Vernon Smith, Nobel Prize Winner & Autistic, "Accept Us"

	Duration: 06:59 minutes Upload Time: 06-10-29 06:45:26 User: christschool :::: Favorites :::: Top Videos of Day
Description: Personal experience has taught me that those who think in different ways should not be written off despite the challenges and obstacles that are often thrown in their way. For several years I was in a special education system that practiced enforced conformity. The belief was that anyone society labeled "disabled" could only go so far. Sadly, these misconceptions had the potential to become self-fulfilling prophecies. When the expectation is that people of a certain type can only reach so far, they are not provided with the same challenges and opportunities that educators give mainstreamed students. Yet I did manage to make it out of special education by advocating for myself and refusing to believe in a myth that equated distinctiveness with inferiority. By insisting on inclusion in the same opportunities and programs as other students, I achieved academic success. In the space of a few years I went from being advised that I would have to delay my high school graduation to being an honor student who will attend college on time to study international relations. Now, as a speaker for the New Jersey Department of Education and other organizations, I advocate for reform of the system I left. When I speak to educators, students and policymakers I stress one message: those of different neurologies can succeed not by luck, chance, or even extraordinary willpower, but by recognition of their unique abilities and methods of learning. Understanding that different styles of learning do not imply inability to learn is essential to creating a more inclusive educational environment. With an educational system that works with us, society will see an even larger level of success for autistics and many other neuro-diverse citizens. In truth, differences in neurology often contribute to success. History supports this conclusion. Today, experts are finding autistic traits in many of the great minds of the past such as Isaac Newton, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein. These people possessed many of the traits that today can be found on the autism spectrum. Like many autistics, they viewed the world through different eyes and were not possessed of the same type of social skills as their neurotypical peers, yet they possessed highly capable intellects and used them in ways their unique perspectives made possible. Neither these greats of the past nor those of us in the present deserve to be marginalized from society or labeled as broken or diseased. Society has developed a tendency to examine things from the point of view of a bell curve. How far away am I from normal? What can I do to fit in better? But what is on top of the bell curve? The answer is mediocrity. That is the fate of American society if we insist upon pathologizing difference and seek to "cure" it. The person who is socially isolated because he views the world in a different light may use that difference in perception to invent something revolutionary. "I don't have any trouble thinking outside the box. I don't feel any social pressure to do things the way other people are doing them," said Vernon Smith, the 2002 Nobel Prize winner in economics and an Asperger's autistic, in a February interview with CNBC. Does it serve anyone's interests to label people like Smith diseased? Isn't respecting the other a vital part of both the American and the Jewish tradition? We do not need a cure to make us like everyone else. We need to be accepted for who we are. "We don't all have to think alike to ... live in a productive and satisfying world," said Professor Smith. Each day the world learns more about how to recognize yet respect the differences in neurology that exist throughout our society. In February at a conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, researchers announced that many previously held ideas about autistic intelligence were mistaken. A new intelligence test discovered that even those who had previously been written off as capable of very little possessed great, untapped potential. As society advances and we learn more about the differing kinds of neurology and intelligence, it should be our hope that we respect people for their differences and not try to enforce neurological conformity. In a day and age when we have broken down countless prejudices of the past and recognized the legitimacy of differences in race, color, creed and religion, we should be tolerant of those who think in different ways. We should recognize what diversity of neurology has contributed to the human race and what it can bring to the future. Difference is not disability and someday, I hope, the world will recognize that those who think in different ways should be welcomed. ' Ari Ne'eman Grade: senior School: East Brunswick High School in East Brunswick, N.J. Special thanks to AutismDiva's blog for finding this wonderful essay.
Comments
peapodfontaine ::: Favorites handofdust - I think you are right...there is some evidence that Asperger's is inheritable as when Diamonddavej (?) said that he had to start a support group because so many academics marrying academics = more Asperger's kids...but...given that good social and communicative skills are often necessary to "hook up" with others and "mate" it seems that Asperger's folks are at an evolutionary disadvantage! 07-09-14 06:20:45 __________________________________________________
scepticchristian ::: Favorites Thanks for this. I am researching the transition support networks between childhood and adulthood in Asperger's Syndrome. If anyone would care to share their experience, opinions or views (positive or negative) from any position, I'd be very grateful. I'm British and have AS but you don't need to be/have in order to respond. Thanks. 07-08-27 10:46:43 __________________________________________________
MindForge83 ::: Favorites That's an awesome Hypothesis!!!! So many differences (biological: chemically, structurally) were once thought to be disorders. I was in special ed as a kid, and I graduated high school as salutatorian (summa cum laude). I laugh looking back at my 7th grade teacher telling me, "You have to be gifted to get in that class." Silly NT: go watch your crappy primetime shows and play darwinian power struggles w/ social groups. They're all drones. 07-08-25 17:58:15 __________________________________________________
abram730 ::: Favorites javsmom: they are "on" just not on your plain of reality. Why couldn't jesus just be a carpenter? Why didn't Einstine learn to spell? Ignorance is bliss, "please make my child ignorant again." My child no longer acts like an animal, I worry this will affect mating dances and future breeding. The world needs more genous and people that actualy care vs. a social custum of simulated empethy. 07-08-11 22:09:32 __________________________________________________
abram730 ::: Favorites benjaminveal: NLP also seems like an attempt to become autistic. Darren brown did some things that that I did when I was young. The humor I found in it would be labeled "inappropriate laughing". Yet it's one of those things people can't comprehend. The religious side of The Autistic mind. I guess they call it metaphysics and ingests hallucinogenic drugs just to get a distorted and twisted glance. 07-08-11 21:31:21 __________________________________________________
abram730 ::: Favorites epikipos101 you are correct. We see more autism because society needs more priest/scientist types. Yet it is genetic. The huge issue is that schools are setup for the worker/layman of a few hundred years ago. Every one of the microbes employs choices and are all based off the balance of the origins of predator prey. Like 2 sides of the same coin. It's the balance. 07-08-11 21:12:05 __________________________________________________
handofdust ::: Favorites The "next step in human evolution" is a nice thought and often repeated, but untrue. Unless Asperger's is heritable and Asperger's people are having more children than non-Asperger's people, it is not the next step in human evolution, despite any other benefit. 07-07-09 22:07:57 __________________________________________________
DethMachineEngage ::: Favorites "they need help" Help,.....define help, why can't neurotypicals just admit that not everyone acts like them? And just quit trying to implement their krappy theory of mind. Type "Study of the Neurotypical" at MSN to learn about what I'm talking about. 07-07-07 04:49:18 __________________________________________________
DethMachineEngage ::: Favorites "they prefer narrow fields of interest" .....Who gives a shit. Isn't that a good thing? That's proof she is a Neurotypical.....and that we HFA's are the next step in human evolution. Neurotypicals are the past. 07-07-07 04:41:27 __________________________________________________
chuatakoon ::: Favorites Don't worry, the right lady will appreciate your unique personality. My son has autism (he's 9), and says the most inappropriate things sometimes but keeps me in STITCHES!!! I laugh alot.... 07-07-06 17:15:24 __________________________________________________