From CBS News, a followup on the case of Alex Barton, the Florida 5-year-old with behavior problems whose teacher led fellow students in voting to eject him from class.

In an interview that also included Alex and his mother, Melissa Barton, clinical psychologist Jed Baker said teachers need training on including children with special needs in regular classrooms. In the absence of such training, he said, he worries that children are being taught intolerance.

The video (below) shows Alex as a boy who is constantly in motion. Watch the closing moments as Baker and interviewer Harry Smith give him positive reinforcement for staying silent during the interview. “Alex, thank you buddy,” Smith says. Baker offers a high-five. “You did a good job, man.”

Partial transcript follows.

Partial (and unofficial) transcript:

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A new wave of activists wants to celebrate atypical brain function as a positive identity, not a disability. Opponents call them dangerously deluded.

From New York magazine, an extended feature on the new autism rights — AKA neurodiversity — movement.

Writer Andrew Solomon concludes that there are actually three camps in the autism debate that are blatantly hostile to one another:

• Those who believe autism is caused by environmental toxins (especially vaccines) and should be cured by addressing those pollutants;
• Those who believe it is genetic and should be addressed through the genome; and
• The neurodiverse, who believe that it is genetic and should be left alone.

Solomon himself has depression, and feels that his experience with it has been on the whole positive. He concludes that autism, and its champions, also have much to contribute to human understanding.

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From the [Qatar] Gulf Times:

Panamanian First Lady Vivian Fernandez de Torrijos this week called for immediate action by world leaders on their commitment to “create equal opportunities for all human beings”.

“I am speaking to you as a woman, as a mother and as a citizen of the world. We must create a society where justice, equality and acceptance of diversity are the basic fundamentals. We the governments, ministers, first ladies, all have to ensure that we carry out our commitments,” said de Torrijos, wife of Panama’s President Martin Torrijos Espino.

De Torrijos was speaking at the concluding session of the 3rd Annual International Shafallah Forum on Children with Special Needs.

Citing the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, she said the world must hear their voice.

Also attending the conference were Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Bob and Suzanne Wright, founders of Autism Speaks.

See also:

Researchers say sports are changing media stereotypes of disability

The Gulf Times is the leading English language newspaper in Qatar.

From DiversityInc.com, a publication about diversity in business, a list of seven things you can NEVER say to people with disabilities. (The emphasis is theirs.) Developed with the participation of the National Organization on Disability (NOD) and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the list is just the right length to be posted on the office bulletin board.

Take note:

1. “What’s wrong/what happened?” or “Were you born that way?”
2. “Oh, if you just have faith, you can be healed.”
3. Speaking slowly or loudly to someone who is in a wheelchair.
4. “I don’t even think of you as a person with a disability.”
5. “How do you go to the bathroom?”
6. “But you look so good.”
7. “Oh, you’re here, you must feel better.”

And that doesn’t even take into account the standard list of culturally insensitive words like “handicapped,” “retarded” and “slow” to refer to people with disabilities, or “compliments” like “you look so good.”

“These terms are unacceptable because they are linked to a history that the general public isn’t aware of,” says Nancy Starnes, vice president and chief of staff for the National Organization on Disability (NOD). “And just like there are terms that you don’t use for African Americans anymore, the same goes for people with disabilities.”

People actually say this stuff? Given that the Census Bureau reports that there are 11.8 million people with reported disabilities in the work force, surely we’ve got a lot of reliable correspondents out there. Readers, what have you heard? Tell us about your most memorable office interaction.

For inspiration, take a look at DiversityInc’s other lists of cringeworthy comments:

• 10 Things NEVER to Say to Black Coworkers: #1: “You’re so articulate.”
• 7 Things NEVER to Say to Asian-American Executives: #1: “You must be the IT person.”
  
• 10 Things NEVER to Say to Latino Executives
  
• 7 Things NEVER to Say to LGBT Coworkers
• 6 Workplace Myths About People With Disabilities

Helen Henderson, writing in the [Toronto] Star, says it’s time to readjust our collective consciousness about the the concept of “diversity.”

There’s an ironic disconnect developing around the terms “diversity” and “inclusion.” Somewhere along the way, we have shrunk the meaning of both words.

Diversity should include all people who look and think and communicate and move in ways that distinguish them from the majority. These days the term is used almost exclusively to refer to skin colour and ethnicity.

My diversity is not your diversity.

Who knew a concept so inclusive could become so exclusive?