Kevin Healey | |
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 | |
| Born | 27 May 1974 |
| Website | kevinhealey |
Kevin Healey (born 27 May 1974[ citation needed ]) is an autism activist. He also campaigns against bullying.
Kevin Healey | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Born | 27 May 1974 |
| Website | kevinhealey |
Kevin Healey (born 27 May 1974[ citation needed ]) is an autism activist. He also campaigns against bullying.
In 2001, Healey founded the North Staffordshire Asperger's & Autism Association (NSAAA). [1] In 2007, Healey founded the Staffordshire Adults Autistic Society (SAAS), which provides support to adults with autism including activities such as outings as well as educational programs and a helpline. [2] [3] In 2010, he launched a campaign entitled "It's Time For Change — Stand-up For Autism" which aimed to improve government response to the needs of people with autism and their families in the UK. This campaign attracted support from both members of Parliament and the public, and Healey delivered a petition to the Prime Minister's office signed by 4,000 people in favour of such expanded services and funding. [4] He was also a trustee for the National Autistic Society, which is the largest autism charity in the UK, until he stood down from the role in 2016. [5] [6]
Healey published an autobiography, Twin Brothers Worlds Apart, in 2009, sales of which benefit SAAS, his autism charity. [3] This book has been adapted for a short film that was released under the same title in 2017, which was directed by Andrew Dobosz. [7] In 2014, he released a short documentary about cyber-bullying. [8] He hosted his own show on Blog Talk Radio but stopped broadcasting in 2011, [9] and he also founded internet-based Autism Radio UK. [4] [10]
Healey initiated a global anti-bullying campaign in 2014, which is supported by Ricky Gervais, Katie Price, and Keith Duffy. [11] [12] Healey has been the victim of cyberbullying and harassment on Twitter due to his activism. [13] This bullying included not only online harassment and cloning (impersonation) of his Twitter account, [6] but also threats to "sever [his] legs" [1] or kill him. Taking into consideration the information that some of those bullying him had learned what neighbourhood he lived in, Healey found those threats credible enough that he did not leave his home for three months. [1] Police investigated both the threats and over a dozen cases of impersonation. [6] Healey's experiences motivated him to raise awareness about cyberbullying and online harassment of those with autism. [14] He advocates for making the bullying of a person with a developmental disability a crime. [1] [15] [16]
Healey had won awards including a British Citizen Award for Volunteering and Charitable Giving in 2017, [17] Stoke-On-Trent Citizen of the Year in 2006 and Charity Champion of the year in 2007.[ citation needed ] He was selected to carry the Olympic torch in Crewe on 31 May 2012. [10] A charity Healey founded, Staffordshire Adults Autistic Society (SAAS), was one of 112 groups that received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2012. [2]
He has a twin brother, Shaun, who also has autism, but is non-verbal. [3] [10]
The National Autistic Society is the leading charity for autistic people and their families in the UK. Since 1962, the National Autistic Society has been providing support, guidance and advice, as well as campaigning for improved rights, services and opportunities to help create a society that works for autistic people.
Parry Aftab is an Internet privacy and security lawyer, considered one of the founders of cyberlaw and founder of the world's largest and oldest cybersafety charity. Named by The Boston Herald as "the leading expert in cybercrime in the world," Aftab wrote the first cybersafety book in the world for parents and has received a long list of honors and has been appointed to the boards of directors and advisory boards of several companies, including TRUSTe, Facebook, MTV and Sesame Street Online. She is a longtime Internet safety expert who founded the Internet safety organization WiredSafety, StopCyberbullying and the consulting firm, WiredTrust. She was "the Privacy Lawyer" columnist for Information Week Magazine for many years. In 2016 Parry Aftab founded Cybersafety India and the StopCyberbullying and sextortion and morphing prevention initiatives for India. She resides in both the US and Canada.
Societal and cultural aspects of autism or sociology of autism come into play with recognition of autism, approaches to its support services and therapies, and how autism affects the definition of personhood. The autistic community is divided primarily into two camps; the autism rights movement and the Pathology paradigm. The pathology paradigm advocates for supporting research into therapies, treatments, and/or a cure to help minimize or remove autistic traits, seeing treatment as vital to help individuals with autism, while the neurodiversity movement believes autism should be seen as a different way of being and advocates against a cure and interventions that focus on normalization, seeing it as trying to exterminate autistic people and their individuality. Both are controversial in autism communities and advocacy which has led to significant infighting between these two camps. While the dominant paradigm is the pathology paradigm and is followed largely by autism research and scientific communities, the neurodiversity movement is highly popular among most autistic people, within autism advocacy, autism rights organizations, and related neurodiversity approaches have been rapidly growing and applied in the autism research field in the last few years.
