You might think that the nomination of a college student with Asperger’s Syndrome to the National Council on Disability wouldn’t be a controversial story. You would be wrong. Ari Ne’eman currently has a Senate hold on his nomination and it might because he advocates for more resources be devoted to helping people with disabilities live independently in their communities instead of focusing solely on research for a cure. Like a lot of disability advocates before him, Ne’eman argues for a view of disability that is based on a social rather than a medical perspective. The fact that his beliefs provoke opposition and condemnation demonstrates that the disability community still has work to do in helping the general public understand that getting “fixed” isn’t necessarily our top priority.
Examined more closely, the whole kerfuffle is kind of silly. Placing Ne’eman on the Council isn’t going to divert one dollar away from ongoing research efforts towards finding a cure. But we also need to recognize that most of the people living with various congenital disabilities are not going to benefit from the cures that are almost certain to arrive in the future. The smartest policy would be to adequately fund both research and community supports rather than framing the discussion as a zero-sum game. But professional “advocates” aren’t accustomed to think in such terms. For them, any attempt to portray disability as identity is seen as a threat to their messaging; messaging that all too often employs pity as a strategy for winning financial support.
I do hope that Ne’eman eventually gets confirmed. We need more contrarian voices like his on the national stage.
well said.