Tyler Cowen, writing in the Chronicle of Higher Education, expresses dismay at the “dehumanizing ideologies” and biases directed by academics toward people with autism. He asks academics to embrace neurodiversity, develop a respectful language for discussing autism, and move beyond defining autism as a problem to be solved. In fact, he says, it can be a competitive advantage. An excerpt:

The more complex reality is that there is a lot more autism in higher education than most of us realize. It’s not just “special needs” students but also our valedictorians, our faculty members, and yes —sometimes —our administrators.

That last sentence is not some kind of cheap laugh line about the many dysfunctional features of higher education. Autism is often described as a disease or a plague, but when it comes to the American college or university, autism is often a competitive advantage rather than a problem to be solved. One reason American academe is so strong is because it mobilizes the strengths and talents of people on the autistic spectrum so effectively. In spite of some of the harmful rhetoric, the on-the-ground reality is that autistics have been very good for colleges, and colleges have been very good for autistics.

Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 5:07 pm and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, autism, post-secondary education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post