title: Tom Robbins

text: In 1962, Robbins moved to Seattle to seek an M.A. at the Far East Institute of the University of Washington. During the next five years in Seattle (minus a year spent in New York city researching a book on Jackson Pollock) he worked for the "Seattle Times" as an art critic. In 1965, he wrote a column on the arts for "Seattle Magazine" as well as occasionally for "Art in America" and "Artforum". Also during this time, he hosted a weekly alternative radio show, "Notes from the Underground", at non-commercial KRAB-FM, Seattle. It was in 1967, while writing a review of the rock band The Doors, that Robbins says he found his literary voice. While working on his first novel, Robbins worked the weekend copy desk of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Robbins would remain in Seattle, on and off, for the following forty years.


title: Tom Robbins

text: In 1966, Robbins was contacted and then met with Doubleday's West Coast Editor, Luthor Nichols, who asked Robbins about writing a book on Northwest art. Instead Robbins told Nichols he wanted to write a novel and pitched the idea of what was to become "Another Roadside Attraction".


title: Tom Robbins

text: In 1967, Robbins moved to South Bend, Washington, where he wrote his first novel. In 1970, Robbins moved to La Conner, Washington, and it was at his home on Second Street that he subsequently authored nine books (although, in the late 1990s, he spent two years living on the Swinomish Indian reservation).


title: Tom Robbins

text: In the 1980s and early 1990s, Robbins regularly published articles and essays in "Esquire" magazine, and also contributed to "Playboy", "The New York Times", and "GQ".


title: Tom Robbins

text: When Robbins began writing Jitterbug Perfume in 1982, Robbins made a contract with editor Alan Rinzler. As he had a large following, he had the leverage to stipulate a contract with Rinzler where they would accompany Tom on three holiday trips to resorts Tom would choose where he could discuss the work-in-progress novel, which Rinzler later discovered was Jitterbug Perfume. Alan Rinzler later wrote this on the topic of editing for Robbins:Tom would read out loud from his work in progress, and I would comment. Just a few pages at a time. He was a real southern gentleman, and welcomed intellectual discourse about his theme, characters, and intentions, from the inside. He took the process of conception, research, trial and error, moving things around, changing voices and pitch very seriously, wrote slowly and carefully, revised constantly, developing, refining and evolving this novel over the course of about two years.Michael Dare described Robbins' writing style in the following manner: "When he starts a novel, it works like this. First he writes a sentence. Then he rewrites it again and again, examining each word, making sure of its perfection, finely honing each phrase until it reverberates with the subtle texture of the infinite. Sometimes it takes hours. Sometimes an entire day is devoted to one sentence, which gets marked on and expanded upon in every possible direction until he is satisfied. Then, and only then, does he add a period". When Robbins was asked to explain his "gift" for storytelling in 2002, he replied:


title: Tom Robbins

text: I'm descended from a long line of preachers and policemen. Now, it's common knowledge that cops are congenital liars, and evangelists spend their lives telling fantastic tales in such a way as to convince otherwise rational people that they're factual. So, I guess I come by my narrative inclinations naturally.


title: Tom Robbins

text: Over the course of his writing career, Robbins has given readings on four continents, in addition to the performances that he has delivered at festivals from Seattle to San Miguel de Allende. Robbins also read at Bumbershoot in 2014.


title: Tom Robbins

text: In 1997, Robbins won the Bumbershoot Golden Umbrella Award for Lifetime Achievement in the arts that is presented annually by the Bumbershoot arts festival in Seattle.


title: Tom Robbins

text: In 2000, Robbins was named one of the 100 Best Writers of the 20th Century by "Writer's Digest" magazine, while the legendary Italian critic Fernanda Pivano called Robbins "the most dangerous writer in the world".


title: Tom Robbins

text: In October 2012, Robbins received the 2012 Literary Lifetime Achievement Award from the Library of Virginia.


title: Tom Robbins

text: In 2015, Robbins was awarded the Willamette Writers' Lifetime Achievement Award and received the award at the Gala Awards Event at the Willamette Writers Conference on August 8, 2015.


title: Tom Robbins

text: In the mid-sixties, as a member of the Seattle Arts scene, Robbins reviewed art for several publications in Seattle, wrote essays for museum catalogs, organized gallery exhibits, and was the self-described ringleader in a "boisterous neo-Dada gang of guerilla artists, the Shazam Society".


title: Tom Robbins

text: Robbins has defended, in print, Indian mystic Osho, although he was never a follower. Robbins spent three weeks at ceremonial sites in Mexico and Central America with mythologist Joseph Campbell, and studied mythology in Greece and Sicily with the poet Robert Bly. Robbins also traveled to Timbuktu.


title: Tom Robbins

text: As of 2013, Robbins is a member of the Marijuana Policy Project's advisory board, alongside numerous other notable figures such as Jack Black, Ani DiFranco, Tommy Chong, and Jello Biafra; he has been honoured at the Laureate Dinner of Seattle's Rainier Club that has also recognized other local figures, such as Charles Johnson, Stephen Wadsworth, Timothy Egan and August Wilson; and he sits on the board of directors of The Greater Seattle Bureau of Fearless Ideas (formerly 826 Seattle), "a nonprofit writing and tutoring center dedicated to helping youth, ages six to 18, improve their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write."


title: Tom Robbins

text: Madame Zoe, a Richmond psychic and palm reader who once lived in Richmond's South Side, was fictionalized in Robbins' "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues". In 2016 Richmond artists Noah Scalin and Thea Duskin recreated her bedroom as an installation in the art gallery at Chop Suey Books in Carytown in Richmond.


title: Tom Robbins

text: Their novel "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" was adapted into a movie in 1993 by Gus Van Sant and stars Uma Thurman, Lorraine Bracco, and Keanu Reeves.


title: Tom Robbins

text: Robbins was a friend of Terence McKenna, whose influence appears evident in a couple of his books. A main character (Larry Diamond) in "Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas" advocates a theory similar to those of McKenna, involving the history and cultural influences of psychedelic plants. Robbins also spent time with Timothy Leary and the author has said that one of the protagonists in "Jitterbug Perfume" (Wiggs Dannyboy) exhibited certain characteristics of Leary's personality; Robbins has acknowledged using LSD with Leary.


title: Tom Robbins

text: He is friends with Gus Van Sant, and performed the voice-over narration in Van Sant's film adaptation of "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues". He has been friends with directors Robert Altman and Alan Rudolph, as well, and has had small speaking parts in five feature films.


title: Tom Robbins

text: Robbins has written eight novels since 1971. He has also written numerous short stories and essays, mostly collected in the volume "Wild Ducks Flying Backward", and one novella, "B Is for Beer".


title: Chuseok

text: Chuseok (; , literally "autumn evening"), also known as Hangawi (Hangul: ; ; from archaic Korean for "the great middle (of autumn)"), is a major mid-autumn harvest festival and a three-day holiday in South Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar on the full moon. In North Korea, they only celebrate for the day of chuseok. Like many other harvest festivals around the world, it is held around the autumn equinox, i.e. at the very end of summer or in early autumn. It is the biggest traditional holiday in South Korea.


title: Chuseok

text: As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food such as "songpyeon" (), "yakgwa", fruits like Asian pear and "hallabong", and rice wines such as "sindoju" (). and "dongdongju" (). There are two major traditions related to Chuseok: Charye (, ancestor memorial services at home, also known as Jesa), and Seongmyo (, family visit to the ancestral graves), which is usually accompanied by Beolcho (, tidying graves, removing weeds around them). Another major custom is to prepare the family's ancestors their favorite meals as an offering.


title: Chuseok

text: According to popular belief, "Chuseok" originates from "gabae "(). "Gabae" started during the reign of the third king of the kingdom of Silla (57 BC - 935 AD), when it was a month-long weaving contest between two teams. On the day of "Gabae", the team that had woven more cloth won and would be treated to a feast by the losing team. It is believed that weaving competitions, archery competitions, and martial arts demonstrations were held as part of the festivities.


title: Chuseok

text: Many scholars also believe "Chuseok" may originate from ancient shamanistic celebrations of the harvest moon. New harvests are offered to local deities and ancestors, which means "Chuseok" may have originated as a worship ritual. In some areas, if there is no harvest, worship rituals are postponed, or in areas with no annual harvest, "Chuseok" is not celebrated.


title: Chuseok

text: In contemporary South Korea, on" Chuseok", masses of people travel from large cities to their hometowns to pay respect to the spirits of their ancestors. "Chuseok" celebrates the bountiful harvest and strives for the next year to be better than the last. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. Then, they visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to trim plants, clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors. The rest of the day is spent playing folk games and bonding with the family members. South Koreans consider autumn the best season of the year due to clear skies, cool winds, and it is the perfect harvesting weather. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors. "Chuseok" is commonly incorrectly translated as "Korean Thanksgiving" in American English despite the holidays being vastly different in origin and celebration. Although most South Koreans visit their families and ancestral homes, there are festivities held at the National Folk Museum of Korea. Many places are closed during this national holiday, including banks, schools, post offices, governmental departments, and stores. Airline tickets to South Korea around the festival are usually sold out three months in advance and roads and hotels are overcrowded.


