Category Archives: Opinion

Opinion

#Oprah2020 Would be a Disaster for the Autistic Community

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#Oprah2020 was trending on social media last week. Speculation about Ms. Winfrey running for President became part of the morning news cycle after her inspiring Golden Globe acceptance speech. Oprah Winfrey has a fondness or pseudoscience. This fondness has caused harm to the medical community, the practice of psychology, and to our autism community in particular. If she runs I will neither support nor vote for her regardless of her wide global appeal, her great skills as a speaker, her famed generosity or her business acumen. “Why you hating on Auntie Oprah?” A human right activist friend of color asked me. “I don’t hate her.” I answered.  “I am upset about the massive harm she’s done.“ Oprah gave us Phil McGraw, Dr. Oz, and most hurtful to my son and the autistic community, Jenny McCarthy. With help from Oprah, Jenny McCarthy introduced the anti-vaccine movement to mainstream America. Does Oprah realize the harm she continues … Continue Reading ››
Opinion

New Compliance Tracking Drugs Violate Human Rights

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Neurodivergent people are one of the few groups who can be deprived of our most basic forms of autonomy and privacy just because of who we are.  This includes confinement in institutional settings such as group homes, nursing homes and residential schools, as well as guardianship and court orders for the misleadingly-named “assisted outpatient treatment.”  Most recently, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved Abilify MyCite, an antipsychotic medication that tracks whether a person has taken it or not. Abilify MyCite further threatens the rights of people with psychosocial disabilities by putting us at risk of surveillance and all the consequences likely to follow from that. As is the case with most practices and technologies that restrict disabled people’s rights, nondisabled people are already defending the new medication as being both for neurodivergent people’s own good and for the convenience of their families and caregivers.  But like in … Continue Reading ››
Opinion

Autism Registries are Dangerous

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Cranston, Rhode Island, has just established a voluntary registry to record information on autistic people between the ages of 6 and 21. The registry is managed by the Cranston Police Department and is intended to help autistic young people who interact with the police. Autism registries aren’t limited to Cranston. Several US states and Canadian provinces have databases that require or encourage professionals to enter information about autistic patients. Some registries, like Montana’s and New Jersey’s, are mandatory. Autism registries present a real threat to autistic people’s civil rights, privacy and autonomy. In 2015, I conducted research with the Human Services Research Institute and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Our goal was to gauge attitudes towards the creation of a statewide autism database in Massachusetts The state government was considering creating a database similar to databases in other states. We recruited a  “citizen’s jury.”A citizen’s jury is a type of … Continue Reading ››
Opinion

#FreeRosa Case Shines a Light on Undocumented and Disabled

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Last week, the United States faced a defining moment when ICE agents arrested a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, Rosamaria Hernandez. Rosamaria is currently recovering from gallbladder surgery in an immigration detention center away from her family.  On the way to her surgery, federal agents followed her ambulance, stood guard outside her room, and refused to allow medical staff to close the door while they treated her.  Against medical advice, the agents then proceeded to pull Rosamaria from the hospital where she was receiving care.  Government employees, reporting that they are just doing their job, intend to deport Rosamaria back to Mexico.  She has lived in the United States since she was three months old. Rosamaria Hernandez has become the face of the Disabled Latinx movement.  Rosamaria’s family initially crossed the border from Mexico to get treatment for medical complications associated with her cerebral palsy.  Rosamaria’s parents made the decision to … Continue Reading ››
Opinion

Stop Using Intellectual Disability as an Insult

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Earlier this month, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was accused of calling President Trump a “moron.” President Trump responded that if he and Tillerson had an IQ contest, “I can tell you who [would] win.” More recently, President Trump bragged, “I went to an Ivy League college… I’m a very intelligent person.” As a person with an intellectual disability, President Trump’s focus on IQ feels very awkward. President Trump’s focus on IQ hurts people with intellectual disabilities. Many people see the word “moron” as just a generic insult. However, it used to be a diagnostic term during the era of eugenics. Back then I probably would have been diagnosed as a “moron.” Many autistic and intellectually disabled people were diagnosed “morons.” During that time, we were sterilized against our will and locked in institutions. People with intellectual disabilities are still greatly oppressed. IQ is very much connected to Continue Reading ››