Michael Savage - What was he Saying?

After hearing Michael Savage comment’s this past week on the radio I was compelled to write about. I actually listened to his statement multiple times on a loop because I couldn’t believe he actually said what he did. Here is a guy that is perpetuating the “frigid mother” concept espoused by Bruno Bettelheim over forty years ago and has been debunked time and time again over the past fifteen. His statement was just crass full of inaccuracies and outright ludicrous. Yet, if you look beyond the vitriol he does bring up a very important point and that is how do we define this diagnosis called autism and why is it on the rise? As the anthropologist Richard Grinker wrote about in his book Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism he is a firm believer that there are cultural and social variables in how autism is defined and more importantly how it is diagnosed. With out of 150 children in this country being diagnosed with autism it harkens back to what I believe what was Savage’s intent & that is why is it in on the rise & how have we not seen this before?

Developing Innovation!

Developing Innovation!

I have been asked to design a national conference on Disability, Business and Innovation. The hope is that this will be something that is an annual event. While most people who are in “the know” realize the data favors such an event and that a conference like this can only be beneficial for business it still is one of those areas where not everyone has caught onto the realities of the variety of variables that will truly impact the future of the global workforce that will in turn create other opportunities in the development of new products and services.

With innovation comes resistance. We are at a ‘tipping point’ where organizations have to begin to put aside there fears (as hard as that may be to do) and see the possibilities ahead. With disability (and aging) issues it is fundamental that businesses begin to spearhead new innovations beyond the parameters of the government because in my estimation it is the for profit world that can have the vision & the capital to see the social value as well as the long term economic return.

I look forward to the time when disability becomes a cornerstone of not only diversity strategies but general business philosophy!