title: Chuseok

text: "Charye" is one of the ancestral memorial rites celebrated during "Chuseok," symbolizing the abundance of the harvest season and honoring ancestors and past generations. The rite involves the gathering of families in holding a memorial service for their ancestors through the harvesting, preparation and presentation of special foods as offerings. Preparation for the food usually takes hours and many families start the cooking process early in the morning. The rite embodies the traditional view of spiritual life beyond physical death, respecting the spirits of the afterlife that now also serve to protect their descendants. The foods offered vary across provinces depending on what is available, but commonly feature freshly harvested rice, rice cakes "(songpyeon)" and fresh meat, fruit and vegetables. The arrangement of the foods of "Charye" on the table is also notable: traditionally rice and soup are placed on the north and fruits and vegetables are placed on the south; meat dishes are served on the west and in the middle, and rice cake and some drinks such as "makgeolli" or "soju" are placed on the east. These details can vary across regions.


title: Chuseok

text: The "hanbok" (in South Korea) or "Choson-ot" (in North Korea) is the traditional dress that the Korean people wear on special holidays and formal and semi-formal occasions, such as Chuseok, Lunar New Year, and weddings. The term "hanbok" literally means "Korean clothing." The basic structure of the hanbok consists of the jeogori jacket, baji pants, chima skirt, and the po coat. The design of the hanbok remains unchanged to this day and is designed in a variety of colors.


title: Chuseok

text: One of the major foods prepared and eaten during the "Chuseok holiday" is "songpyeon" (Hangul: 송편; 松餠), a Korean traditional rice cake made with ingredients such as sesame seeds, black beans, mung beans, cinnamon, pine nut, walnut, chestnut, jujube, and honey.


title: Chuseok

text: When making "songpyeon", steaming them over a layer of pine-needles is critical. The word "song" in "songpyeon" means a pine tree in Korean. The pine needles not only contribute to "songpyeon's" aromatic fragrance, but also its beauty and taste.


title: Chuseok

text: "Songpyeon" is also significant because of the meaning contained in its shape. However, some "songpyeon" are shaped like a ball. "Songpyeon's" rice skin itself resembles the shape of a full moon, but once it wraps the stuffing, its shape resembles the half-moon. Since the Three Kingdoms era in Korean history, a Korean legend stated that these two shapes ruled the destinies of the two greatest rival kingdoms, Baekje and Silla. During the era of King Uija of Baekje, an encrypted phrase, "Baekje is full-moon and Silla is half-moon" was found on a turtle's back and it predicted the fall of the Baekje and the rise of the Silla. The prophecy came true when Silla defeated Baekje. Ever since Koreans have believed a half-moon shape is an indicator of a bright future or victory. Therefore, during "Chuseok", families gather together and eat half-moon-shaped "Songpyeon" under the full moon, wishing for a brighter future. There's a belief that if a single woman makes a pretty "songpyeon", she will find a great husband, and if a pregnant woman makes a pretty "songpyeon", she will have a pretty daughter.


title: Chuseok

text: Another popular Korean traditional food that people eat during "Chuseok" is "hangwa". It is a general term to categorize sweet foods made with "tteok", meaning rice cake. It is an artistic food decorated with natural colors and textured with patterns. "Hangwa," also known as "Hang," is made with rice flour, honey, fruit, and roots. People use edible natural ingredients to express various colors, flavours, and tastes. Because of its decoration and nutrition, Koreans eat "hang" not only during "Chuseok", but also for special events, for instance, weddings, birthday parties, and marriages.


title: Chuseok

text: The most famous types of "hangwa" are "yakgwa, yugwa", and "dasik". "Yakgwa" is a sweet honey cookie which is made of fried rice flour dough ball and "yugwa" is a fried cookie consisting of glutinous rice mixed with honey water, and "cheongju" (rice wine). "Dasik" is a tea cake that people enjoy with tea.


title: Chuseok

text: A major element of Chuseok is alcoholic drinks. Liquor drunk on Chuseok is called baekju (백주, 白酒, literally "white wine") and nicknamed sindoju (신도주, 新稻酒, literally "new rice liquor") as it is made of freshly harvested rice.


title: Chuseok

text: Kooksoondang, a maker of Korean traditional liquors, restored "Yihwaju", rice wine from the Goryeo era (918–1392), and "Songjeolju" that has been widely enjoyed by Joseon (1392–1910) aristocrats. Its "Jamyang Baekseju" package comprises a variety of liquors ― Jayang Baekseju, Jang Baekseju, Baekokju ― that are claimed to enhance men's stamina.


title: Chuseok

text: Adults say that if you drink the alcoholic beverage which the ancestors have drunk; there will be nothing you'll be scared of.


title: Chuseok

text: Other foods commonly prepared are "japchae", "bulgogi", an assortment of Korean pancakes also known as "jeon", "saengseon" (fried fish), "tteokguk" (rice cake soup), and fruits.


title: Chuseok

text: The Korean people started sharing daily necessities, such as sugar, soap or condiments, as Chuseok gifts in the 1960s. The gifts have changed since the Korean economy has developed. In the 1970s, Korean people had more options for Chuseok gifts; examples include cooking oil, toothpaste, instant coffee sets, cosmetics, television and rice cookers. People chose gift sets of fruit, meat and cosmetics in the 1980s. In the 1990s, people used gift vouchers for Chuseok. In the 21st century, more sophisticated gifts, such as sets of sweet desserts, spam, fruits, health supplements, and skincare have become the most popular options for Chuseok gifts.


title: Chuseok

text: Some extravagant gifts can be purchased: one kilogram of wild pine mushrooms, which are expensive because they cannot be artificially grown, (560,000 won) US$480.27 and red ginseng products (1.98 million won) US$1698.11. However, the most exorbitantly priced gift is six bottles of wine at Lotte Department Store for a staggering (33 million won) US$28,301.89.


title: Chuseok

text: A variety of folk games are played on "Chuseok" to celebrate the coming of autumn and rich harvest. "Sonori" is a folk performance where Village folk dress themselves to resemble a cow or turtle and go from house to house along with a "nongak" band playing "pungmul" music. Other common folk games played on "Chuseok" are talhum (mask dance), board game called "Yut Nori", (also known as "Yunnori, Nyout", and "Yout"), archery, "ssireum,"(Korean wrestling), and "juldarigi"; folk games vary by region.


title: Chuseok

text: "Ssireum "(Hangul: 씨름) is the most popular Korean sport played during "Chuseok" and contests are usually held during this holiday. Scholars have found evidence for "ssireums" dating back to the Goguryeo dynasty, "Ssireum" is assumed to have 5000 years of history. Two players wrestle each other while holding onto their opponent's "satba", a red and blue band. A player loses when his upper body touches the ground, and the winner becomes "Cheonha Jangsa", "Baekdu Jangsa", or "Halla Jangsa", meaning "the most powerful". The winner gets a bull and of rice as the prize. Due to its popularity among both the young and the old, "ssireum" contests are held more frequently, not limited to important holidays.


title: Chuseok

text: " Taekkyon" (Hangul: 태껸 or 택견) is one of the oldest traditional martial arts of Korea. Taekkyon was very popular during the Joseon period (1392-1897) where it was practised alongside Ssireum during festivities, including Chuseok. Though originally a hand-to-hand fighting method, plebs used a more tamed version alike to a kicking game. The practitioner uses the momentum of his opponent to knock him down through kicks, swipes and pushes. Tournaments between players from different villages were carried out, starting with the children ("Aegi Taekkyon") before finishing with the adults.


title: Chuseok

text: Taekkyon almost disappeared during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945) but is now considered a cultural heritage of Korea (1983) and a UNESCO intangible cultural item (2011).


title: Chuseok

text: The "Ganggangsullae (Hangul: 강강술래)" dance is a traditional folk dance performed under the full moon in the night of "Chuseok". Women wear Korean traditional dress, hanbok, make a big circle by holding hands, and sing a song while going around a circle. Its name, "Ganggangsullae", came from the refrain repeated after each verse, and contains no actual meaning.


title: Chuseok

text: For other folk games, they also play Neolttwigi (also known as the Korean plank), a traditional game played on a wooden board.


title: Chuseok

text: Juldarigi (Hangul: 줄다리기), or tug-of-war, was enjoyed by an entire village population. Two groups of people are divided into two teams representing the female and male forces of the natural world. The game is considered an agricultural rite to predict the results of the year's farming. If the team representing the female concept won, it was thought the harvest that year would be rich.


title: Chuseok

text: Korean people used to watch chicken fights (Hangul: 닭싸움), and learned how chickens fought; a game inspired by such was invented.


title: Chuseok

text: To play the game, people are separated into two balanced groups. One must bend his or her leg up and hold it bent with the knee poking out. The players must then attack each other with their bent knees, having to eliminate them by making their feet touch the ground; the last player holding up his or her knee wins.


title: Chuseok

text: The game is about strength, speed, and balance; to stay alive, one must display the capability of fighting back.


title: Chuseok

text: Hwatu (Hangul: 화투, also known as "Go-Stop" or "Godori") is composed of 48 cards including 12 kinds. The rules of the game and the term "water" originated from Tujeon.


title: Chuseok

text: It was formerly similar to Hanafuda, but was changed due to similarities with the latter. It went through a course that made it reduced by four base colors and thinner than before, spreading throughout to turn out goods on a mass-produced basis.


title: Chuseok

text: Since "Chuseok" is a traditional holiday that has been celebrated long before the division of Korea, people in North Korea also celebrate "Chuseok". However, the ideology that divided Korea also caused some differences between the way that the holiday is celebrated in North Korea from the way it is celebrated in South Korea. In fact, North Korea did not celebrate "Chuseok" and other traditional holidays until the mid-1980s.


