Sanism (also called mentalism or neuro-discrimination) is prejudice plus power; anyone of any neurological condition can have/exhibit neurocognitive-based prejudice, but in North America (and globally), neurotypical people have the institutional power, therefore Sanism is a systematized discrimination, antagonism, or exclusion directed against neurodivergent people based on the belief that neurotypical cognition is superior.
Sanism often stems from the "pathology paradigm [that] ultimately boils down to just two fundamental assumptions:
Anti-Sanism is strategies, theories, actions, and practices that challenge and counter inequalities, prejudices, and discrimination based on neuro-cognitive condition or ability.
Anti-Sanism often cites and upholds "the neurodiversity paradigm, [which] is a perspective that recognizes neurodiversity as a naturally-occurring form of human diversity, like cultural diversity, racial diversity, gender diversity, diversity of physical ability, and diversity of sexual orientation. It follows these fundamental principles:
Sanist Microaggressions are commonplace verbal or behavioral indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative slights and insults in relation to neurodivergence and/or mental health diagnoses. They are structurally based and invoke oppressive systems of a "normal cognition" hierarchy. Sanist Microinvalidations, Microinsults, Microassaults are specific types of microaggressions.
Note: The prefix “micro” is used because these are invocations of normalized cognition hierarchy at the individual level (person to person), where as the "macro" level refers to aggressions committed by structures as a whole (e.g. an organizational policy). "Micro" in no way minimalizes or otherwise evaluates the impact or seriousness of the aggressions.
Further Reading:
Neurotypical Privilege
Neurotypical privilege refers to the unearned benefits that American society and many other societies and cultures accord to neurotypical people. This privilege is rooted in two cultural beliefs: 1) that "there is one “right,” “normal,” or “healthy” way for human brains and human minds to be configured and to function (or one relatively narrow “normal” range into which the configuration and functioning of human brains and minds ought to fall), and 2) that if your neurological configuration and functioning (and, as a result, your ways of thinking and behaving) diverge substantially from the dominant standard of “normal,” then there is Something Wrong With You." (from Nick Walker). These beliefs or societal models mean that many cultures, including within the US, have set up social expectations, structures, cultural mores, and institutions to accommodate neurotypical people by default and that dismiss and/or marginalize the needs and experiences of neurodivergent people. Neurotypical privilege speaks to how not being (or not being perceived as being) neurodivergent means not having to think or address topics that those without neurotypical privilege have to deal with, often on a daily basis.
To give you an idea of neurotypical privilege, here are some examples of the benefits neurotypical people receive:
Further Reading:
Neurotypical Fragility
Neurotypical fragility (drawing on white fragility in critical race theory) is rooted in a desire to restore and reproduce neurotypical normativity. It is a combination of lack of stamina in interrogating conceptualizations of neurocognitive configurations and functioning, as well as a resistance to challenging those conceptions, often react[ing] with defensiveness [and] forcing neurodivergent people to do the emotional labor of comforting the neurotypical person in addition to educating them. (adapted from Cis Fragility)
The dominant association between "normal" and "neurotypical" allows most neurotypical people to live in social environments that insulate them from challenging encounters with neurodivergence, neurodiversity perspectives, or people who differ from themselves. Within this dominant social environment, neurotypical people come to expect social comfort and a sense of belonging and that their perspective of "normal" is correct by default. When this comfort is disrupted, neurotypical people are often at a loss because they have not had to build skills for constructive engagement with neurodivergent people and their social perspectives. They may become defensive, positioning themselves as victims of anti-saneist work and co-opting the rhetoric of violence to describe their experiences of being challenged on neurotypical privilege. (adapted from "Christian Fragility")
Being a Supportive Ally
A- always center the impacted
— Kayla Reed (@RE_invent_ED) June 13, 2016
L- listen & learn from those who live in the oppression
L- leverage your privilege
Y-yield the floor
Feminist, Queer, Crip by
In Feminist, Queer, Crip Alison Kafer imagines a different future for disability and disabled bodies. Challenging the ways in which ideas about the future and time have been deployed in the service of compulsory able-bodiedness and able-mindedness, Kafer rejects the idea of disability as a pre-determined limit. She juxtaposes theories, movements, and identities such as environmental justice, reproductive justice, cyborg theory, transgender politics, and disability that are typically discussed in isolation and envisions new possibilities for crip futures and feminist/queer/crip alliances. This bold book goes against the grain of normalization and promotes a political framework for a more just world.
Nothing about Us, Without Us by
James Charlton has produced a ringing indictment of disability oppression, which, he says, is rooted in degradation, dependency, and powerlessness and is experienced in some form by five hundred million persons throughout the world who have physical, sensory, cognitive, or developmental disabilities. Nothing About Us Without Us is the first book in the literature on disability to provide a theoretical overview of disability oppression that shows its similarities to, and differences from, racism, sexism, and colonialism. Charlton's analysis is illuminated by interviews he conducted over a ten-year period with disability rights activists throughout the Third World, Europe, and the United States. Charlton finds an antidote for dependency and powerlessness in the resistance to disability oppression that is emerging worldwide. His interviews contain striking stories of self-reliance and empowerment evoking the new consciousness of disability rights activists. As a latecomer among the world's liberation movements, the disability rights movement will gain visibility and momentum from Charlton's elucidation of its history and its political philosophy of self-determination, which is captured in the title of his book. Nothing About Us Without Us expresses the conviction of people with disabilities that they know what is best for them. Charlton's combination of personal involvement and theoretical awareness assures greater understanding of the disability rights movement.
What We Have Done by
"Nothing about us without us" has been a core principle of American disability rights activists for more than half a century. It represents a response by people with disabilities to being treated with scorn and abuse or as objects of pity, and to having the most fundamental decisions relating to their lives?where they would live; if and how they would be educated; if they would be allowed to marry or have families; indeed, if they would be permitted to live at all?made by those who were, in the parlance of the movement, ?temporarily able-bodied.? In What We Have Done: An Oral History of the Disability Rights Movement, Fred Pelka takes that slogan at face value. He presents the voices of disability rights activists who, in the period from 1950 to 1990, transformed how society views people with disabilities, and recounts how the various streams of the movement came together to push through the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the most sweeping civil rights legislation since passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Beginning with the stories of those who grew up with disabilities in the 1940s and ?50s, the book traces how disability came to be seen as a political issue, and how people with disabilities?often isolated, institutionalized, and marginalized?forged a movement analogous to the civil rights, women?s rights, and gay rights movements, and fought for full and equal participation in American society.
NeuroTribes: The legacy of autism and the future of neurodiversity by
A groundbreaking book that upends conventional thinking about autism and suggests a broader model for acceptance, understanding, and full participation in society for people who think differently.
Practicing Self-Care
For Neurodivergent Folks in Crisis
Coping Strategies
Community Awareness & Support
Local & National Support Organizations
