ASAN is currently gathering interest for a new chapter at Syracuse University, where a neurodiversity symposium will take place August 5, 2011. The announcement below was reposted from the event page at http://neurodiversitysymposium.wordpress.com
On August 5, 2011, Syracuse University will be hosting a regional symposium on neurodiversity and autistic self-advocacy. Neurodiversity is a concept and social movement that advocates for viewing autism as a variation of human wiring, rather than a disease. As such, neurodiversity activists reject the idea that autism should be cured, advocating instead for celebrating autistic forms of communication and self-expression, and for promoting support systems that allow autistic people to live as autistic people.
The purpose of this event is to raise public awareness of the concepts of neurodiversity and the different facets of the neurodiversity movement, and to increase understanding and dispel myths about what it means to be against curing autism. The symposium will also address the ways in which the concept of neurodiversity can be expanded beyond just autism to include other atypical forms of neurological wiring, such as ADHD, hydrocephalus, and dyslexia, to name a few.
The event will kick off Friday with a keynote by Ari Ne’eman, Founding President of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, and the Vice Chair of Engagement on the National Council on Disability (http://www.ncd.gov). Ari’s keynote will address issues such as the history, current state, and future of the neurodiversity/autistic self-advocacy movement, and autistic self-advocacy in politics.
Following the keynote, local activists will lead panels and smaller discussions on more specific topics related to neurodiversity, such as: autistic culture; helping parents support self-advocacy; self-empowerment through facilitated communication and other non-verbal forms of communicating; and neurodiversity in the classroom.
Any updates will be posted to the symposium’s website.
Cost: FREE!!!
Location: Goldstein Student Center (room 201ABC) on Syracuse University’s South Campus area in Syracuse, NY.
Registration info: Preliminary registration is now available at the symposium’s site.
The Neurodiversity Symposium is sponsored by:
The Beyond Compliance Coordinating Committee
The SU Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies
The SU Disability Cultural Center Initiative
The Institute on Communication and Inclusion
The SU School of Education
Cultural Foundations of Education, School of Education, Syracuse University
The Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education
The Department of Teaching and Leadership