Ari Ne'eman, the founder of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) s a policy wonk, specifically disability policy. He has a blog, , Sometimes a Lion, covering topics he finds interesting.
The latest article is on the Trump administration and disabled individuals: Watch the Appointments. His point is that policy is actually made an executed far down the administrative ladder, and who is appointed is critical. Relative to Trump,
A Trump Administration that believes that vaccines cause autism insults Autistic people and can do tremendous harm to public health. But at the end of the day, defending vaccine policy is not a core interest of disability rights advocates. There are others for that job, and compared to other areas Trump is engaged in, it is not even a top five concern. But once we take into account the “congealing of the fringe” that’s taken place in autism and developmental disability politics over the last decade, an anti-vaccine President is a much scarier prospect. After all, the people that have Trump’s ear on disability aren’t just anti-vaccine – they also hold views that promise to reverse decades of federal policy promoting inclusion and access to the community for people with disabilities.I'm afraid what this Administration means is that we are all going to have to stup up to being policy wonks, to protect our rights and those of vulnerable individuals.
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