Jim Sinclair (activist)
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Jim Sinclair is an autism rights activist who, together with fellow autistics Kathy Lissner Grant and Donna Williams, formed Autism Network International (ANI) in 1992. Being the only one of the three with an internet connection, Sinclair became the original coordinator of ANI.[1]
Early life and education
Sinclair has said that they did not speak until age 12.[1] In 1998, Sinclair was a graduate student of rehabilitation counseling at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.[2]
Views
Sinclair wrote "Don't Mourn for Us", an essay with an anti-cure perspective on autism.[3] Don't Mourn for Us has been thought of by some to be a touchstone for the fledgling movement.[1] This essay has been mentioned in the New York Times[1] and New York Magazine.[4] Sinclair was featured in the book Somebody Somewhere by Donna Williams, which covers the formation of ANI.
In the mid-1990s, autism conferences rarely featured autistic public speakers and even more rarely paid them for their work; Sinclair was among the first international public advocates in the autism field.
Personal life
Sinclair says that they are intersex and that they were raised as a girl, but they self-identify as "openly and proudly neuter, both physically and socially."[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Harmon, Amy (December 20, 2004). "How About Not 'Curing' Us, Some Autistics Are Pleading". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
- ↑ "Autreat 1998: Presenters".
- ↑ Sinclair, Jim (1993). "Don't mourn for us". Autreat. Retrieved 2014-08-11.
- ↑ Solomon, Andrew (2008-05-25). "The Autism Rights Movement". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
- ↑ Sinclair, Jim (1997). Self-introduction to the Intersex Society of North America. Jim Sinclair's personal website. Retrieved on 2011-06-28