Autistic students self-represent

A new organization on campus wants to change people's perceptions about a behavioral condition that is often characterized as a debilitating illness.

The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, co-chaired by Benzion Chinn, a Ph.D. student in history, and Melanie Yergeau, a Ph.D. student in English, is seeking to change misconceptions about autistic people.

Yergeau and Chinn formed the Ohio State chapter last winter, but had been trying to get the organization off the ground since early fall. Both Yergeau and Chinn have Asperger's syndrome, which is a considered a "high-functioning" type of autism.

"Autism is a mental state where the person turns inward and does not engage in the sort of social behavior expected of normal people," Chinn said. "Autism is a spectrum ranging from people who are incapable of doing the day to day tasks needed to care for themselves to people who are fully functional, but have difficulties in social interactions."

A big difference between ASAN and similar organizations is that it is a self-supporting organization where autistic members holding power.

"We're an alternative organization. We're especially concerned with self-advocacy and issues of representation, and issues of speaking for versus speaking as or speaking with," Yergeau said.

Perhaps the group's biggest break from the norm of other autism organizations is its anti-cure stance.

"This stance tends to scare a lot of people. They tend to misinterpret it as anti-assistance, anti-accommodation, anti-services, anti-medicine, and so forth. It's not," Yergeau said. "Any service that seeks to eradicate autism from an individual is not an OK service in my book."

Yergeau hopes the organization will be a source of information for students and faculty alike.

"We really want to start a dialogue, complicate people's views of what autism is, of who autistics are," Yergeau said.

ASAN's first meeting will be at 5:45 p.m. Thursday at at Barnes and Noble in the South Campus Gateway. Students, faculty and community members are welcome to attend.