Charles Smith

Recent Activity

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  Charles signed the petition | almost 3 years ago

  Oppose the use of alarmist rhetoric about autism
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  Charles signed the petition | about 3 years ago

  Promote Respectful Language
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  Charles commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  10 Autism Controversies

  When discussing the "environment," I think i'ts important to make a distinction between the natural environment, (which includes things like trees and mountains and animals and weather), and the artificial environment, (buildings and artificial lighting, and all the things that fall under the blanket of "society," or "culture.")  When we hear the term "environment," more often we think of the former type: we have "environmental preservation," "environmental policy," etc., but with regard to disability management, almost always it's the artificial environment that needs to be attended to.  Unless we make this distinction, it still sounds like we're putting the onus on the disabled individual when we say that they're out of alignment with their environment, because "environment" is assumed to be natural and non-negotiable.  In fact, the artificial environment has been created to accommodate people, and it creates "disability" when it fails to accommodate all people, and that's the environment we're talking about here.