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(not satire – it’s Simon Stevens!)
Simon Stevens is the Uncle Tom of disability activism.
I’ve written about him before:
Oops! Simon Stevens in his defence of ATOS forgets to mention he’s employed by them
So-called disability consultant Simon Stevens dropped by charity for being ‘offensive’
So why does the so-called progressive Huffington Post insist on giving the execrable Stevens space on its pages for his attacks on disabled people?
Do they think it’s OK for Stevens to air his prejudiced, jaundiced, anti-disability views – views which they wouldn’t normally give the time of day to if they were being expressed by just about anyone else – because he happens to be disabled himself?
Here’s another more recent example of Stevens’ objectionable views on disability in the pages of the Huffington, this time he writes in an article that autistic children should just learn to be ‘more patient‘:
When I hear parents say their autistic children do not have the patience to queue, I sigh, because that could be said about any child and surely we all need to learn patience!
I understand that Stevens has decided that the best way for him to make money from writing about disability is to play the part of an anti-disability disabled person. After all, you can’t deny it’s a pretty unique position to take.
And I also understand that the Huffington Post will claim that they are simply allowing diversity of opinions about disability – and anyway, as one of their official bloggers, Stevens doesn’t represent the opinions of the publication itself.
Well boll*cks to that.
Because stating that all autistic people need to do is to “learn patience” is dangerous, damaging nonsense that I wouldn’t expect to see in such ignorant and prejudiced tabloid media such as Fox News, The Sun or the Daily Mail.
The Huffington Post should be thoroughly ashamed of itself.
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Please feel free to comment.
I’m not surprised at this. The Huffington Post presents itself as being a progressive, liberal news outlet, but it also provides column inches for anti-vaccine lunatics and advocates of homeopathy, among other idiocies. The kind of ill-informed nonsense spouted by Stevens is perfectly at home there.
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Well said, Tom.
As the mother of an autistic child, who has had to curtail umpteen trips, outings and excursions because of my son’s “impatience” (by which read “sensory overload leading to raised anxiety levels causing him great distress and eventual neurological meltdown”), I am yet again tempted to rip Mr Stevens a new arsehole to match the one he uses to speak out of on a far too regular basis.
I also deplore the Huff’s continuing to give him a platform from which he can spew his hateful views, which would see him sued for disabled hate speech if he weren’t himself disabled.
I have brought his “article” to the attention of my local NAS officer, I am hoping they will pass it higher up and that NAS themselves will contact the Huff, I will let you know if I hear anything.
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Simon Stevens is not the only disabled nazi on the planet. There are more nearer to home in the shape of Phil Nofrriends at DA and the idiot MP what’s his name – and the closet paralympians and …. Not all disabled people share a socialist or social conscience view of the world you know
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Marie – yes please do let me know if you hear anything.
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Marie, I understand as both of my children are on the spectrum.
Expecting an autistic person, over stimulated as you describe, to just behave normally is like putting someone in a wheel chair among able-bodied athletes and expecting them to run with them.
This guy is wrong, to put it politely.
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simon stevens is the katie hopkins of huffington post
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Reblogged this on ambulivictor's Blog.
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I just had to comment on the site –
“Once again Huff blog drag out the unfunny Simon Stevens; Simon carries his disability on his shoulder bigger than any chip, unable and unwilling to view any position other than his own, sniping at other disabled people who are not like him.
I suggest there is a reason Simon is an “Independent Disability Issues Consultant, Trainer and Activist”, because others of us who are disabled Consultant, Trainers, Activists, can not work with his prejudicial views?”
xx
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Your two examples just rendered your reply moot.
There is legitimacy in what is being discussed with respect to vaccines because of the levels of mercury and other dangerious substances being laced into the vaccine injections. I wasn’t actually permitted some vaccines medically as a child because of allergies to the substances they lace them with.
As for homeopathy there is any number of legitimate reason to say there are benefits over and above chemicals see what I’ve just written above for one such reason.
I will never condone disability bashing being disabled my self but you undermine the argument by bringing up off topic subjects that you hold bias for.
Press complaints is an avenue where an article is in danger of misrepresenting a subsection if society with severe bias and in danger of inciting hate.
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My point is not “moot.” I brought up those examples to evidence my position that the Huffington Post is not a reliable and trustworthy news source, however “liberal” it claims to be. Tom claims to be surprised that the website publishes Stevens’s nonsense. I am not, for the reasons I gave.
I’m not going to respond to your other points in detail because I don’t want to drag this thread off topic. But suffice to say that the anti-vaccination claims published in HuffPo previously are pure hokum, and it is obviously nonsense to suggest that mere water has magical healing properties. The Huffington Post has provided space to advocate both of these very silly positions, which calls into question its overall reliability.
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Funny his initials are SS!
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