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The Disability Day of Mourning is observed annually on 1 March [1] to commemorate disabled people who were murdered by their caregivers, especially their parents. First observed in 2012 and propagated by disability rights organizations such as Not Dead Yet and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the day aims to bring attention to the issue of filicide of disabled children and adults and the degree to which such murders are treated as different from or more socially acceptable than similar murders of abled people.
The day has become a significant part of the disability rights movement, attracting attention from politicians and the media. In addition to its pioneering by disability rights groups, it has gained attention and support amongst mainstream disability support-focused organizations.
The Disability Day of Mourning was created in 2012 by Zoe Gross, director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. [1] However, the broader concept of vigils held to memorialise murdered disabled people originated in the early 2000s, itself as an extension of lists of murder victims passed around advocacy communities for years prior. [2] [3] The primary inciting incident for the day was the coverage of the murder of George Hodgins, a 22-year-old autistic man killed by his mother Elizabeth in a murder-suicide; mainstream news coverage focused on Elizabeth as a "devoted and loving" mother while treating George as a "low functioning and high maintenance" burden whose disability apparently justified his death. [1] [4] [5]
The day also exists in part as a reaction to disability-related days that focus on the abled perspective, such as Disability Awareness Day, a pedagogical phenomenon where abled students use disability simulators to try and mimic the experience of being disabled (e.g., blindfolds to learn about the experience of blind people). Such simulations are controversial amongst disability rights activists due to their poor relationship with the lived experience of disabled people. [6]
The Disability Day of Mourning is observed on 1 March by holding vigils in cities worldwide and cataloguing disabled murder victims on disability rights websites. [7] Many are held on college campuses, such as Syracuse University [8] and the University of Maryland. [9] Outside of the United States, vigils have been held in places such as Canada, [10] Scotland, [11] Australia, and China. [1] In 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, global vigils were held online. [10]
The vigils feature the reading of names of murdered disabled people; due to the number of names, readings are usually restricted only to those murdered since the previous vigil. [1] Many vigils also feature disabled survivors of abuse, such as institution survivors, talking about their experiences. [12] The Disability Memorial website collects a more complete list of names, stretching back to 1980. [7] Other common aspects include a moment of silence and the lighting of candles. [11] Another major focus is the media coverage of such murders, which frequently quotes friends and relatives of the murderers, and even other caregivers of disabled people, as being sympathetic to the crime. [1] A particular focus is on the perception of bias relating to murders of disabled people, such as situations in which murder have been reduced to manslaughter with disability as a mitigating factor. [13] According to statistics from the Ruderman Family Foundation, on average, one disabled person was murdered by a family member or caregiver each week in North America in 2011–2015; many of the murderers are acquitted or serve little to no prison time. [14] Similarly, a paper by the Florida A&M University Law Review found approximately half of all filicides were "altruistic", or motivated by the parental belief that killing their child was necessarily to 'end suffering'; these murders were primarily of disabled children. [15]
The primary organization involved in the day is the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, and the day was initially organized by its members. [1] However, people of many disabilities, not just autism, organize and attend these events. [12] Other organizations involved in popularising and hosting events include Not Dead Yet, the Center for Disability Rights, the National Council on Independent Living, and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. [16]
When Gross first originated the Disability Day of Mourning concept, she was surprised to receive pushback, with opponents describing the concept as "anti-parent" and as stigmatizing towards the parents of disabled children. Over time, the perception of the day has grown more positive. In 2016, the White House liaison to the disability community read a statement from then-President Barack Obama at the Washington D.C. event. [1]
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network provides an "Anti-Filicide Toolkit", which aims to prevent murders of disabled children and adults and to offer ways to discuss such murders if they happen in a reader's community. [17] The Disability Day of Mourning has popularised usage of the term filicide, the word for the murder of one's child, to refer to disability-related murders by family members or caregivers. [18] [19]
The existence of the day, and the murders that cause it to exist, have been discussed as a sign of the pervasive nature of ableism. For instance, the necessity of the day was discussed in the reception to Sia's controversial film Music , about an autistic girl, and the scenes of the character being physically restrained against her will – something that has resulted in the deaths of many disabled and autistic people. [20]
Since the origin of the day, media coverage of disabled people has become more positive, and self-advocacy in such coverage – with disabled writers discussing the disabled experience from an inside view – has become more common. The Disability Day of Mourning has been accepted by mainstream disability groups, such as Arc and Easter Seals. [1]
The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all people with disabilities.
Neurodiversity is a framework for understanding human brain function that recognizes the diversity within sensory processing, motor abilities, social comfort, cognition, and focus as neurobiological differences. The neurodiversity paradigm argues that diversity in human cognition is normal and that some conditions generally classified as disorders, such as autism, are differences and disabilities that are not necessarily pathological.