title: Chuseok

text: While South Koreans celebrate "Chuseok" by visiting and spending time with family members, most North Koreans do not have any family gatherings for the holiday. Some, especially those in working classes, try to visit their ancestors' gravesites during "Chuseok". However, social and economic issues in North Korea have been preventing visits. In addition, the extremely poor infrastructure of North Korea, especially in terms of public transportation, makes it almost impossible for people to visit grave sites and their families. In contrast to the poor Songbun lower class North Koreans, middle and elite classes enjoy the holiday as they want, easily traveling wherever they want to go.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, is a concerto for piano and orchestra composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff between June 1900 and April 1901. From the summer to the autumn of 1900, he worked on the second and third movements of the concerto, with the first movement causing him difficulties. Both movements of the unfinished concerto were first performed with him as soloist and his cousin Alexander Siloti making his conducting debut on . The first movement was finished in 1901 and the complete work had an astoundingly successful premiere on , again with the composer as soloist and Siloti conducting. Gutheil published the work the same year. The piece established Rachmaninoff's fame as a concerto composer and is one of his most enduringly popular pieces.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: After the disastrous 1897 premiere of his First Symphony, Rachmaninoff suffered a psychological breakdown that prevented composition for three years. Although depression sapped his energy, he still engaged in performance. Conducting and piano lessons became necessary to ease his financial position. In 1899, he was supposed to perform the Second Piano Concerto in London, which he had not composed yet due to illness, and instead made a successful conducting debut. The success led to an invitation to return next year with his First Piano Concerto; however, he promised to reappear with a newer and better one. Rachmaninoff was later invited to Leo Tolstoy's home in hopes of having his writer's block revoked, but the meeting only worsened his situation. Relatives decided to introduce him to the neurologist Nikolai Dahl, whom he visited daily from January to April 1900, which helped restore his health and confidence in composition. Rachmaninoff dedicated the concerto to Dahl for successfully treating him.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: Sergei Rachmaninoff had been working on his First Symphony from January to September 1895. In 1896, after a long hiatus, the music publisher and philanthropist Mitrofan Belyayev agreed to include it at one of his Saint Petersburg Russian Symphony Concerts. However, there were setbacks: complaints were raised about the symphony by his teacher Sergei Taneyev upon receiving its score, which elicited revisions by Rachmaninoff, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov expressed dissatisfaction during rehearsal. Eventually, the symphony was scheduled to be premiered in March 1897. Before the due date, he was nervous but optimistic due to his prior successes, which included winning the Moscow Conservatory Great Gold Medal and earning the praise of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The premiere, however, was a disaster; Rachmaninoff listened to the cacophonous performance backstage to avoid getting humiliated by the audience and eventually left the hall when the piece finished. The symphony was brutally panned by critics, and apart from issues with the piece, the poor performance of the possibly drunk conductor, Alexander Glazunov, was also to blame. César Cui wrote:


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: If there were a conservatoire in Hell, if one of its talented students were instructed to write a programme symphony on "The Seven Plagues of Egypt", and if he were to compose a symphony like Mr Rachmaninoff's, then he would have fulfilled his task brilliantly and delighted the inmates of Hell.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: Rachmaninoff initially remained aloof to the failure of his symphony, but upon reflection, suffered a psychological breakdown that stopped his compositional output for three years. He adopted a lifestyle of heavy drinking to forget about his problems. Depression consumed him, and although he rarely composed, he still engaged in performance, accepting a conducting position by the Russian entrepreneur Savva Mamontov at the Moscow Private Russian Opera from 1897 to 1898. It provided income for the cash-strapped Rachmaninoff; he eventually left as it didn't allow time for other activities and due to the incompetence of the theater, which turned piano lessons into his main source of income.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: At the end of 1898, Rachmaninoff was invited to perform in London in April 1899, where he was expected to play his Second Piano Concerto. However, he wrote to the London Philharmonic Society that he couldn't finish a second concerto due to illness. The society then requested he play his First Piano Concerto, but he declined, dismissing it as a student piece. Instead, he offered to conduct one of his orchestral pieces, to which the society agreed, provided he also performed at the piano. He made a successful conducting debut, performing "The Rock" and playing piano pieces such as his hackneyed Prelude in C-sharp minor. The society secretary Francesco Berger invited him to return next year with a performance of the First Concerto. However, he promised to return with a newer and better one, although he did not perform it there until 1908. Alexander Goldenweiser, a peer from the same conservatory, wanted to play his new concerto at a Belyayev concert in Saint Petersburg, thinking its consummation was inevitable. Rachmaninoff, who had thoughts of composing it three years earlier, sent a letter to him stating that nothing had been penned so far.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: For the rest of the summer and autumn of 1899, Rachmaninoff's unproductiveness worsened his depression. A friend of the Satins (relatives of Rachmaninoff), in an attempt to revoke the depressed composer's writer's block, suggested he visit Leo Tolstoy. However, his visit to the querulous author only served to increase his despondency, and he became so self-critical that he was rendered unable to compose. The Satins, anxious about his well-being, persuaded him to visit Nikolai Dahl, a neurologist who specialized in hypnosis, with whom they had a good experience. Desperate, he agreed without hesitation. From January to April 1900, he visited him daily free of charge. Dahl restored Rachmaninoff's health as well as his confidence to compose. Himself a musician, Dahl engaged in lengthy conversations surrounding music with Rachmaninoff, and would repeat a triptych formula while the composer was half-asleep: "You will begin to write your concerto ... You will work with great facility ... The concerto will be of an excellent quality". Even though the results were not readily evident, they were still successful.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: In June 1900, after receiving an invitation to perform "Mefistofele" in La Scala, Feodor Chaliapin invited Rachmaninoff to live with him in Italy, where he sought his advice while studying the opera. During his stay, Rachmaninoff composed the love duet of his opera "Francesca da Rimini" and also began working on the second and third movements of his Second Piano Concerto. With newfound enthusiasm for composition, he resumed working on them after returning to Russia, which for the rest of the summer and the autumn were being finished "quickly and easily", although the first movement caused him difficulties. He told his biographer Oscar von Riesemann that "the material grew in bulk, and new musical ideas began to stir within me—far more than I needed for my concerto". The two finished movements were to be performed in the Moscow Nobility Hall on at a concert arranged for the benefit of the Ladies' Charity Prison Committee. On the eve of the concert, Rachmaninoff caught a cold, prompting his friends and relatives to stuff him with remedies, filling him with an excess of mulled wine; he didn't want to admit his desire to cancel the performance. With him as soloist with an orchestra after an eight-year hiatus and his cousin Alexander Siloti making his conducting debut, it was an anxious event, but the concert was a great success, easing the worries of his close ones. Ivan Lipaev wrote: "it's been long since the walls of the Nobility Hall reverberated with such enthusiastic, storming applause as on that evening ... This work contains much poetry, beauty, warmth, rich orchestration, healthy and buoyant creative power. Rachmaninoff's talent is evident throughout." The German company Gutheil published the concerto as opus number 18 the following year.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: Before continuing composition, Rachmaninoff received financial aid from Siloti to tide him over for the next three years, securing his ability to compose without worrying about rent. By April 1901, while staying with Goldenweiser, he finished the first movement of the concerto and subsequently premiered the full work at a Moscow Philharmonic Society concert on , again with him at the piano and Siloti conducting. Five days before the premiere, however, Rachmaninoff received a letter from Nikita Morozov (his Conservatory colleague) pestering him regarding the structure of the concerto after receiving its score, commenting that the first subject seemed like an introduction to the second one. Frantic, he replied, writing that he concurred with his opinion and was pondering over the first movement. Regardless, it was an astounding success, and Rachmaninoff enjoyed wild acclaim. Even Cui, who previously scolded his First Symphony, displayed exuberance over the work in a letter from 1903. The piece established Rachmaninoff's fame as a concerto composer and is one of his most enduringly popular pieces. He dedicated it to Dahl for his treatment.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: The popularity of the Second Piano Concerto grew rapidly, developing global fame after its subsequent performances. Its international progress started with a performance in Germany, where Siloti played it with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Arthur Nikisch's baton in January 1902. In March, the same duo had a tremendously successful performance in Saint Petersburg; two days preceding this, the Rachmaninoff-Siloti duo performed back in Moscow, with the former conducting and the latter as soloist. May of the same year saw a performance at the Queen's Hall in London, the soloist being Wassily Sapellnikoff with the Philharmonic Society and Frederic Cowen conducting; London would wait until 1908 for Rachmaninoff to perform it there. "One was quickly persuaded of its genuine excellence and originality", "The Guardian" wrote of the concerto following the performance. England, however, had already heard the work twice prior to the London premiere, with performances by Siloti in Birmingham and Manchester. Rachmaninoff—enhanced by success from repossessing the ability to compose again, coupled with no more financial worries—repaid the loan from Siloti within one year of receiving the last installment.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: After marrying his first cousin Natalia Satina, the newly-wed Rachmaninoff received an invitation to play his concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Vasily Safonov in December. Although the engagement guaranteed him a hefty fee, he was anxious that accepting it would show ingratitude towards Siloti. However, after seeking his help, Taneyev reassured Rachmaninoff that this did not offend Siloti. That was followed by concerts in both Vienna and Prague the following spring in 1903 under the same engagement. In late 1904, Rachmaninoff won the Glinka Awards, cash prizes established in Belyayev's will, receiving 500 rubles for his concerto. Throughout his life, Rachmaninoff soloed the concerto a total of 145 times.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: After he fulfilled his 1908 London concert engagement at the Queen's Hall under Serge Koussevitzky, a flattering review by "The Times" emerged: "The direct expression of the work, the extraordinary precision and exactitude of Rachmaninoff's playing, and even the strict economy of movement of arms and hands which he exercises, all contributed to the impression of completeness of performance."


