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Throughout history,
people with
physical and mental disabilities
have been
abandoned at birth,
banished
from society,
used as
court jesters,
drowned and
burned during The Inquisition,
gassed in
Nazi Germany,
and still
continue to be segregated, institutionalized,
tortured in
the name of behaviour management,
abused,
raped, euthanized, and murdered.
Now, for the
first time, people with disabilities are
taking their
rightful place as fully contributing citizens.
The danger
is that we will respond with remediation and
benevolence
rather than equity and respect. And so, we offer you
A Credo
for Support
"Do Not
see my disability as the problem.
Recognize
that my disability is an attribute.
Do Not
see my disability as a deficit.
It is you
who see me as deviant and helpless.
Do Not
try to fix me because I am not broken.
Support me.
I can make my
contribution
to the community in my own way.
Do Not
see me as your client. I am your fellow citizen.
See me as
your neighbour. Remember, none of us can be self-sufficient.
Do Not
try to modify my behaviour.
Be still &
listen. What you define as
inappropriate may be my attempt to
communicate
with you in the only way I can.
etc. etc.
etc."
...hit here to read
the rest
Dedicated
to the memory of Tracy Latimer
(c)1996
Norman Kunc and Emma Van der Klift
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"I know of nobody who is purely Autistic or purely neurotypical.
Even God had some Autistic moments, which is why the planets all spin."
~ Jerry Newport