Liberal Stewart McGillivray Also Confirms Conservative James Moore's Autism Is Not a Disability Statement

More Confirmation!

Liberal Stewart McGillivray, who also participated in the candidate's forum in which Conservative James Moore made his "autism is not a disability" statement, has, along with NDP Mark Ireland, also confirmed that Moore did indeed make the "autism isn't a disability" statement. The two candidates confirm the information posted on the Medicare for Autism NOW! message board  by Elaine Willis, who was at the forum  and asked the autism medicare question that led to Mr. Moore's statement.  Mr. McGilliivray's confirming email was forwarded to my attention:

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Autism Ignorance: Conservative James Moore Says Autism Is Not a Disability

UPDATE: NDP Candidate Mark Ireland who was present at the forum has twice CONFIRMED in a message below that James Moore stated that autism is not a disability.  Mr. Ireland also confirmed that Moore made the statement in a twitter discussion with Ben Brisebois that I have posted on Facing Autism in NB.

Conservative candidate James Moore was asked at Riverside Secondary All Candidates Meeting  in the  BC riding of  Port Moody–Westwood–Port Coquitlam whether he would support legislation to amend the Canada Health Act to include autism treatment (ABA/IBI) under Medicare.  

His reply, as reported at Medicare for Autism NOW,  demonstrated Mr. Moore's fundamental ignorance of autism disorders:

"No, autism is not a disability and The Canada Health Act is not for Special interest Groups."

Mr. Moore obviously knows nothing about autism disorders when he states that autism is not a disability.  He might want to visit web sites of agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee in the US.  Or he could talk to officials at the Canada Revenue Agency who do consider autism a disability for Disability Tax Credit pruposes and specifically mention autism at page 7 of document  RC4064(E) Rev. 10  Medical and Disability-Related Information.    

As to why James Moore would define persons with autism as a special interest group or why the Canada Health act does not apply to them his brief dismissal of this serious issue provides no illumination. 

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Autism Is A Learning Preference Not a Disability? Educationalist Needs Some Reality Based Autism Education

educationalist

Main Entry: ed·u·ca·tion·ist 

Pronunciation: \ˌe-jə-ˈkā-sh(ə-)nist\

Variant(s): also ed·u·ca·tion·al·ist  \-shnə-list, -shə-n^əl-ist\

Function: noun

Date: 1829

1 chiefly British : a professional educator
2 : an educational theorist

preference

Main Entry: pref·er·ence 

Pronunciation: \ˈpre-fərn(t)s, ˈpre-f(ə-)rən(t)s\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English preferraunce, from Middle French preferance,from Medieval Latin praeferentia, from Latin praeferent-, praeferens,present participle of praeferre

Date: 15th century

1 a : the act of preferring : the state of being preferred b : the power or opportunity of choosing

2 : one that is preferred

3 : the act, fact, or principle of giving advantages to some over others

"New Zealand schools should view autism as a learning preference, rather than a difficulty or disability, says UK educationalist Neil Mackay."

According to the Miriam Webster online dictionary an educationalist is a professional educator or an educational theorist.  In the above reference  which also formed the headline  of the article in question and is now on the internet the Educationalist distorts the realities of Autism Disorders.  A preference, as set out in the MW involves a choice, the power to choose. Even for those with High Functioning Autism or Aspergers I have never seen a scholarly article or even a Neurodiversity ideological tract which describes their methods of learning as being choices.

The educationalist says  that autism is not a disability? Tell that to those with Autistic Disorder and intellectual disability. For them, including my son, autism is a serious disability.  The Educationalist should educate himself about autism DISORDERS before telling the world that autism is not a disability.

Educationalist educate thyself!

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Autism Is A Disability In West Virginia Woods

The Jacob Allen story has turned out well with the 18 year old low functioning autistic teen with limited communication skills found alive 4 days after getting lost in West Virigina woods while hiking with his parents. His severely limited communication skills could have cost him his life:

A spokesman for the rescue effort said Allen was found in the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area about a mile from where he left his parents during a hike on Sunday.

Because he is in good health and has hiking experience, and because temperatures have not been too cold, searchers had held out hope that he had survived. But his autism prevented him from speaking and responding to calls from searchers.

Neurodiversity advocates would have the world believe that autism is not a disorder; not a disability. This incident in West Virgina puts the lie to that absurd claim. So too does the case of Tiffany Pinckney, an autistic woman who starved to death. unable to help herself, while she depended on the care of her adoptive sister. So too does the case of the 50 year old autistic woman in a Long Island residential care facility who, unable to communicate what was happening to her, was repeatedly assaulted by attendants at the facility until the assaults were caught on video.

Hopefully neuodiversity icons like Professor Morton Ann Gernsbacher and Dr. Laurent Mottron will take time from studying high functioning autistic persons to give some thought to the more severely autistic persons who can not function in the real world and who are dependent on the good will of others to live. Maybe then they will not participate in creating the potentially dangerous myth that autism is not a disability.

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