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: His debut with an American orchestra occurred on 8 November 1909, performing the concerto at the Philadelphia Academy of Music with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Max Fiedler's baton, including repeat performances in Baltimore and New York City. Critics since the first performance were chiefly dismissive, echoing Philip Hale's program notes for the debut stating that "The concerto is of uneven worth. The first movement is labored and has little marked character. It might have been written by any German, technically well-trained, who was acquainted with the music of Tchaikovsky". Richard Aldrich, who was a music critic for "The New York Times", murmured about the overperformance of the work in proportion to its worth, but complimented Rachmaninoff's playing, stating that, with the assistance of the orchestra, "he made it sound more interesting than it ever has before here". His last concert during the American tour was on 27 January 1910, performing the "Isle of the Dead" and his concerto under Modest Altschuler with his Russian Symphony Society, who farewelled the homesick Rachmaninoff with appraisal of his "Isle of the Dead" but dismissal of the concerto as "not in any way comparable to Rachmaninoff's third concerto". Rachmaninoff played the concerto eight times during the tour. Despite the concerto's popularity, its critical reception has often remained poor.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: Following the 1917 October Revolution, Rachmaninoff and his family escaped Russia, never to return, seeing the US as a haven for remedying his financial situation; they arrived there one day before Armistice Day, following their temporary stay in Scandinavia. Reginald De Koven praised a Rachmaninoff concerto performance under Walter Damrosch, writing that he rarely saw a New York audience "more moved, excited and wrought up". A 1927 "Liverpool Post" article called the concerto a "somewhat catchpenny work though it had plently of rather cheap glitter". His last role as a soloist for the concerto was on 18 June 1942 with Vladimir Bakaleinikov leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Hollywood Bowl. Reviewing the performance in "Los Angeles Evening Citizen News", Richard D. Saunders opined that the work is of a "songful quality, imbued with haunting melodies all tinged with sombre pathos and expressed with the graceful refinement characteristic of the composer".


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: No other concerto by Rachmaninoff was as popular with audiences and pianists alike as his Second Concerto; the musicologist Glen Carruthers attributes this popularity with "memorable melodies [which] appear in each movement". Rachmaninoff's biographer Geoffrey Norris characterized the concerto as "notable for its conciseness and for its lyrical themes, which are just sufficiently contrasted to ensure that they are not spoilt either by overabundance or overexposure." Stephen Hough on an article with "The Guardian" posits that the composition is "his most popular, most often performed and, arguably, the most perfect structurally. It sounds as if it wrote itself, so naturally does the music flow". Another article by John Ezard and David Ward calls it one of the "most often performed concertos in the repertoire. Its emergence - in each year so far of the new century - as the British classical listening public's favourite tune indicates Rachmaninov's position as perhaps the most popular mainstream composer of the last 70 years." In 2022, the piece was voted number two in the Classic FM annual "Hall of Fame" poll, and has consistently ranked in the top three.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: Numerous films—such as William Dieterle's "September Affair" (1950), Charles Vidor's "Rhapsody" (1954), and Billy Wilder's "The Seven Year Itch" (1955)—borrow themes from the concerto. David Lean's romantic drama "Brief Encounter" (1945) utilizes the music widely in its soundtrack, and Frank Borzage's "I've Always Loved You" (1946) features it heavily; this has further popularized the work. The concerto has also inspired numerous songs, and is frequently used in figure skating programmes.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: The opening movement begins with a series of chromatic bell-like tollings on the piano that build tension, eventually climaxing in the introduction of the main theme by the violins, violas, and first clarinet.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: In this first section, while the melody is stated by the orchestra, the piano takes on the role of accompaniment, consisting of rapid oscillating arpeggios between both hands which contribute to the fullness and texture of the section's sound. The theme soon goes into a slightly lower register, where it is carried on by the cello section, and then is joined by the violins and violas, soaring to a climactic C note. After the statement of the long first theme, a quick and virtuosic ""piu mosso"" pianistic figuration transition leads into a short series of authentic cadences, accompanied by both a crescendo and an accelerando; this then progresses into the gentle, lyrical second theme in E major, the relative key. The second theme is first stated by the solo piano, with light accompaniment coming from the upper wind instruments. A transition which follows the chromatic scale eventually leads to the final reinstatement of the second theme, this time with the full orchestra at a piano dynamic. The exposition ends with an agitated closing section with scaling arpeggios on the E major scale in both hands.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: The agitated and unstable development borrows motives from both themes, changing keys very often and giving the melody to different instruments while a new musical idea is slowly formed. The sound here, while focused on a particular tonality, has ideas of chromaticism. Two sequences of pianistic figurations lead to a placid, orchestral reinstatement of the first theme in the dominant 7th key of G. The development furthers with motifs from the previous themes, climaxing towards a B major ""più vivo"" section. A triplet arpeggio section leads into the accelerando section, with the accompanying piano playing chords in both hands, and the string section providing the melody reminiscent of the second theme. The piece reaches a climax with the piano playing dissonant fortississimo () chords, and with the horns and trumpets providing the syncopated melody.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: While the orchestra restates the first theme, the piano, that on the other occasion had an accompaniment role, now plays the march-like theme that had been halfly presented in the development, thus making a considerable readjustment in the exposition, as in the main theme, the arpeggios in the piano serve as an accompaniment. This is followed by a piano-solo which continues the first theme and leads into a descending chromatic passage to a pianississimo A major chord. Then the second theme is heard played with a horn solo. The entrance of the piano reverts the key back into C minor, with triplet passages played over a mysterious theme played by the orchestra. Briefly, the piece transitions to a C major glissando in the piano, and is placid until drawn into the agitated closing section in which the movement ends in a C minor "fortissimo", with the same authentic cadence as those that followed the first statement of the first theme in the exposition.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: The second movement opens with a series of slow chords in the strings which modulate from the C minor of the previous movement to the E major of this movement.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: At the beginning of the A section, the piano enters, playing a simple arpeggiated figure. This opening piano figure was composed in 1891 as the opening of the Romance from Two Pieces For Six Hands. The main theme is initially introduced by the flute, before being developed by an extensive clarinet solo. The motif is passed between the piano and then the strings.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: Then the B section is heard. It builds up to a short climax centred on the piano, which leads to cadenza for piano.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: The original theme is repeated, and the music appears to die away, finishing with just the soloist in E major.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: The last movement opens with a short orchestral introduction that modulates from E major (the key of the previous movement) to C minor, before a piano solo leads to the statement of the agitated first theme.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: After the original fast tempo and musical drama ends, a short transition from the piano solo leads to the second lyrical theme in B major is introduced by the oboe and violas. This theme maintains the motif of the first movement's second theme. The exposition ends with a suspenseful closing section in B major.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: After that an extended and energetic development section is heard. The development is based on the first theme of the exposition. It maintains a very improvisational quality, as instruments take turns playing the stormy motifs.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: In the recapitulation, the first theme is truncated to only 8 bars on the tutti, because it was widely used in the development section. After the transition, the recapitulation's 2nd theme appears, this time in D major, half above the tonic. However, after the ominous closing section ends it then builds up into a triumphant climax in C major from the beginning of the coda. The movement ends very triumphantly in the tonic major with the same four-note rhythm ending the Third Concerto in D minor.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: In 1901, Gutheil published the concerto along with the composer's two piano arrangement. Austrian violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler transcribed the second movement for violin and piano in 1940, named "Preghiera" (Prayer). In 1946, Percy Grainger made a concert transcription of the third movement for piano solo. The Classical Jazz Quartet's 2006 arrangement uses thematic sections derived from each movement as grounds for jazz improvisation.


title: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

text: Two songs recorded by Frank Sinatra have roots in the concerto: "I Think of You", from the second theme of the first movement, and "Full Moon and Empty Arms", from the second theme of the third movement. Eric Carmen's 1975 ballad "All by Myself" is based on the second movement.


title: Autism rights movement

text: The autism rights movement, also known as the autistic acceptance movement, is a social movement within the context of disability rights that emphasizes a neurodiversity paradigm, viewing the autism spectrum as a result of natural variations in the human brain rather than as a disease to be cured. The movement advocates for several goals, including greater acceptance of autistic traits and behaviors; services that focus on improving quality of life and well-being rather than on suppression and masking of autistic traits, or imitations of the behaviors of neurotypical (non-autistic) peers (which have been associated with poorer mental well-being and mental health according to numerous recent studies); the creation of social networks and events that allow autistic people to socialize on their own terms; and the recognition of the autistic community as a minority group.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autism rights advocates believe that the autism spectrum should be accepted as a natural expression of the human genome, and accommodated like any other condition (the social model of disability). This perspective is distinct from two other views: that autism is a genetic defect and should be addressed by targeting the autism gene(s), or is caused by environmental factors (including fringe theories such as the debunked and false narrative that autism is caused by vaccines).


