Well autism's gadfly has now reached a milestone of sorts as I write my 200th post on this blog. As the hot topic of the anonymous senator(s) who have had the good common sense to put a hold on Ari Ne'eman's appointment gets hotter, I have a very good subject for my 200th post. I see a new facebook page urging Ne'eman's confirmation to the NDC has been created by some of his allies. These people are working, urging Ne'eman's confirmation to the NDC.
Some character called Jeremy Block, one of the most prolific posters on this group, was nice enough to give me and my previous post on here about the senate hold on Ne'eman's appointment a mention and a link on the facebook page; I am glad because it makes me know I am making an impact regardless of the outcome of Ne'eman's appointment. This person stated that I undermined my own credibility because in one short segment of the post (and one post out of multiple posts dealing with Ne'eman's pending appointment) I mentioned Ne'eman's association with hatemongers Harry Williams and Clay Adams, stating that we could judge him by the company he keeps. Though I made a brief mention of these individuals Block claimed my post was about them rather than Ne'eman. Naturally Block had no arguments against the very solid evidence that I have provided that Ne'eman definitely at one time (and probably to this day) does not believe autism or Asperger's are disabilities yet desires to serve on a disabilities council. He has no argument about why someone who does not want people cured of their sickness when the combating autism act has been passed which has as its aim the curation of autism, should serve in any government post dealing with autism. He has no argument about why someone who has never worked and is so ignorant of the problems of persons on the spectrum have in the workplace that they say this can be solved by eliminating social pleasantry as a criteria for hiring should be on a government council that in part deals with policies to help disabled people obtain employment.
Though I believe Ne'eman's association with vicious bullies is a legitimate talking point, this was just one minor point in the multiple arguments I have given against Ne'eman's confirmation and Block was trying to make out like I was making this the main argument.
Even worse than Block were two individuals, Zoey Roberts and Chelsea Boon who weighed in. These young ladies only made comments attacking me and did not even bother to refute any of my facts arguing against Ne'eman's confirmation. Ms. Roberts stated that I was a known troublemaker and lumped me in with the infamous John Best. Ms. Boon stated that she did not feel sorry for me and that nothing I did was good enough for myself and I made no effort to self-improve.
Since they saved me the trouble of having to readdress actual arguments favoring Ne'eman's appointment, given there is no legitimate argument for allowing Ne'eman to serve I will address their personal attacks briefly.
Apparently Ms. Roberts' definition of a troublemaker is someone who actually has the temerity to refute the hatred and lies and propaganda that neurodiversity espouses regularly on the internet. If that makes me a troublemaker so be it. Apparently someone who expresses agreement with them is not a troublemaker only someone with an opposing viewpoint.
Ms. Boon who has never met me, knows nothing about me has taken it upon herself to judge me and my character. She does not know how hard I tried to make a living for nearly 3 decades, what it was like being canned from jobs and having to start all over again, having the phony government intervention in the California state department of rehabilitation (which Ne'eman naively promotes) shaft me and all of the other abuse I had to endure. I can certainly say I tried very hard, took coursework in medical transcription, computer repair, programming in order to better myself. But making ad hominem and specious arguments out of ignorance is par for the course for neurodiversity. This is one of the main reasons I oppose Ne'eman's appointment. Contrary to Ms. Boon's baloney I have spent more years making an effort to improve myself and make a living than Ne'eman has been alive. Again, anyone who would make the absurd statement from a figurative ivory tower that the solution to autistic unemployment is to eliminate social pleasantry as a criteria for hiring certainly has no understanding of the problems in the workplace that someone like me faces. They are totally unsuited and unqualified for the top government position in disability policy guidance. I never asked Ms. Boon or anyone else to feel sorry for me and if she feels being able to make a living, not being celibate and having good motor coordination and not being forced to self-stimulate all the time and being able to get things done other than some blog posts I write is asking for too much that is her problem not mine.
I see from looking at these profiles that two of these people are still students at a university. I suspect, like Ne'eman, they have only lived an ivory tower existence and are ignorant of the world of work, so I suppose their supporting Ne'eman is par for the course.
Well congrats to autism's gadfly for the milestone 200th post!
Addendum: Again I have written to senators Boxer and Feinstein, in light of these new developments, urging them to reject confirming Ne'eman to the post.
Second Addendum: If anyone looks at the link to the ne'eman facebook page and is curious as to why the personal attacks, Ms. Roberts and Ms. Boon leveled against me are absent, the reason is that Mr. Block deleted them and then wrote the following to me:
If the author is reading this, I am sorry you felt it necessary to write about me in such a negative way in your blog. ... See MoreI'm glad you care deeply about the issues you write about. If you are looking for some kind of argument escalation on the issue, you won't get it from me and it is my hope you will not get it from anyone else in this group.
