Aspergian Pride

Anyone who has visited the Posautive YouTube Group is familiar with the videos of Christschool, who has posted an awesome 90 autistic rights advocacy videos on YouTube in just this past year.

Christschool, who is a father of a child with an autism spectrum diagnosis and is also Aspergian himself, has made videos that deal with an impressive range of topics, from his son’s happy life at home and school to the darker and more troubling subjects of prejudice and eugenics. He has made thousands of people aware of the issues facing our community today.

An autism conference is currently being held at the University of San Diego. As reported in the blog One Dad’s Opinion, the opening presenter, Anne Donnellan, anticipated that the attendees would consist mainly of teachers and therapists, with a few parents and administrators also present. The conference also featured outspoken autistic civil rights advocacy from a student by the name of Stephen Hinkle:

She asked for a show of hands as she identified her audience. Parents? About 10 of us. Behavioral Therapists? Looked like about 60. Teachers? Maybe 120. OT, PT, SLT? 40 or so. Administrators and government service providers? 10 more. She mumbled something about needing to attract more parents to these conferences and was moving on when a voice in the front of the room said loudly, “Um, you forgot someone!”

…No further discussion of the day is possible without referring to Mr. Hinkle’s contributions. He was bright, funny, active, energetic, and made the most profound and salient points of anyone in the room. He interjected about 15 or 20 times over the course of the day, always starting with, “I’d like to respond to something you just said…” His ensuing response was guaranteed to be long-winded, well-reasoned, and directly related to the topic at hand.

Bravo to Stephen Hinkle for making the time and effort to attend this conference and to educate so many professionals about the concerns of the autistic/Aspergian community. Great job!

I’ve changed to WordPress for my portal software. This will give the site more flexibility and will allow me to make blog posts. The new Aspergian Pride blog will feature stories of pride, activism, community involvement, and personal accomplishments in the autistic community.