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Overcoming Dyslexia

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disability advocacy organizations for the use of person-first language when referring to a<br />

person with a medical or mental condition or disability, which emphasizes the person<br />

with the condition, who has, rather than is defined by it. There are accepted general<br />

arguments for the use of 'disabled person' similarly based on the social model of<br />

disability that are recognised in the UK and elsewhere.<br />

Acceptance Perspective<br />

Members of the various autism rights organizations view autism as a way of life rather<br />

than as a disease and thus advocate acceptance over a search for a cure. Some<br />

advocates believe that common therapies for the behavioral and language differences<br />

associated with autism, like applied behavior analysis, are not only misguided but also<br />

unethical.<br />

The "acceptance perspective" endorsed by the movement is a view that autism is not a<br />

disorder, but a normal occurrence—an alternate variation in brain wiring or a less<br />

common expression of the human genome. Advocates of this perspective believe that<br />

autism is a unique way of being that should be validated, supported and appreciated<br />

rather than shunned, discriminated against or eliminated. They believe quirks and<br />

uniqueness of autistic individuals should be tolerated as the differences of any minority<br />

group should be tolerated and that efforts to eliminate autism should not be compared,<br />

for example, to curing cancer but instead to the antiquated notion of curing lefthandedness.<br />

The ARM is a part of the larger disability rights movement, and as such<br />

acknowledges the social model of disability. Within the model, struggles faced by<br />

autistic people are viewed as discrimination rather than deficiencies.<br />

Advocacy<br />

According to Andrew Fenton and Tim Krahn, proponents of neurodiversity strive to<br />

reconceptualize autism and related conditions in society by the following measures:<br />

acknowledging that neurodiversity does not require a cure; changing the language from<br />

the current "condition, disease, disorder, or illness"-based nomenclature and<br />

"broaden[ing] the understanding of healthy or independent living"; acknowledging new<br />

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