edge of isolationists. You can't judge me till you can walk a mile in my shoes, but I'll guarantee you this it will give you sore feet if you do, best stick to your own as metaphors can lead to metanoia indeed rotational metanoia in extremis, windmills notwithstanding. As for banging ones head against a brick wall you have obviously never heard of percussive cognitive defrag :) My right exists because I exercise it and if I throw my spear at your aeroplane dropping gifts you ought to realise why. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panar%C3%A1 And would you believe Levi Strauss nowadays wears his trousers rolled :) Any the debate around Autism certainly has it's extremes, it is almost as if we are the last disability to come out from the cold where we still have to fight for cognitive legitimacy to be heard, where we are still decried as not quite human because our neurology is supposedly lacking in those traits that separate humankind from chimpanzees. Yes I have been there and had my cognitive capacity for decision making challenged, so do you blame me from being so concerned about those usurpers who map my territory like the Saxon ivaders who called my local river Avon, when all rivers were Afons sealing that mistake for two millenia. What actually irks me now, as this is definitely an interesting debate is that I am limited to but two bites of the cherry per diem. I have a thick skull so perhaps the wall is the weaker in the long term, who knows....... I can only do what I do, for do not the ancient sages say, that a blade of grass can split a rock because it only does what it has to. Larry > -----Original Message----- > From: The Disability-Research Discussion List > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of M. Miles > Sent: 27 June 2008 17:43 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Autism and Representation [and Christopher Newell] > > . > Christopher Newell, the disabled activist and writer who just > died in his mid 40s, was an example of many admirable > characteristics, including a belief in the "right" (as Larry > puts it) to "make some criticism and to continue doing so", > on behalf of people with substantial disabilities. He was > also concerned that his critical message should actually be > heard, and should have some effect on the hearers and on the > wider society. > > For that to happen, Newell realised the need to listen > carefully to the views of other people, especially those with > whom he disagreed, and to take some account of how they came > to think the way they did. This made some of the difference > between having the right (to bang his head against a brick > wall), and having the opportunity (to start where other > people actually > are, and help them to move forward in their thinking). > > Newell's disabilities were far from the Autism spectrum, and > some might think that his strategies for understanding other > people, so as to communicate effectively with them, were > precisely the skills that people with autism cannot use. But > I'm not fully convinced of this generalisation about > 'autism'. Making the effort to understand the minds of people > with whom one disagrees is not something that comes easily or > naturally to any of us; but most people can learn at least > that banging one's head against a brick wall is not a useful > long-term strategy. > > No 'right' exists to have other people change their minds; > but opportunities do exist to communicate more effectively > with them. (An alternative epitaph, for those who got bored > with head-banging). > > miles > > ********* > ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.