Ollibean Think Tank

Ollibean Think Tank2012-06-27T10:32:21+00:00

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This is not directed at anyone in particular. It is about several people I’ve met throughout my life. I sometimes need to remind myself that being me means following my own agenda and not pleasing the ones who will not be part of my story.

The Presumption of Competence

Presumption of competence is more than an abstract idea. It has real and concrete effects. Here is one: it is better than a makeover.

Sesame Street, This is an Autistic Speaking

Sesame Street knew nobody was missing, or lacking, anything. I was perfect! Everyone is perfect! But in real life, as I grew older, doctors and teachers convinced everyone that I was too broken to be worthy of any effort toward education and a future. Nobody saw me the way I was seen by my friends at Sesame Street.

  • Image description: Photograph of screenshot of C-SPAN a light skinned man with black hair. He is wearing glasses and a dark grey suit, light shirt and maroon tie. Ari Ne'eman Autistic Self Advocacy Network

The Importance of Supports

"If we invested a mere one-tenth of the amount of money that we currently pour into causation into empowering Autistic people to communicate, that young man and hundreds of thousands more like him would be able to communicate their needs to us today. I am not here today to speak for every Autistic person – that’s impossible. What I am here for is to argue for every Autistic person to have the same opportunity to communicate that I have come to enjoy thanks to the support that I have been lucky enough to receive in my life." Ari Ne'eman

Sebastien’s Smile

Sebastien's Smile was created for the sole purpose of raising awareness for Mitochondrial diseases which affect the Setin's son Sebastien.

Autism and Psychiatric Diagnoses

psy judy

At different times during my growing up and even during my adult years autism wasn’t something people knew much about. I often came in front of

I am the 20 % and the RNC

Henry takes his bi-partisan message of inclusion and civil rights for all to the Republican National Convention.

  • Because we are all human beings and ‘disability’ does not define a person. And I hated social injustice and inequality from a very young age. I dislike ‘disability labels’ and I feel that children deserve something better than to be segregated and denied an equal education and a means of communication on grounds of disability. Richard Attfield activist. author. human.

Change Leader: Richard Attfield

Richard Attfield, a contributing author to "Autism and the Myth of the Person Alone", is passionate about the rights of children with disability labels to have equal access to education and communication supports.

Standing With Ashley

I stand with Ashley because she is part of our community, she is brave and she survived brutality.I stand with Ashley because I hope to show her, one day, that the joy of belonging to our caring community trumps the memories of pain.

Judith Snow ~ Relationships & Inclusion

"The research shows that when a child who is not academically gifted is included in a regular school, not only do the academics improve across the school, and I did say that, I didn’t say “in the classroom”, I said “across the school”, not only do the academics improve, but drug use and violence goes down."

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