title: Autism rights movement

text: There are a wide variety of both supportive and critical opinions about the movement among people who are autistic or associated with people with autism. A common criticism leveled against autistic activists is that the majority of them are "high-functioning" or have Asperger syndrome and do not represent the views of "low-functioning" autistic people.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Jim Sinclair is credited as the first person to communicate the anti-cure or autism rights perspective in the late 1980s. In 1992, Sinclair co-founded the Autism Network International, an organization that publishes newsletters "written by and for autistic people." Other individuals involved in the creation of the ANI were Donna Williams and Kathy Grant, two autistic people who knew Sinclair through pen pal lists and autism conferences. The first issue of the ANI newsletter, "Our Voice", was distributed online in November 1992, to an audience of mostly neurotypical professionals and parents of young autistic children. The number of autistics in the organization slowly grew over the years, and ANI eventually became a communication network for like-minded autistics.


title: Autism rights movement

text: In 1996, ANI established a yearly retreat known as "Autreat". Autreat was a retreat and conference held in the United States specifically for autistic people and was held every year from 1996 to 2013, except in 2001. The theme of the first conference in 1996 was "Celebrating Autistic Culture" and had close to 60 participants. It was hosted at Camp Bristol Hills in Canadaigua, New York. The success of Autreat later inspired similar autistic retreats, such as the Association for Autistic Community's conference, Autspace, in the United States; Autscape in the United Kingdom; and Projekt Empowerment in Sweden.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Also in 1996, Martijn Dekker, an autistic computer programmer from the Netherlands, launched an e-mail list called "Independent Living on the Autism Spectrum", or "InLv". The list also welcomed those with "cousin" conditions, such as ADHD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia. American writer Harvey Blume was a member of the list and described it as embracing what he called "neurological pluralism" in a 1997 article in "The New York Times".


title: Autism rights movement

text: Aspies For Freedom (AFF) was founded in 2004, and established 18 June as Autistic Pride Day starting in 2005. AFF was also instrumental in initiating protests against the National Alliance for Autism Research, Cure Autism Now, and the Judge Rotenberg Center.


title: Autism rights movement

text: In 2004, Michelle Dawson challenged applied behavior analysis (ABA) on ethical grounds. She testified in "Auton v. British Columbia" against the required government funding of ABA. That same year "The New York Times" covered the autism rights perspective by publishing Amy Harmon's article, "How about not curing us? Some autistics are pleading."


title: Autism rights movement

text: In 2006, the Autism Acceptance Project was founded by Estée Klar, the mother of an autistic child, with help from an autistic advisory and board. The project affiliated with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and other activist groups in North America and was one of the first to sign the petition against the New York Child Study Campaign. It is also recognized by ASAN in a letter to the United Nations of being one of the first autism organizations to promote autism acceptance. From 2005 to 2008, TAAProject organized arts-based events to show the public an active autism rights movement that burgeoned online. In addition, it sponsored the controversial Joy of Autism: Redefining Ability and Quality of Life events and lectures in Toronto, featuring dozens of autistic artists and speakers including Jim Sinclair, Michelle Dawson, Phil Schwartz, Morton Ann Gernsbacher, Larry Bissonnette and more.


title: Autism rights movement

text: In 2008, ASAN succeeded in halting two ad campaigns it stated were demeaning to autistics. The first ads were a series published by the NYU Child Study Center that appeared in the form of ransom notes. One read, "We have your son. We will make sure he will no longer be able to care for himself or interact socially as long as he lives. This is only the beginning", and was signed, "Autism". The second ads were published by PETA and featured a bowl of milk with the leftover bits of cereal forming a frowning face. The text read, "Got autism?" and was meant to advertise what PETA claims is a link between autism and the casein in milk. Phone calls, letters and petitions organized by ASAN led to the removal of these ads.


title: Autism rights movement

text: The rise of the Internet has provided more opportunities for autistic individuals to connect and organize. Considering the geographical distance, communication and speech patterns of autistic individuals, and the domination of neurotypical professionals and family members in established autism organizations, the Internet has provided an invaluable space for members of the movement to organize and communicate.


title: Autism rights movement

text: The start of the decade was quickly dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, causing a drop-off in the number of physical events in the summer of 2020, including Autism Pride events. Much of autism awareness and campaigning was driven by social media, including the notable growth of TikTok and the emergence of autistic advocates like Chloe Hayden and Paige Layle.


title: Autism rights movement

text: At the same time, autism advocacy made progress within the traditional media with the autistic perspective making its way into influential business publications such as Harvard Business Review and Fast Company. A comprehensive approach to inclusion in the workplace, the Canary Code, was developed with a specific focus on autistic talent as well as other marginalized communities.


title: Autism rights movement

text: The neurodiversity paradigm falls in contrast with the medical model of autism, which considers autism a pathology. Those who favour the pathology paradigm, which aligns with the medical model of disability, see autism as a disorder to be treated or cured. Proponents of the pathology paradigm argue that atypical behaviors of autistic individuals are detrimental and should therefore be reduced or eliminated through behavior modification. Their efforts focus primarily on medical research to identify genetic and environmental risk factors in autism. Those who favour the neurodiversity paradigm, which aligns with the social model of disability, see autism as a naturally-occurring variation in the brain. Neurodiversity advocates argue that efforts to eliminate autism should not be compared, for example, to curing cancer, but instead to the antiquated notion of curing left-handedness. Their advocacy efforts focus primarily on acceptance, accommodation, and support for autistic people as "neuro-minorities" in society. Proponents of neurodiversity often argue that it is harmful to autistic people to pathologize their behavior.


title: Autism rights movement

text: The pathology paradigm is the traditional view of autism through a biomedical lens, in which it is seen as a disorder characterized by various impairments, mainly in communication and social interaction. Those taking this perspective believe that autism is generally a kind of harmful dysfunction. Ways of functioning which diverge from a typical brain are "incorrect" or "unhealthy" and must therefore be treated or cured. The atypical behaviors of autistic individuals are considered a detriment to social and professional success and should therefore be reduced or eliminated through behavior modification therapy such as applied behavioural therapy. Proponents of this view include very few autistic adults as this is more often the view of parents when compared to autistic adults adopting the neurodiversity paradigm. These advocates believe that medical research is necessary to address the "autism epidemic", reduce suffering, and provide the best outcomes for autistic individuals. In addition to etiological research, other areas of focus may include biology, diagnosis, and treatment, including medication, behavioural and psychological interventions, and the treatment of co-existing medical conditions.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Advocacy groups in the US that focus primarily on medical research include Autism Speaks who the Autistic community consider to be a hate group, the Autism Science Foundation, and its predecessor organizations, the Autism Coalition for Research and Education, the National Alliance for Autism Research, and Cure Autism Now, and the former Autism Research Institute.


title: Autism rights movement

text: The neurodiversity paradigm is the understanding that humanity has a variety of neurotypes, and always has. The autistic self-advocacy group Autistics for Autistics describes it this way: "Neurodiversity means that –like biodiversity– all of us have a role to play in society ...and we should be valued for who we are. Included in public life, such as school and employment. For nonverbal autistics, this also means equal and fair access to communication, such as AAC." The neurodiversity movement views autism as a disability and a different way of being rather than as a disease or disorder that must be cured, and embraces the social model of disability which focuses on removing access barriers in society so that disabled people can be included, rather than on "fixing" disabled people. In this way, it is aligned with the principles of the broader disability rights movement.


title: Autism rights movement

text: The autistic self-advocacy movement, made up of autistic individuals, works from a social model of disability perspective. For example, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network describes its mandate as to "advance the principles of the disability rights movement with regard to autism". The social model of disability is especially important to many autistic people who have been raised to think they are "broken versions of normal" rather than being accepted and having accommodations made for their disabilities. A shift from the medical model to the social model of disability has real-world advantages: for instance, some software companies now adjusting their job interview processes to be more accessible to autistic applicants rather than applying pressure on the applicants to "act neurotypical". This has strengthened the industry's pool of applicants while also reducing unemployment for autistic people.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autistic people are considered to have neurocognitive differences which give them distinct strengths and weaknesses, and are capable of succeeding when appropriately accommodated and supported. This is not to belittle the challenges that autistic people face, but rather to point out that many of these challenges are due to structural inequities that can be remedied through equal access and acceptance of autistic differences. In the workplace, creating systems that support autistic employment and success through mechanisms such as organizational transparency, justice, and flexibility, benefits all employees