Yesterday at 8:25pm
But you can believe they were actually there at one time.
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9 comments:
Jon,
Thanks for confirming that I'm infamous. It lets me know the psychopaths associated with Ne'eman are scared of the truth.
Congratulations. I hope you keep blogging and don't let the nonsense get to you.
I have nothing against Ne'eman as a person, but I'm really sick of the bogsphere uncritically promoting him and refusing to answer the tough questions. That's what politics is all about, and if Ne'eman really wants to be involved in politics, he had better get used to it.
Really, who else gets a top government office at 21 with no degree, no experience, no job, no nothing?
People who have been in politics their entire lives work their @$$es off and never get there. Who does he think he's kidding?
I who swore I would never put my youngest son in a special ed class, am working towards that goal with yet another meeting on Tues.... Have no use for these people. Going to Univ isn't "autism"... Realities is being told at that meeting that I should put my child back on meds b/c his hand flapping and vocal noises are disruptive. YET, this is a child that is doing very well at school. A child that the other children like and help the best they can.
But he needs to go back on meds....
And they wonder why I'm working to get him out.
Those university students, Ari Ne'eman have no idea what "disability" is... and tossing a few more supports our way... won't fix the problem.
Congrats on the 200th post
Congratulations Jonathan! (on your 200th post, not the Ari group)
I recently got back from Whose Planet Is It Anyway because I posted a comment about areas in which Ne'eman can improve. A few hours later, I get a comment attacking my position in which someone makes a nonsense strawman comparison between Ne'eman and Obama and they basically insulted me.
I wasn't offended by that because it was easy to refute, and I did just that. However, what struck me was the cult-like nature of Ne'eman defendors. He is their leader who cannot be criticized ever for any reason. Ne'eman is god.
Sorry, I don't agree.
How can they complain that anti-vaxxers, curists, etc. aren't fair?
I will ask you again. Could you PLEASE remove my name?
Ms. Boon: I am not going to discuss the issue publically with you here on this blog. If you would like to discuss it with me privately, my email is jmitch955@aol.com
Jonathan,
When I went to NYC to film ASAN's protest, they were very upset with me that I put some on camera. Unbeknownst to me, they simply were not diagnosed, some were in fact self diagnosed, and I suspect didn't want they're faces attached to anything to do with autism as co-workers, friends, neighbors and perhaps family would recognize them and then they would have to explain how someone these people have known for years were now claiming to be autistic.
I don't know this Chelsea person, but perhaps her reasoning is similar. She didn't expect someone with a public blog to mention her real name and attach autism to it. Not sure.
Anyways, I've never met a self diagnosed person that was empathetic to the needs/feelings of the diagnosed. It would be hard for them to be I suspect. They have never been in special education, never attended an IEP meeting, never fought for housing and employment. They live in a different, non typical autistic "world". They have never cared for a LFA person, never suffered the painful and unwanted stares of strangers, never been bullied for being autistic, never been shortchanged in education and opportunity. They have never been, in short, autistic. They are in fact, ashamed to be publicly outed. Afterall, they have a choice to be who they are, unlike real autistic people.
I work in the world of Autism every week, with people who cannot speak and bite themselves, with people who have degrees but no social skills, parents, educators, you name them in London England. I've done this for the past four years in various roles in the Nas. I have a formal diagnosis from 2004, at the age of 41.
It seems to work like this:
There is a hierarchy no one is acknowledging, with different needs to each tier.
So the lowest functioners need support, and cures and treatments may make things worse (feel okay about injecting your child with drugs to 'improve' their minds? That means changing brain chemistry you know. Will the cures of the future always be 100% safe and reliable? Will they actually exist?)
But families need support, and people with Autism who self harm and have no bowel control, recognizable consciousness, they need appropriate support. FUNDED BY THE STATE.
People who are better functioning but have social skills problems, cannot relate to people and have obsessions, sensory issues etc. ARE A DIFFERENT RACE. Same as the Lower functioner's but they can handle things differently to the point that they can matriculate, drive cars, talk etc!
A DIFFERENT LEVEL AND KIND OF SUPPORT IS NEEDED.
Finally you have my level, and beyond. I'm married to someone with a diagnosis, same age, ex science teacher, several degrees and doing a Phd now.
WE NEED SUPPORT AND UNDERSTANDING TOO.
So what's going on? PEOPLE ARE SEEING EVERYONE AS IF THEY WERE ALL THE SAME. They are not, there are different needs for different levels of functionality.
Simple enough to me. Ari has made mistakes in his defence/championing of the highest functioners, he's only 22 now. Parents are going mad out there, some people with Autism are suicidal and some do it.
So, different levels of support, different perspectives. Lets get things right.
WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME SIDE HERE. GOVERNMENTS NEED TO FUND RESEARCH (May/may not lead to cures) BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY - SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS.
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