Act Against Bullying (AAB) is a United Kingdom charity. It was founded in 2003 by Louise Burfitt-Dons. The charity's purpose is to help bullied children by providing them with confidential advice and to raise public awareness of the problem. The AAB website offers supportive messages and information on all forms of systematic bullying, in particular psychological bullying. The site also features advice on forms of bullying such as exclusion bullying and cyberbullying.
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.
Cyberstalking is the use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk or harass an individual, group, or organization. It may include false accusations, defamation, slander and libel. It may also include monitoring, identity theft, threats, vandalism, solicitation for sex, doxing, or blackmail.
Megan Taylor Meier was an American teenager who died by suicide by hanging herself three weeks before her 14th birthday. A year later, Meier's parents prompted an investigation into the matter and her suicide was attributed to cyberbullying through the social networking website MySpace. Lori Drew, the mother of a classmate of Meier, was found guilty of cyberbullying in the 2009 case United States v. Drew. However, her conviction was overturned by the judge.
Mobile harassment refers to the act of sending any type of text message, sex photo message, video message, or voicemail from a mobile phone that causes the receiver to feel harassed, threatened, tormented, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise victimized. It is recognized as a form of cyberbullying.
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.
Autistica is a UK based charity engaged in funding and campaigning for research on autism and related conditions. Its research strategy is focused on improving the understanding of mental health, physical health, language and epilepsy in autism.
Cyberstalking and cyberbullying are relatively new phenomena, but that does not mean that crimes committed through the network are not punishable under legislation drafted for that purpose. Although there are often existing laws that prohibit stalking or harassment in a general sense, legislators sometimes believe that such laws are inadequate or do not go far enough, and thus bring forward new legislation to address this perceived shortcoming. In the United States, for example, nearly every state has laws that address cyberstalking, cyberbullying, or both.
Anti-bullying legislation is a legislation enacted to help reduce and eliminate bullying. This legislation may be national or sub-national and is commonly aimed at ending bullying in schools or workplaces.
Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to the communication technology advancements and young people's increased use of such technologies. Cyberbullying is when someone, typically a teenager, bullies or harasses others on the internet and other digital spaces, particularly on social media sites.
Ditch the Label is a global youth charity, dedicated to helping young people through a range of issues such as mental wellbeing, bullying, identity, relationships and digital literacy.
The Cybersmile Foundation is an international nonprofit organization committed to tackling all forms of cyberbullying and digital abuse. They promote kindness, diversity, and inclusion through professional support services, education programs, awareness campaigns and corporate partnerships.
Anna Kennedy is a disability/ neurodiversity campaigner who has worked to provide improved education and other services and support for children and adults described as being on the autism spectrum as well as other neurodiverse conditions. In pursuing these activities she has helped establish two schools, a college, a respite home and a website with over 100,000 international followers.
Bullying in higher education refers to the bullying of students as well as faculty and staff taking place at institutions of higher education such as colleges and universities. It is believed to be common although it has not received as much attention from researchers as bullying in some other contexts. This article focuses on bullying of students; see Bullying in academia regarding faculty and staff.
"From the Doctor to My Son Thomas" is a viral video recorded by actor Peter Capaldi and sent to Thomas Goodall, an autistic nine-year-old boy in England, to console the child over grief from the death of Goodall's grandmother. Capaldi filmed the 42-second video in character as the Twelfth Doctor from the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who. Capaldi's message had a positive effect on Thomas: he smiled for the first time since learning of his grandmother's death, and gained the courage to go to her funeral.
Discrimination against autistic people is the discrimination, persecution, and oppression that autistic people have been subjected to. Discrimination against autistic people is a form of ableism.
Tylan Grant is an English actor, known for playing Phoenix Hathaway in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. For his role as Phoenix, Grant was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2019 British Soap Awards, as well as Celebrity of the Year at the 2019 National Diversity Awards.