title: Autism rights movement

text: There is no leader of the neurodiversity movement and little academic research has been conducted on it as a social phenomenon. As such, proponents of the neurodiversity paradigm have heterogenous beliefs, but are consistent in the view that autism cannot be separated from an autistic person. Advocacy efforts may include: opposition to therapies that aim to make children "indistinguishable from their peers", advocacy of accommodations in schools and work environments, and lobbying for the inclusion of autistic people when making decisions that affect them.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Neurodiversity advocates are opposed to research for a cure, as this aim is a form of eugenics, and instead support research that helps autistic people thrive as they are. Only a small percentage of research funding goes towards the quality of life needs of autistic adults.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Recent research found evidence that autistic self-advocates are disadvantaged in many disability / autism rights organisations, they are rarely involved in leadership or decision-making within organisations. Studies also show that poverty, unpaid positions at disability organisations and lack of support are major barriers for most autistic people, including autistic people with an intellectual disability who wish to do self-advocacy.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Advocacy groups that focus primarily on acceptance and accommodation include Autism Network International, Autism National Committee, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, and Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autism is classified by psychologists as a disorder. However, some fundraising organizations have referred to caring for autistic individuals as being comparable to treating a patient with cancer, though extended over the duration of a normal lifespan. Autistic children have also been described as being held hostage to a psychiatric disorder. Boyd Haley, an anti-vaccine activist and early promoter of the debunked claim that thimerosol causes autism, labeled autism as "mad child disease" (akin to mad cow disease), which some autistic individuals and their parents have found highly offensive. Margaret Somerville, founding director of the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law, said that with activism there is a direct goal and it is sometimes necessary to sacrifice complexity and nuance to make a point, but some autistic activists do not believe desperation justifies the rhetoric. Bennett L. Leventhal said he understands concern about comparing autistic children to hostages and notes it is a misnomer to call autism a "disease" that will consume children if untreated. Autistic self-advocates also reject terming the reported increase in autism diagnoses as an 'epidemic' since the word implies autism is a disease and point out that the increase is due to an expansion of diagnostic criteria itself, rather than an epidemic.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Attempts have been made to place a figure on the financial cost of autism, addressed to both scholarly and popular audiences. These efforts have been criticized by some autism rights advocates, who compare them to similar calculations about "persons with bad heredity" made by the eugenics movement in the early 20th century. Michelle Dawson has pointed out that no effort has been made to examine the cost of 'eliminating the disease' to autistic individuals, and she, as well as others, have also pointed out the valuable contributions autistic individuals can, and have made to society. Dr. Temple Grandin has speculated that an autistic caveman probably invented the first stone spear, and that if autism were eliminated, society would lose most of its scientists, musicians, and mathematicians.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Some argue that while some autistic people can function "normally", that any impairments not due to prejudice are insignificant or nonexistent and deserve to have their condition viewed as a difference (akin to being left-handed), other autistic people are severely impaired and should be counted as having disabilities (akin to having a broken leg).


title: Autism rights movement

text: However, many autistic activists refute this perspective, saying that it is not easy to distinguish between "high" and "low" functioning and that these labels do more harm than good. Very few autistic individuals remain supportive of the distinction between the low and high functioning labels as well as the medically abandoned distinction between autism and Asperger syndrome, and believe that functioning labels are important in helping individuals get proper consultation and treatment.


title: Autism rights movement

text: "Curing" autism is a controversial and politicized issue. Doctors and scientists are not sure of the causes of autism yet many organizations like Autism Research Institute and Autism Speaks have advocated researching a cure. Members of the various autistic rights organizations view autism as a way of life rather than as a disease and thus advocate acceptance over a search for a cure. Michelle Dawson wrote that common therapies for the behavioral and language differences associated with autism, like applied behavior analysis, are not only misguided but also unethical.


title: Autism rights movement

text: The ""anti-cure perspective"" endorsed by the movement is a view that autism is not a disorder, but a normal occurrence—an alternate variation in brain wiring or a less common expression of the human genome. Advocates of this perspective believe that autism is a unique way of being that should be validated, supported and appreciated rather than shunned, discriminated against or eliminated. Sometimes called a "strengths-based" diagnosis, it means that each individual's challenges and strengths should be equally recognized and the quirks and uniqueness of autistic individuals should be viewed inclusively, as with the differences of any minority group, and that efforts to eliminate autism should not be compared, for example, to curing cancer but instead to the antiquated notion of curing left-handedness. The ARM is a part of the larger disability rights movement, and as such acknowledges the social model of disability. Within the model, struggles faced by autistic people are viewed as discrimination rather than deficiencies.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Jim Sinclair, a leader in the movement, argues that autism is essential to a person, not a disease secondary to the person. Sinclair says that wishing that an autistic person be cured is equivalent to wishing that they disappear and another completely different person exist in their place. Visions for a future where autism has been eradicated, Sinclair believes, is the desire to end the autistic culture.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Most autistic self-advocates agree that autistic people should not be made to act exactly like everyone else, but that society should accommodate their disability and that autism services should focus on quality of life, rather than conformity. Simon Baron-Cohen, a professor of developmental psychology at Trinity College, Cambridge, and an autism researcher, expressed the latter view. Baron-Cohen said:


title: Autism rights movement

text: Some autistic activists suggest that life with autism is very much like being born among people who speak a different language, have a religion or philosophy one does not share and live a lifestyle that feels alien. To put it differently, autistic people have an individual culture that's often very different from their environment. Social media, meetups and even specific professions are all spaces where autistic people connect and may share common language or a common culture.


title: Autism rights movement

text: This perspective is often voiced in opposition to the pathologisation of autistic modes of thought and social "rulebooks", as there are many people without autism who either claim that autistic people all think the same (on account of their similarities with each other and distinctions from members of the general public) or are completely different from each other and share no more than a label (on account of their individual life experiences, differences, and differences across the spectrum) or the suggestion that the existence of similar talents within autistic people are merely compensatory factors for a group of people who (according to non-autistic people) express severe disability or lack originality.


title: Autism rights movement

text: A common theme expressed among autism rights activists and neurodiversity groups is that they are different from parent- and professional-led organizations and conferences that dominate the autism scene. Michelle Dawson criticizes the norm of allowing parents to speak on behalf of their autistic children at conferences to the exclusion of autistics. "With the happy and proud collaboration of governments, courts, researchers, service providers, and funding bodies," she says, "parents have succeeded in removing autistics from the vicinity of any important discussions or decisions." This exclusion results in policy and treatment decisions being made solely by individuals who do not directly experience autism.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Jim Sinclair states that autism conferences are traditionally geared toward neurotypical parents and professionals, and that to an autistic person they may be quite "hostile" in terms of sensory stimulation and rigidity.


title: Autism rights movement

text: In defiance of the common complaint that anti-cure advocates' ability to articulate complex opinions in writing—which some critics see as being impossible for autistic people—autistic adults such as Amanda Baggs use their own writing and videos to demonstrate that it is possible for severely disabled autistics to be autism rights advocates. She says that when the critics assume that intelligent and articulate autistic people do not have difficulties like self-injurious behavior and difficulty with self-care, they affect the opinions of policy makers and make it more difficult for intelligent and articulate autistic people to get services. Baggs cites an example of an autistic person who was denied services when it was discovered that she could type.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Aspies For Freedom (AFF) stated that the most common therapies for autism are unethical, since they focus on extinguishing harmless stimming, forcing eye contact and breaking routines. AFF argued that ABA therapy and restriction of stimming "and other autistic coping mechanisms" are mentally harmful, that aversion therapy and the use of restraints are physically harmful, and that alternative treatments like chelation therapy are dangerous. The United Nations (UN) has also called out many autism treatments as "ill-treatment or torture".


title: Autism rights movement

text: Michelle Dawson, a Canadian autism self-advocate, testified in court against government funding of ABA therapy. An autistic person named Jane Meyerding criticized therapy which attempts to remove autistic behaviors because she says that the behaviors that the therapy tries to remove are attempts to communicate. Autistics for Autistics (A4A), a Canadian group, has outlined some of the main objections to ABA from autistic self-advocates.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autism rights activists are opposed to attempts to eliminate autism genes, and argue that doing so would decrease human genetic diversity. In particular, there is opposition to prenatal genetic testing of autism in fetuses, which some believe might be possible in the future. On 23 February 2005, Joseph Buxbaum of the Autism Genome Project at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai said there could be a prenatal test for autism within 10 years. However, the genetics of autism have proven to be extremely complex. The public has started to debate the ethics involved in the possible elimination of a genotype that has liabilities and advantages, which may be seen as tampering with natural selection.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Some people lament that professionals, such as social workers, may discourage autistic people from having children. Activists are concerned that the "ultimate cure will be a genetic test to prevent autistic children from being born" and that most fetuses with so-called "autism genes" would be aborted if prenatal tests for autism are developed.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Critics of the movement argue that anyone on the autism spectrum who is able to express their desire not to be cured must be in a position where they benefit from being autistic or being openly known as autistic, a viewpoint characterized by the fact that many autism advocates wind up gaining a minor celebrity status that puts them in a higher social position than their peers, and the fact that well-known autistic public figures tend to be verbal; this can imply to some that they are more likely to be independently successful than autistic people with higher support needs. Some controversy has also been raised on the prevalence of neurodiversity advocates who often identify from self-diagnosis and how it risks neurotypicals identifying themselves as autistic and misrepresent, or minimize the actual struggles and issues faced by people who actually have autism as well as the potential overdiagnosis in people with lower supports needs who are diagnosed.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Some feel that the neurodiversity movement is based on wishful thinking designed to gloss over the more serious problems associated with the disabling aspects of autism (such as self-harm, high support needs, rejection, and difficulties around issues of consent). Jonathan Mitchell, an autistic author and blogger who advocates for a cure for autism, has described neurodiversity as a "tempting escape valve" for autistics with low self-esteem.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autism Speaks has faced criticism from autism rights advocates for failing to represent autistic people and for exploitative practices. Until he resigned in 2013, John Elder Robison was Autism Speaks' only board member openly recognized as being on the autism spectrum. His resignation came two days after the release of an op-ed by the group's co-founder Suzanne Wright which, according to Robison, "is simply not defensible for someone who feels as I do, and I cannot continue to stand up for the public actions of an organization that makes the same mistakes over and over again by failing to connect to the community it purports to represent." Simone Greggs, the mother of an autistic child, filed a lawsuit against Autism Speaks for disability discrimination after her job offer was rescinded. The suit alleges that she lost the job offer due to asking for an accommodation on behalf of her autistic son.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autism Speaks has produced three major films, each met with strong opposition from autism rights advocates. "Autism Every Day" is a documentary featuring interviews of parents with mostly negative opinions about autism and their situations. It has been criticized due to parents speaking about their children as if they are not there. In one interview, former board member Alison Singer, who has an autistic daughter, reveals she contemplated murder-suicide while her daughter is in the same room. "I Am Autism" is a short video that personifies autism as a narrative voice, which compares itself to several life-threatening diseases and makes the false claim of causing divorce. "Sounding the Alarm" is a documentary exploring the transition to adulthood and the cost of lifetime care. It was criticized for being "full of dehumanizing rhetoric" and portraying ignorance of nonverbal communication.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Because of the number of objections to the organization, Autism Speaks fundraising events have been the object of organized protest. Many of these protests are organized by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. In 2013, the organization Boycott Autism Speaks published a list of companies that donate money to Autism Speaks along with their contact information, urging those in the Autistic community to pressure those companies into dropping their support via an active boycott, since direct appeals to Autism Speaks did not result in the desired changes. A month later, ASAN published its 2014 Joint Letter to the Sponsors of Autism Speaks, signed by 26 different disability-related organizations, appealing to the moral responsibility of the sponsors, donors, and other supporters.


