Carol Grigg Responds to ASAN's Concerns about ASPIA

by Meg Evans · 2009-05-13 10:30:00 UTC
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[Ed. Meg's previous coverage of this issue here and here]

a poster with a bunch of words about positive relationships and mutual support and community action and cooperationOver the past few weeks, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network has found support within the Change.org community for an action supporting ASAN's petition telling Dr. Tony Attwood and Dr. Isabelle Hénault to disassociate themselves from prejudiced groups that falsely portray Autistic people as unfit to be parents or to have family relationships. Drs. Attwood and Hénault have not as yet done so, and we intend to make it crystal clear that our community will not tolerate their associations with hate groups such as FAAAS that advocate discrimination in family law and exclusion of Autistic children from the public schools. Direct action such as protests at conferences and other events will continue until sufficient action is taken in response to our concerns.

Carol Grigg of the partner support group ASPIA currently is engaging in dialogue with ASAN, however, and she has indicated that she plans to add more balanced information to her website and that she supports the rights of all people to be judged on the basis of their actions. She has removed an article from ASPIA's website that suggested there was a "potential for abuse" by Autistic adults in family relationships and has offered to include more information from the Autistic community that can help couples and families. We hope that ASPIA will henceforth promote a constructive approach to improving family relationships that acknowledges the need for both partners to share responsibility for communication difficulties, while avoiding stigma or blame. We plan to continue our dialogue with ASPIA and are seeking input from the Autistic community with regard to additional steps that should be taken to create a positive environment for family and relationship support.

ASAN greatly appreciates the willingness of our Change.org supporters to speak out for Autistic civil rights and against prejudice and discrimination. Committed people working together for a cause truly can bring about change in the world. There is still much work to be done to improve society's attitudes toward people with disabilities and to ensure equal rights for all, and every one of our voices is needed.

Meg Evans
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