I remember talking about Neurological disorders in class on Tuesday. We specifically talked about autism and a need for tolerance and inclusivity when it comes to the existence of "neurological variations."
I went to a panel discussion for "earth week" with the focus being on social justice. During one of the talks (one about pesticides as utilized in our agricultural process) a man mentioned the harmful effects pesticides had on the agricultural workforce. He mentioned one such case where a pregnant woman had been exposed to pesticides during her pregnancy and it resulted in her child being born without arms or legs. And I thought about our class and the discussion we had. And I realized that although it is true that we need to be open and accommodating to those of us who are born "different," we have to question how "different" occurs and under what circumstances are people with disabilities born.
Now of course I'm not talking about a genetic abnormalities of "chance" or cases where non-normative behavior is determined as a disorder. I am simply questioning whether we are allowed to openly question causation factors of birth defects without being deemed intolerant of the people who live with these disorders.
In the example of autism, I'm not saying we should be less accepting or accommodating towards these individuals. But what I am arguing is that if the increase in rates of autism is not simply "natural" but caused by issues of chemical exposure to woman during pregnancy, or of young children being exposed to toxic pollution or a synthetic endocrine disruptor, then we shouldn't simply see those suffering from these disorders as examples of the positive plurality of life but rather as members of our society who suffers unjustly.
I think ultimately my question is, do we in accommodating and being more tolerant of individuals with mental disorders run the risk of dismissing how it is that these individuals are coming to be born or developing these disorders? Are we equally responsible in advocating for "accommodation" as we are in advocating for "prevention."
-Jayson Castillo
I agree with a lot of the points that were but I was curious about one thing. I think naturally we tend to look for patterns in things and try to relate ideas. While this generally though provoking, it can have major pitfalls. Just because there is a correlation between two things does not imply that there is a relationship. I remember that a while ago, a lot of people weren't getting their kids vaccinated because there was a study that kids getting autism from the shots. While there was not much proof, just a correlation between getting shots and autism people assumed a relationship. While this may or may not be the case for the fertilizer indecent. But I don't think we tend to overlook the causes. If anything we might over analyze it. Someone mentioned how they we selling something on campus about "cure autism" or something like that, as if it was a disease. But I think it is a good thing we are so accommodating, especially in education, because every equal deserves such.
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