title: Autism rights movement

text: There are several organizations in the autism rights movement. Some like the Autistic Self Advocacy Network are led exclusively by Autistic people, while others such as Autism National Committee encourage cooperation between Autistic people and their non-autistic allies.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Although some prefer to use the person-first terminology "person with autism", most members of the autistic community prefer "autistic person" or "autistic" in formal English, to stress that autism is a part of their identity rather than a disease they have. In addition, phrases like "" are objectionable to many people, and are discouraged by prominent style guides.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autism spectrum disorders; DSM-V; Diagnostic criteria-Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) is the 2013 update to the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) classification and diagnostic tool. In the United States, the DSM serves as a universal authority for psychiatric diagnosis.


title: Autism rights movement

text: According to the medical persepctive on autism, communication and social problems often cause difficulties in many areas of an autistic adult's life. A 2008 study found that adults with ASD commonly experience difficulty starting social interactions, longing for greater intimacy, a profound sense of isolation, and effort to develop greater social or self-awareness. However, from the perspective of the social model of disability, these struggles can be attributed to the lack of understanding, exclusion, and at times hostility from the predominately neurotypical society.


title: Autism rights movement

text: A much smaller proportion of autistic adults marry than the general population. It has been hypothesized that autistic people are subject to assortative mating; they tend to pair with each other and raise autistic offspring. This hypothesis has been publicized in the popular press, but has not been empirically tested.


title: Autism rights movement

text: British psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen said that an increasingly technological society has opened up niches for people with Asperger syndrome, who may choose fields that are "highly systematized and predictable". People with AS could do well in workplace roles that are "system-centered, and connect with the nitty-gritty detail of the product or the system."


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autism is thought of as a condition mostly affecting males, with males up to four times more likely than females to be diagnosed as autistic or Asperger syndrome. Autistic females are "research orphans" according to Yale's Ami Klin; some drugs used to treat anxiety or hyperactivity that may accompany autism are rarely tested on autistic females. Autism may express differently in the sexes. Females may be more concerned with how they are viewed by peers and the failure to connect with people outside of their immediate family could lead to severe anxiety or clinical depression. Autistic girls who have normal intelligence may be more socially disadvantaged than males because of the "rising level of social interaction that comes in middle school," when girls' "friendships often hinge on attention to feelings and lots of rapid and nuanced communication." Additionally, autistic girls may be negatively impacted by being placed in specialized educational programs, where they will be surrounded by males and further isolated from female social contacts. Although sample sizes are too small to draw firm conclusions, one study suggests that women with autism are less likely than males over the long term to marry, have families, go to college, have careers and live independently. Females may also be different from males in terms of interests; autistic females rarely have interests in numbers or have stores of specialized knowledge. The profile of autism may change as more is understood about females, whose autism may go undiagnosed.


title: Autism rights movement

text: In recent years, some people have suggested links between autism and transgender people. This issue has not been without controversy, as the issue is open to confusion; it is currently unclear whether this correlation exists due to an innate characteristic of autism that may also cause unusual discrepancies in sex or gender, or whether it is merely the result of exposing a group of people who are disinclined to abide by arbitrary social norms, including those related to gender, to sexism and gender stereotypes.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autism Spectrum Disorder may lead to problems in social interaction with peers. These problems can be severe or mild depending on the individual. Autistic people are often the target of bullying due to their idiosyncratic behavior, precise language, unusual interests, and impaired ability to perceive and respond in socially expected ways to nonverbal cues, particularly in interpersonal conflict, which results in them being sought out by classmates and rejected. Autisic people may be overly literal and may have difficulty interpreting and responding to sarcasm, banter, or metaphorical speech. Difficulties with social interaction may also manifest in a lack of play with other children.


title: Autism rights movement

text: The above problems can even arise in the family; given an unfavorable family environment, the child may be subject to emotional abuse. An autistic child, teen, or adult is often puzzled by this mistreatment, unaware of what has been done incorrectly. Unlike with other pervasive development disorders, most autistic persons want to be social, but fail to socialize successfully, which can lead to later withdrawal and asocial behavior, especially in adolescence. At this stage of life especially, they risk being drawn into unsuitable and inappropriate friendships and social groups. Autistic people often interact better with those considerably older or younger than themselves, rather than those within their own age group.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autistic children often display advanced abilities for their age in language, reading, mathematics, spatial skills, or music—sometimes into the "gifted" range—but this may be counterbalanced by considerable delays in other developmental areas, like verbal and nonverbal communication or some lack of motor coordination. This combination of traits can lead to problems with teachers and other authority figures. An autistic child might be regarded by teachers as a "problem child" or a "poor performer". The child's extremely low tolerance for what they perceive to be ordinary and mundane tasks, such as typical homework assignments, can easily become frustrating; a teacher may well consider the child arrogant, spiteful, and insubordinate. Lack of support and understanding, in combination with the child's anxieties, can result in problematic behavior (such as severe tantrums, violent and angry outbursts, and withdrawal).


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autistic people continue to face barriers to obtaining and maintaining employment, with as many as 85% of college educated autistic adults among the ranks of the unemployed and many more struggling with underemployment and job instability. Outdated assumptions that the way neurotypicals think, communicate, and behave is the only "normal" or "correct" way excludes many skilled and capable autistic people who would otherwise excel in their careers. The more recent, research-backed view is that autistic people are merely speaking different, but equally valid, social languages. Increased workplace awareness and acceptance of this view of autistic people, as well as appropriate supports as necessary, is necessary to create healthier, more inclusive work environments with more equitable opportunities for career advancement and employee engagement and to reduce rates of unemployment, workplace discrimination, and employee disengagement and burnout.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Homelessness is very common among autistic people as a result of the many structural barriers to their full inclusion in society.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Two traits sometimes found in autistic individuals are mind-blindness (the inability to predict the beliefs and intentions of others) and alexithymia (the inability to identify and interpret emotional signals in oneself or others), which reduce the ability to be empathetically attuned to others. Alexithymia in ASD functions as an independent variable relying on different neural networks than those implicated in theory of mind. In fact, lack of theory of mind in ASD may be a result of a lack of information available to the mind due to the operation of the alexithymic deficit.


title: Autism rights movement

text: A second issue related to alexithymia involves the inability to identify and modulate strong emotions such as sadness or anger, which leaves the individual prone to "sudden affective outbursts such as crying or rage". According to Tony Attwood, the inability to express feelings using words may also predispose the individual to use physical acts to articulate the mood and release the emotional energy.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autistic people report a feeling of being detached against their will from the world around them ("on the outside looking in"). They may have difficulty finding a life partner or getting married due to poor social skills. The complexity and inconsistency of the social world can pose an extreme challenge for autistic individuals. In the UK Autism Spectrum Disorder is covered by the Disability Discrimination Act; those with ASD who get treated badly because of it may have some redress. The first case was "Hewett v Motorola 2004" (sometimes referred to as Hewitt) and the second was "Isles v Ealing Council". The same applies in the United States with the Americans with Disabilities Act, amended in 2008 to include autism spectrum disorders.


title: Autism rights movement

text: According to Elizabeth Fein, the dynamic of role-playing games is especially positive and attractive to people on the autism spectrum. The social information exchanged in these games are explicit, top-down and systematic and they follow a set of shared abstract rules. Baez and Rattazzi showed that interpreting the implicit social information of daily life is difficult for them.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autistic pride refers to pride in autism and shifting views of autism from "disease" to "difference". Autistic pride emphasizes the innate potential in all human phenotypic expressions and celebrates the diversity various neurological types express.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autistic pride asserts that autistic people are not impaired or damaged; rather, they have a unique set of characteristics that provide them many rewards and challenges, not unlike their non-autistic peers.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Curing autism is a controversial and politicized issue. The "autistic community" can be divided into several groups. Some seek a cure for autism—sometimes dubbed as "pro-cure"—while others consider a cure unnecessary or unethical, or feel that autism conditions are not harmful or detrimental. For example, it may be seen as an evolutionary adaptation to an ecological niche by some environmentalists and the more radical autism rights campaigners.


