Why is Ari Ne'eman on the Sh*t List

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Why is there antipathy toward Ari Ne'eman in some autistic circles? I have read some articles on him, including a piece in Newsweek Magazine. Why do you suppose he raises hackles here and there? He sounds like my kind of people.

ruveyn

There is antipathy toward Ari in some autistic circles?

Do you have any links?

There'll be squabbles among the activists in any movement... What, he's not allowed to have an argument? I don't really know who might be, or why, but I'm guessing it's mostly of the silly-misunderstanding, practically no-fault sort that happens so often around here too.

I don't even know who that is... I don't get out much!

Same.. I have no pathy towards him at all, be it pro, anti, tele...

http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ari-neeman
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ari-Neeman/15211035
I love the internet.

OOOOOH that's who he is. Still I don't know of that organization nor who he is so I can't possibly make a judgement on him.

I've read about some of the things he said regarding autistic rights and Autism Speaks, and I have to say that I agree with everything he had said.

I wasn't aware I was on a "Sh*t list". *amused* Well, if anyone here dislikes my work, please feel free to share why.

To be honest, Alex Plank is on the s**t list of some autism organizations too, just as Jenny McCarthy is on the s**t list here.

Simply put, autism is in a state of flux and there are many different factions, each whom have their own agenda. That does not mean that one faction is totally correct and the other is totally wrong. However, many of the factions right now are fighting with each other.

In fact, I would not be surprised to hear I was on someone's s**t list.

I don't think it's Ari that is directly on the sh*t list; it's more of the self-advocacy principles with those who feel that self-advocacy is somehow denying people assistance that they really need in order how to learn to function... or some argument such as that.

Who is Ari Neeman and do we have someone here in Israel activating for us locally, that'd be good.

Okay, not that sounds extremely plausible. Not that I agree with it, but that it makes sense, especially since I'm imagining that a lot of people with ASDs are like me in that they have a history of running into walls when attempting to advocate for themselves.. The concept of self-advocacy can bring up some trauma issues. Whenever I attempt to look for help on my own, I'm told that none exists.

I think that's kind of silly, really. Part of self advocacy is getting the help you need, and getting it from people who treat you with respect--not pretending you don't need it. Actually, it's a lot of the people who want to pretend autism is nothing but non-verbal people who can't speak for themselves, who are insisting that high-functioning types don't need any help because they're not really autistic and don't really know "what it's like" so how can they possibly campaign for the rights of "my child"? (They usually mention diapers in there somewhere... it's practically inevitable.) Pretending that autistic people who can and do speak for themselves don't exist is a great tactic of the CAN/DAN/Speaks types.

According to a certain segment of "autism activists," anyone who is capable of speaking up for themselves is, by definition, not autistic. Ergo, anybody in favor of self-advocacy isn't autistic. Anybody who isn't sitting in a corner, banging their heads against the wall isn't autistic. Everybody on this board is a fake, because if you were really autistic, you would be completely unaware of your disabilities and defects and would be helplessly waiting for your caretaker to show up.

At least there's one good thing about the people who would like to see Ne'eman and anybody like him go away - it's inspired people like me, on the mildest end of the spectrum to identify as autistic. When all of the aspie adults who can function moderately to very well, who have jobs, spouses, and children stop seperating themselves from the rest of the spectrum, maybe the naysayers will be seen for the ignorant bigots that they are.