Quote:
I have spent a lot of time in the last year or so speaking with members of the neurodiversity community and have learned a lot from these conversations. These relationships have been very productive for me, and I have a much better of sense of the issues now. I have changed my behavior and rhetoric in response to some of the very good points people have made, and continue to speak frequently with many of the leaders of the neurodiversity community. There is still one big issue, however, on which we disagree. I do still feel that genetics research is the best chance we have for understanding the mechanism of action of autism and creating targeted therapeutics. This remains as a sticking point in my relationships with many of the leaders of the neurodiversity movement, although I do think that we have tried to be friends and continue to talk about this issue. I also don’t think that a belief in the importance of genetics research detracts from my eagerness to support research into supports and services and expansion of funding for this critical area. I have been extremely vocal on that issue at the IACC meetings.
That's a quote from an ASF blogpost in 2009 where Allison Singer was responding to a neurodiversity advocate talking a about the deal with her in the "Autism Every Day" video released by Autism Speaks:
https://autismsciencefoundation.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/speaking-out-about-autism-every-day/I know that she was critical of Ari Ne'eman when she first started the Autism Science Foundation but from the above paragraph, it looks like she has become more open to the neurodiversity perspective. So it's probably worthwhile to work with them.
01 Jan 2015, 1:26 pm