title: Autism rights movement

text: With the recent increases in autism recognition and new approaches to educating and socializing autistics, an autistic culture has begun to develop. Autistic culture is based on a belief that autism is a unique way of being and not a disorder to be cured. The "Aspie world", as it is sometimes called, contains people with Asperger syndrome (AS) and high functioning autism (HFA), and can be linked to three historical trends: the emergence of AS and HFA as labels, the emergence of the disability rights movement, and the rise of the Internet. Autistic communities exist both online and offline; many people use these for support and communication with others like themselves, as the social limitations of autism sometimes make it difficult to make friends, to establish support within general society, and to construct an identity within society.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Because many autistics find it easier to communicate online than in person, a large number of online resources are available. Some autistic individuals learn sign language, participate in online chat rooms, discussion boards, and websites, or use communication devices at autism-community social events such as Autreat. The Internet helps bypass non-verbal cues and emotional sharing that autistics tend to have difficulty with. It gives autistic individuals a way to communicate and form online communities.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Conducting work, conversation and interviews online in chat rooms, rather than via phone calls or personal contact, helps level the playing field for many autistics. A "New York Times" article said "the impact of the Internet on autistics may one day be compared in magnitude to the spread of sign language among the deaf" because it opens new opportunities for communication by filtering out "sensory overload that impedes communication among autistics."


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autistic people may be perceived differently from country to country. For example, many Africans have spiritual beliefs about psychiatric disorders, which extends into perceived causes of autism. In one survey of Nigerian pediatric or psychiatric nurses, 40% cited preternatural causes of autism such as ancestral spirits or the action of the devil.


title: Autism rights movement

text: World Autism Awareness Day, sometimes referred to as World Autism Day, is marked yearly on 2 April. It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly at the end of 2007. On 2 April 2009, activists left 150 strollers near Central Park in New York City to raise awareness that one in 150 children is estimated to be autistic.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Nowadays, there are many celebrations and activities all over the world on 2 April for World Autism Awareness Day. Autistic people have campaigned to rename this to Autism Acceptance Day because of a misconception that the day affiliated to Autism Speaks—which was founded by the UN.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autism Sunday is a global Christian event, observed on the second Sunday of February. It is supported by church leaders and organisations around the world. The event started as a small idea in the front room of British autism campaigners, Ivan and Charika Corea. It is now a huge event celebrated in many countries. Autism Sunday was launched in London in 2002 with a historic service at St. Paul's Cathedral.


title: Autism rights movement

text: The year 2002 was declared Autism Awareness Year in the United Kingdom—this idea was initiated by Ivan and Charika Corea, parents of an autistic child, Charin. Autism Awareness Year was led by the British Institute of Brain Injured Children, Disabilities Trust, The Shirley Foundation, National Autistic Society, Autism London and 800 organizations in the United Kingdom. It had the personal backing of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. This was the first ever occasion of partnership working on autism on such a huge scale. 2002 Autism Awareness Year helped raise awareness of the serious issues concerning autism and Asperger's Syndrome across the United Kingdom. A major conference, Autism 2002 was held at the King's Fund in London with debates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords in Westminster. Autism awareness ribbons were worn to mark the year.


title: Autism rights movement

text: British autism advocates want autistic people acknowledged as a minority rather than as disabled, because they say that "disability discrimination laws don't protect those who are not disabled but who 'still have something that makes them look or act differently from other people.'" But the autism community is split over this issue, and some view this notion as radical.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autistic Pride Day is an Aspies For Freedom initiative celebrated on 18 June each year. It is a day for celebrating the neurodiversity of people with autism. Inspired by LGBT+ communities, Autistic Pride often compares their efforts to the civil rights and LGBT social movements.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autistics Speaking Day is a yearly event designated on 1 November, a self-advocacy campaign run by people with autism to raise awareness and challenge negative stereotypes about autism by speaking for themselves and sharing their stories. The first Autistics Speaking Day was held in 2010. According to Corina Becker, one of the early founders, the day is to "acknowledge our difficulties while sharing our strengths, passions, and interests." The idea for the event developed out of opposition to a "Communication Shutdown" fundraising campaign led by United States charity Autism Speaks. Participants had been asked to ""simulate having autism"" by straying from all forms of online communication for one day. The event received criticism and accused Autism Speaks of missing the point of what autism actually is, referring to autistic individuals comfort using other means of communication.


title: Autism rights movement

text: In 2006 the Autism Acceptance Project (TAAProject) was founded by Estée Klar, the mother of an autistic child, with help from an autistic advisory board. The project was dedicated to promoting acceptance and accommodations for autistic people in society and was primarily supported by autistic people. The website for TAAProject disappeared a decade later, but the idea of promoting acceptance has now been adopted with other campaigns such as Autism Acceptance Month.


title: Autism rights movement

text: In 2011, the first Autism Acceptance Day celebrations were organized by Paula Durbin Westby, as a response to traditional "Autism Awareness" campaigns which the Autistic community found harmful and insufficient. Autism Acceptance Day is now held every April. "Awareness" focuses on informing others of the existence of autism while "acceptance" pushes towards validating and honoring the autism community. By providing tools and educational material, people are encouraged to embrace the challenges autistic people face and celebrate their strengths. Rather than making autism into a crippling disability, acceptance integrates those on the autistic spectrum into everyday society. Instead of encouraging people to wear blue as Autism Awareness Day does, Autism Acceptance Day encourages people to wear red.


title: Autism rights movement

text: At Autreat—an annual autistic gathering—participants compared their movement to gay rights activists, or the Deaf culture, where sign language is preferred over surgery that might restore hearing. Other local organizations have also arisen: for example, a European counterpart, Autscape, was created around 2005.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Autism spectrum disorders received increasing attention from social-science scholars in the early 2000s, with the goals of improving support services and therapies, arguing that autism should be tolerated as a difference not a disorder, and by how autism affects the definition of personhood and identity. Sociological research has also investigated how social institutions, particularly families, cope with the challenges associated with autism.


title: Autism rights movement

text: A study published on 20 January 2021, by the University of Texas at Dallas suggests that educating non-autistic people about the strengths and challenges of autistic people can help reduce stigma and misconceptions surrounding autism, which may help increase social inclusion of autistic people. The study also found that implicit biases about autism were harder to overcome for non-autistic people.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Much of the public perception of autism is based on its portrayals in biographies, movies, novels, and TV series. Many of these portrayals have been inaccurate, and have contributed to a divergence between public perception and the clinical reality of autism. For example, in the 2005 movie "Mozart and the Whale", the opening scene gives four clues that a leading character has Asperger syndrome, and two of these clues are extraordinary savant skills. The savant skills are not needed in the film, but in movies savant skills have become a stereotype for the autism spectrum, because of the incorrect assumption that most autistic people are savants.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Some works from the 1970s have autistic characters, who are rarely labeled. In contrast, in the 2013 BBC2 television miniseries "The Politician's Husband", the impact of Noah Hoynes' Asperger syndrome on the boy's behavior and on his family, and steps Noah's loved ones take to accommodate and address it, are prominent plot points in all three episodes.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Popular media have depicted special talents of some children with autism, including exceptional abilities as seen in the 1988 movie "Rain Man".


title: Autism rights movement

text: Since the 1970s, fictional portrayals of people with autism, Asperger syndrome, and other ASCs have become more frequent. Public perception of autism is often based on these fictional portrayals in novels, biographies, movies, and TV series. These depictions of autism in media today are often made in a way that brings pity to the public and their concern of the topic, because their viewpoint is never actually shown, leaving the public without knowledge of autism and its diagnosis. Portrayals in the media of characters with atypical abilities (for example, the ability to multiply large numbers without a calculator) may be misinterpreted by viewers as accurate portrayals of all autistic people and of autism itself. Additionally, the media frequently depicts autism as only affecting children, which promotes the misconception that autism does not affect adults.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Some notable figures such as Temple Grandin, a food animal handling systems designer and author, and Tim Page, a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and author are autistic.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Notable individuals known to have Asperger syndrome include Craig Nicholls, lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and only constant member of the Australian rock band The Vines, who was diagnosed in 2004, and actor Paddy Considine.


title: Autism rights movement

text: Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg, who in August 2018 started the "School strike for climate" movement, has explained how the "gift" of living with Asperger syndrome helps her "see things from outside the box" when it comes to climate change. In an interview with presenter Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4's "Today", the 16-year-old activist said that autism helps her see things in "black and white". She went on to say:


title: Autism rights movement

text: Additionally, media speculation of contemporary figures as being on the autism spectrum has become popular in recent times. "New York" magazine reported some examples, which included that "Time" magazine suggested that Bill Gates is autistic, and that a biographer of Warren Buffett wrote that his prodigious memory and "fascination with numbers" give him "a vaguely autistic aura". The magazine also reported that on "Celebrity Rehab", Dr. Drew Pinsky, deemed basketball player Dennis Rodman a candidate for an Asperger's diagnosis, and the UCLA specialist consulted "seemed to concur". Nora Ephron criticized these conclusions, writing that popular speculative diagnoses suggest autism is "an epidemic, or else a wildly over-diagnosed thing that there used to be other words for." The practice of diagnosing autism in these cases is controversial.