An English professor at Dartmouth College acrimoniously left her position earlier this year to accept one at Northwestern University, but not before threatening to sue Dartmouth and seven students because they so disrespected her theories as to create a "hostile work environment." Priya Venkatesan's academic specialty is treating "science" not as natural or physical realities but as mere social or political ideas. She said some students were so "intolerant" of her teaching and so questioned her knowledge as to constitute harassment.
Ari Ne'eman, 20, who has Asperger's syndrome, has formed the Autistic Self Advocacy Network to persuade public opinion that those diagnosed with autism are not ill or disabled but merely different in the way they process information, in that social interaction is very difficult for them. Those without autism, say the activists, are merely "neurotypical," and a progressive society must be "neurodiverse." Notwithstanding such articulate advocates as Ne'eman, most medical professionals continue to consider autism a potentially devastating affliction, according to a June report in New York magazine.