The autism rights movement, also known as the autistic acceptance movement, is a social movement allied with disability rights that emphasizes the Neurodiversity Paradigm, viewing autism as a set of naturally-occuring variations in human cognition rather than as a disease to be cured or a disorder to be treated. The movement aligns itself with broader disability rights and uses a human rights framework. Central to most human rights frameworks is a belief that the relevant community, in this instance the Autistic Community, should be able to self-determine who is in that community, what language should be used in discussing the community, and should be seen as the primary voice whenever discussions of interest to the community are held. One of the common mottos used, which was borrowed from the Disbility Rights movement is the phrase "nothing about us without us."
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to autism:
Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, especially in "language, mobility, learning, self-help, and independent living". Developmental disabilities can be detected early on and persist throughout an individual's lifespan. Developmental disability that affects all areas of a child's development is sometimes referred to as global developmental delay.
Self-advocacy is the act of speaking up for oneself and one's interests. It is used as a name for civil rights movements and mutual aid networks for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The term arose in the broader civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and is part of the disability rights movement. Today there are self-advocacy organizations across the world.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy organization run by and for individuals on the autism spectrum. ASAN advocates for the inclusion of autistic people in decisions that affect them, including: legislation, depiction in the media, and disability services.
World Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognized day annually on 2 April, encouraging Member States of the United Nations to take measures to raise awareness about autistic individuals throughout the world. It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly resolution (A/RES/62/139), passed in council on 1 November 2007, and adopted on 18 December 2007. It was proposed by Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned, the United Nations Representative from Qatar, and supported by all member states.
Disability abuse is when a person with a disability is abused physically, financially, sexually and/or psychologically due to the person having a disability. This type of abuse has also been considered a hate crime. The abuse is not limited to those who are visibly disabled or physically deformed, but also includes those with learning, intellectual and developmental disabilities or mental illnesses.
Ari Daniel Ne'eman is an American disability rights activist and researcher who co-founded the Autistic Self Advocacy Network in 2006. On December 16, 2009, President Barack Obama announced that Ne'eman would be appointed to the National Council on Disability. After an anonymous hold was lifted, Ne'eman was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate to serve on the Council on June 22, 2010. He chaired the council's Policy & Program Evaluation Committee making him the first autistic person to serve on the council. In 2015, Ne'eman left the National Council on Disability at the end of his second term. He currently serves as a consultant to the American Civil Liberties Union. As of 2019, he also is a Ph.D. candidate in Health Policy at Harvard University.
Dignity of risk is the idea that self-determination and the right to take reasonable risks are essential for dignity and self esteem and so should not be impeded by excessively-cautious caregivers, concerned about their duty of care.
Jay Seth Ruderman is an American lawyer, disability rights activist and philanthropist. He is the president of the Ruderman Family Foundation.
Discrimination against autistic people, also known as Autistiphobia, involves any form of discrimination, persecution, or oppression against people who are autistic. Discrimination against autistic people is a form of ableism.
Lydia X. Z. Brown is an American autistic disability rights activist, writer, attorney, and public speaker who was honored by the White House in 2013. They are the chairperson of the American Bar Association Civil Rights & Social Justice Disability Rights Committee. They are also Policy Counsel for Privacy & Data at the Center for Democracy & Technology, and Director of Policy, Advocacy, & External Affairs at the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network. In 2022, they unsuccessfully ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 7A, losing to state delegate Kathy Szeliga and delegate-elect Ryan Nawrocki.
The Ruderman Family Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation established in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, managed by the Ruderman family. The foundation operates in the US and in Israel in two main areas: inclusion of people with disabilities in society and strengthening the relationship between Israel and the American Jewish community with the help of strategic philanthropy.
Citizen Autistic is a 2013 documentary film directed by William Davenport exploring the advocacy work of autism rights activists. Citizen Autistic features interviews with autistic activists including Ari Ne'eman, co-founder and former president of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, and Zoe Gross, creator of the Disability Day of Mourning annual vigils held in honor of filicide victims with disabilities. The documentary covers topics important to neurodiversity such as the debate over whether researchers should seek a cure for autism and controversies surrounding the nonprofit organization Autism Speaks and the Judge Rotenberg Center, a residential institution known for using electric skin shock aversive treatment as a form of behavioral modification.
Morénike Giwa Onaiwu is an American educator, author, and autism and HIV advocate. Alongside E. Ashkenazy and Lydia Brown, Onaiwu is an editor of All the Weight of Our Dreams, an anthology of art and writing entirely by autistic people of color published by the Autism Women's Network in June 2017.
Various connections have been made between violence and autism within social narratives. According to public opinion, violent behavior is common for autistic individuals, but evidence does not support autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a predisposition to delinquency or crime. Autistic people are likely to be victims of bullying, abuse and other violence.