About
The Autism Education Project was born out of a legislative initiative in Massachusetts to mandate training about autism for all law enforcement and corrections officers in the state that has been ongoing for nearly two years (and still is not successful).
Once completed over the next few months, the Autism Education Project will provide resources for Autistic and ally advocates interested both in specific cases of egregious abuse of Autistic people and people with other disabilities by authority figures and in advancing legislative or grassroots initiatives to educate criminal justice and educational professionals.
After speaking with an advocate from Maryland who hopes to introduce similar legislation in the 2012 session, I came to realize that expanding outreach to other Autistic adults and ally advocates (parents, professionals, researchers, other family members) could lead to similar legislative and grassroots initiatives across the United States. I was prodded into turning the idea into concrete effort after a slew of highly-publicized cases in which teachers abused Autistic students or students with other disabilities, sometimes leading to the wrongful involvement of the criminal justice system.
Issues of lack of education for criminal justice professionals are mirrored by issues of lack of education for teachers at all levels of education -- both those who specialized in special education and those who do not. Despite the recent spate of cases in which authority figures abuse their positions and target people with disabilities, including Autistic people, the majority of law enforcement officers and teachers are people who have good intentions and wish to genuinely serve their communities or students; these people would be better equipped to efficiently and safely perform their jobs if they were provided with accurate and adequate information about how to respectfully and meaningfully interact with Autistic people or people with other cognitive/intellectual or developmental disabilities. Such educational initiatives could go a long way in preventing misunderstandings, unfortunate situations, or miscommunication.
The Autism Education Project is now a project of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a national organization run by and for Autistic adults and youth. The Autism Education Project is an initiative of Lydia Brown, who can be reached at lydia.brown@autismeducationproject.org. The logo was designed by Melody Latimer.
After speaking with an advocate from Maryland who hopes to introduce similar legislation in the 2012 session, I came to realize that expanding outreach to other Autistic adults and ally advocates (parents, professionals, researchers, other family members) could lead to similar legislative and grassroots initiatives across the United States. I was prodded into turning the idea into concrete effort after a slew of highly-publicized cases in which teachers abused Autistic students or students with other disabilities, sometimes leading to the wrongful involvement of the criminal justice system.
Issues of lack of education for criminal justice professionals are mirrored by issues of lack of education for teachers at all levels of education -- both those who specialized in special education and those who do not. Despite the recent spate of cases in which authority figures abuse their positions and target people with disabilities, including Autistic people, the majority of law enforcement officers and teachers are people who have good intentions and wish to genuinely serve their communities or students; these people would be better equipped to efficiently and safely perform their jobs if they were provided with accurate and adequate information about how to respectfully and meaningfully interact with Autistic people or people with other cognitive/intellectual or developmental disabilities. Such educational initiatives could go a long way in preventing misunderstandings, unfortunate situations, or miscommunication.
The Autism Education Project is now a project of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a national organization run by and for Autistic adults and youth. The Autism Education Project is an initiative of Lydia Brown, who can be reached at lydia.brown@autismeducationproject.org. The logo was designed by Melody Latimer.
A Note on Use of Language
People from marginalized groups often assert their right to refer to themselves however they wish, sometimes reclaiming terms or words that had previously been understood or used as derogatory or offensive. The majority of adults and youth on the autism spectrum either prefer or more closely identify with the terms "Autistic" or "Autistic person" than "person with autism" or "person who has autism."
When discussing people generally, I defer to "autism first language" in recognition of the use of "Autistic" as a proper adjective and noun representing identity. When discussing individual people, if not referring to them by name, I use "Autistic person" in deference to the majority consensus of adults and youth on the autism spectrum, except where I am explicitly aware of an individual's preference for "person first language," in which case I use "person with autism."
When discussing other disabilities or conditions, I defer to the majority consensus of the people so described.
These choices are made out of respect for the majority consensus of the people so described.
When discussing people generally, I defer to "autism first language" in recognition of the use of "Autistic" as a proper adjective and noun representing identity. When discussing individual people, if not referring to them by name, I use "Autistic person" in deference to the majority consensus of adults and youth on the autism spectrum, except where I am explicitly aware of an individual's preference for "person first language," in which case I use "person with autism."
When discussing other disabilities or conditions, I defer to the majority consensus of the people so described.
These choices are made out of respect for the majority consensus of the people so described.
A Project Of
Disclaimer
Neither I (Lydia Brown) nor the Autism Education Project nor the Autistic Self Advocacy Network may be held liable for any damages resulting from action or speech in response to inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise fallacious information provided about action alerts or past cases either on this website or by articles or websites linked from this website. We make all reasonable efforts to provide current and accurate information, including linking to reputable websites and news sources, but may not have access to all of the facts in any given situation, nor can we control, license, edit, or filter content published on other websites, including those linked from this one.
