Good job Obama. _____ Exclusive: First Autistic Presidential Appointee Speaks Out When Ari Ne’eman walked onstage at a college campus in Pennsylvania in June, he looked like a handsome young rabbi presiding over the bar mitzvah of a young Talmudic scholar. In truth, Ne’eman was facilitating a different kind of coming-of-age ceremony. Beckoning a group of teenagers to walk through a gateway symbolizing their transition into adult life, he said, “I welcome you as members of the autistic community.” The setting was an annual gathering called Autreat, organized by an autistic self-help group called Autism Network International. Ne’eman’s deliberate use of the phrase “the autistic community” was more subversive than it sounds. The notion that autistic people — often portrayed in the media as pitiable loners — would not only wear their diagnosis proudly, but want to make common cause with other autistic people, is still a radical one. In December, he was nominated by President Obama to the National Council on Disability (NCD), a panel that advises the President and Congress on ways of reforming health care, schools, support services and employment policy to make society more equitable for people with all forms of disability. full article
Finally, someone who isn't an out of touch Washington elitist and a man who can sense what the average Joe is feeling.
Was Dubya the first autistic president? Or was he just dyslexic with an attention span limited to 20 minutes making it impossible to do any substantial reading? Psychopathy? Or a simple attachment disorder?
