America & The Convention for The Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was recently ratified at the United Nations on March 30th 2007. Yet the glaring abscence on the United States to sign the convention has not gone unoticed. This has been in my view one the great blunders of American policy since its inception. How can the host country of the UN not sign something that promotes human rights, equal opportunity and abolish laws that perpetuate discrimination? It has many people within the American disability community scratching there heads and asking the proverbal question - why? This has been confounding me for weeks because I have no logical answer. It makes me incredibly upset that a country that prides itself on the very values the Convention espouses does not acknowledge it's value by signing is just astounding.

The disability community in the United States should be irrate & lobby congress to revaluate this choice. If we as a country are going to be at the forefront of disability rights we must be in lock step with the rest of the world...only time will tell!

The Question of Autism: New Readings

With the epidemic rise in autism, it begs the question why haven't we seen this many people with autism before or with the recent growth of this community what has the role culture, science & the role of diagnostic definitions played in the growth of this disorder? In Roy Richard Grinker's new book "Unstrange Minds: Remapping The World of Autism" he draws upon is academic and personal background to explore these very questions. As a father of daughter with autism he certainly understand the very personal challenges of raising a disabled child. But as an anthropologist he takes a very serious look at the world of autism and how it has changed from Leo Kanners time some 60 years ago. With the advent of media & a pop culture revolution of sorts with Autism Speaks & NBC and celebrities like Dan Marino, Toni Braxton & others the world of autism has expanded its definition and no longer is seen in the context of "The Empty Fortress: Infantile autism and the birth of the self" by Bruno Bettelheim.

We are at a crossroads in what defines the autism spectrum? Is it really as prevelant as the CDC suggests & why has the definiton expanded to incorporate other types of disabilities? As a person who has been dealing with autism in my professional life I am curious to see how these changes will impact people with cognitive disabilities and those with mental illness. Will it be incorporated into the autism spectrum or will there be distinctive definitions? We shall see...