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SWAN COVID response 2020
JOIN OUR BOARD AT SCOTTISH WOMEN’S AUTISM NETWORK
About the Scottish Women’s Autism Network The Scottish Women’s Autism Network (SWAN) was formed in 2012 with a mission to ensure that Scotland is a home where autistic women and girls can flourish. We empower autistic women and girls by running peer-support local groups across Scotland, manage online forums,...
Independent Advisory Group: Coronavirus powers
On 9 April 2020, it was announced that an Independent Advisory Group (IAG) would be set up to review Police Scotland’s use of new temporary police powers to tackle coronavirus. The Group is chaired by John Scott QC and has reported directly to the Scottish Police Authority, as the...
The WomenBeing Talks series: The COVID-19 experience
The WomenBeing Talks series: The COVID-19 experience, has been described as an experiment in creating a ‘dialogue chain’, to weave voices, stories and knowledge from female peers with different perspectives, backgrounds and walks of life all over the world. The storytelling initiative seeks to connect women worldwide (community leaders, academics, entrepreneurs,...
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From Manobina Chakraborty: "Dr. Stephen Shore is a name that needs no introduction. Dr Shore will be with us this Friday, 24 September 2021 once again in a brief, informal but impactful chat with our founder Manobina Chakraborty.![]()
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Let's Talk Inclusion has changed its format. You don't need to take out an hour from your busy schedule every Friday anymore. Join us for not more than 15 minutes and be a part of our discussion" Cat@SwanDr. Stephen Shore is a name that needs no introduction. Dr Shore will be with us this Friday, 24 September 2021 once again in a brief, informal but impactful chat with our founder Manobina Chakraborty.![]()
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Let's Talk Inclusion has changed its format. You don't need to take out an hour from your busy schedule every Friday anymore. Join us for not more than 15 minutes and be a part of our discussion. ![]()
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See you on Friday.![]()
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#globalcollaboration #Iforinclusion #letstalkinclusion #neurodiversity #inclusionmatters #autism
This evening on BBC Scotland 20.30 hours
Young disabled Scots face ‘cliff edge’ leaving school
bbc.co.uk
BBC Disclosure investigates the challenges facing young disabled people as they move into adulthood.
We are sending blessings to all of our Jewish SWANs who are observing Yom Kippur today 🕍
SWAN and Spectrum_10K: ![]()
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Spectrum 10K is the name of an internationally funded research programme. The research team, headed by Simon Baron-Cohen from Cambridge University, is asking for 10,000 autistic people, or parents of autistic children, to donate DNA samples which they plan to put together with a further 90,000 worldwide. Their stated intention is to explore sub-groups of autism, with the aim of developing more targeted treatments and interventions. The announcement of this project has been met with a great deal of anxiety and consternation by many in the autistic community. Outlined below is what we consider at SWAN to be the key issues and a summary of our response to the project.![]()
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The idea that improvement of autistic people’s lives, which has to be socially and human-rights driven, can be achieved in a laboratory, is highly concerning and only reinforces existing stigma and misunderstandings.![]()
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Globally, autistic people are feared, excluded, marginalised, demonised, disempowered, infantilised, abused. It is not in the least bit unreasonable that many autistic people are suspicious and sceptical, not to say, justifiably fearful, of anything that carries with it a suggestion of eugenics. Some of the online discussion around the project has been modelled as ‘science-against-irrationality-and-conspiracy theorists’ which is offensively dismissive and only raises barriers to any complex, constructive discussion. Furthermore, there is no assurance that the data collected through this programme will not end up in the hands of people who want to eradicate the autistic human out of existence. ![]()
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Spectrum_10 describes itself as seeking a better understanding of autism but there is nothing that we can find out about this project that assures us it’s going to take us any closer to that understanding. SWAN is extremely concerned at the potential impact of Spectrum_10, now and in the future.![]()
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Dr Catriona Stewart OBE on behalf of SWAN.
It would be nice if SWAN were to make a statement about Spectrum 10k. We all need to stand together on this, even if the details of our views need not be exactly the same. Thank you.
