• NAACP picketing St. Louis schools circa 1950s. Photo credit AARP

Surviving Inclusion: At The Intersection of Minority, Disability and Resegregation

Kerima Çevik on Surviving Inclusion: At The Intersection of Minority, Disability and Resegregation “I see the work of inclusion as probably the last frontier of desegregation. If you read the brief from Brown v Board of Ed, The board of education argued that if we let the blacks be integrated then the next thing you know is that we’ll be letting people with disabilities be integrated.” Joe Petner, Principal, The Haggerty School,  Including Samuel  NAACP picketing St. Louis schools circa 1950s. Photo credit AARP In October of 2008, we discovered that our son, who was transferred into a full special education

  • Ollibean News Headline ON SURVIVING INCLUSION, Written by: Kerima  Çevik, These groups view inclusion as an educational disaster, as racist educators saw racial integration in its time. Photograph of Gail Etienne age 6, one of the Mcdonogh 3, being driven to school by federal marshals looking very sad. Photo credit: NOLA.com

On Surviving Inclusion

On Surviving Inclusion by Kerima Cevik Three young Black soldiers, bubbling over with the news that the Civil Rights act was just signed into law, and ready to demand a front door entrance and equal treatment everywhere rushed around places where people of color were formerly unseen and unheard. Image is of the first page of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Credit National Archives. I cannot impart on you what this moment in time meant to them. Imagine being told all your life that you were less than others. Imagine approaching your local supermarket

The Reason I Blog

This blog (The Autism Wars), and all the other blogs and projects associated with it, are for my autistic son, Mustafa. But this blog is actually not talking about him without him or about daily life with him with some rare exceptions for times when his daily displays of empathy, kindness, and love towards me move me to write. When I say it is for my son, I mean it is part of my activism and my exploration of what it means to try and ally myself to his cause. This cause is something that too many of us are aware of

  • Image description: White square with salmon text that reads " I am talking about how a privileged majority can oppress a minority simply to keep a status quo that devalues human lives. Amy Sequenzia " Ollibean logo in bottom right corner.

A Message to Suzanne Wright and Autism Speaks

I will soon write about posAutive messages but I had to write this first. I know my rights and I will fight against oppression at the same time that I spread the messages of acceptance and respect.

Hopes

I might be too optimistic for the reality, but I need HOPE to be able to keep demanding the rights taken away from me, just because I am me.

Inclusion, Communication and Civil Rights

"Learning is easy when the teacher knows you can learn. " Henry Frost

From “Severe and Low Functioning” to “Kind of a Big Deal”

Some people consider it so abhorrent to entertain the possibility of having a child with autism they are willing to do a sperm screening that allows doctors to selectively choose only sperm that will produce female children to impregnate the mother. Since there are currently four times as many autistic boys than autistic girls the thinking is that only allowing sperm that will result in girl babies at least reduces the risk of autism. Read the article Baby Sex Checks here. There are ever so many areas to address in this article and others have done so here , and here, but

My Sisters. My Allies.

My sisters are good allies. Not just the ally because I am their brother. .Allies knowing all people have the right to inclusion,communication, and civil rights. Knowing not necessary to earn these rights. These are rights for every person.

Don’t Mix Up Empathy and Civil Rights

Many times in the autism community parents of autistic children do not like autistic adults weighing in on situations that have to do with their autistic children. I am an autistic adult and often have parents telling me that I should not judge situations if I have not lived it – the “until-you-walk-a-mile-in-their-shoes” is told to me nearly every week as I post the latest news articles along with my comments on social media.

Thank You, Ed Roberts

"And we’re going to develop leadership, that has a fundamental difference and that is, it's inclusive . It believes in people, and in our strengths together . And we are going to change our society. " Ed Roberts

Intersection of Law, Education and Civil Rights

As a deaf-blind student with very limited sight and hearing, Haben Girma '13 learned that you must be a self-advocate and come up with creative solutions to the problems you face. If that fails, she says, then the law can be a strong ally.

ADAPT

ADAPT is a national grass-roots community that organizes disability rights activists to engage in nonviolent direct action, including civil disobedience, to assure the civil and human rights of people with disabilities to live in freedom. The ADAPT Youth Summit will take place on in Chicago, Illinois.  We are training young people with disabilities on direct action and nonviolent civil disobedience.  If you are interested in supporting this year’s event or participating in next year’s group, please email Josue at adaptyouthsummit@yahoo.com.

Inclusion is a right not a privilege.

Inclusion is not only socially just, but research shows it improves academic outcomes for all students.

Neurodiversity IS the Next Civil Rights Movement

"When we talk about inclusion what we're talking about is diversity." Audra Zucherman, co-founder, The IDEAL School .The IDEAL School practices full inclusion while nurturing their students abilities to create real change in the world through compassion and self- empowerment.

US DOE “Access to Sports for Students with Disabilities Is a Civil Right”

U.S. Education Department is telling schools they must include students with disabilities in sports programs or provide equal alternative options.

  • Boy with brown hair and blue and white checked shirt holds sign that reads The Civil Rights Act of 1964 granted equal rights to all people. I am a person. I want these rights.

Standing Together for Inclusion

Standing together for inclusion, communication and civil rights. Please include all kids in your classroom.

Henry’s Road to Inclusion Part 1

Henry met Tracy, Larry, Harvey Lavoy, and Pascal Cheng on June 9, 2011. It was a very special day, one that would change Henry's life forever.

UNH IOD Standing With Henry

But after watching Wretches and Jabberers, a film about autism and self-advocacy, Henry’s way of interacting with the world changed radically. He realized that he had a voice, could use it, and had a right to participate in discussions about his education and life.

  • boy wearing a turquoise tshrt that reads "Not being able to speak is not the same as not having anything to say" sitting on couch one hand on iPad one hand on his dog . The dog is yellow lab/golden mix .

Henry Frost on Inclusion on the Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Henry wrote about inclusion for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, read the entire article here. Ari Ne'eman, president of the ASAN, had an enormous impact on Henry's decision to speak out about his desire to attend his neighborhood school. "I met Ari at theAutism Summer Institute. I wrote to him about my school and he understood. He helped me advocate for my rights. ASAN helped with the petition. He is also autistic. He is also my friend. I did not read about a person who liked being in a separate school away from their friends learning cooking for life skills

  • I Stand With Henry

Autistic Student Wins the Right to Go to School

Henry Frost had a pretty simple goal: he wanted to go to school like any other kid.

Why is a 13 year old protesting in order to go TO school?

How did we get here? How did we get to a point that our 13 year old son has to fight for the rights that are already his under federal law? How did we get to a place where a pretty reserved kid has the courage, the will, to do this?

Social Media Helps Student With Autism Find His Voice

Henry Miles Frost and his service dog, Denzel, protest outside a downtown Tampa building during the Republican National Convention. Since he posted the photo to Facebook, he’s found global support in his effort to enroll in his South Tampa neighborhood s

I Stand With Henry

What Henry is doing is advocating for his rights, at the same time that he reminds us of our own rights and about how far we still have to go.

My Civil Rights

Inclusion, Martin Luther King, Jr, The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and education.

38 Disability Organizations Oppose House ESEA Proposal

The organizations oppose the draft Student Success Act because “it abandons accountability for the achievement and learning gains of subgroups of disadvantaged students who for generations have been harmed by low academic expectations.

Office for Civil Rights

The mission of the Office for Civil Rights is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through vigorous enforcement of civil rights. An important responsibility is resolving complaints of discrimination. OCR also provides technical assistance to help institutions achieve voluntary compliance with the civil rights laws that OCR enforces. An important part of OCR's assistance is partnerships designed to develop creative approaches to preventing and addressing discrimination.

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund

The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, founded in 1979, is a leading national civil rights law and policy center directed by individuals with disabilities and parents who have children with disabilities. The mission of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund is to advance the civil and human rights of people with disabilities through legal advocacy, training, education, and public policy and legislative development.

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