Jim Sinclair is an American autistic activist and writer who helped pioneer the neurodiversity movement. Sinclair, along with Xenia Grant and Donna Williams, formed Autism Network International (ANI).[1] Sinclair became the original coordinator of ANI. Sinclair is an advocate for the anti-cure position on autism, arguing that autism is an integral part of a person's identity and should not be cured. Sinclair is intersex and uses Xe/Xem/Xyr pronouns.[2]
Sinclair grew up Jewish with a mother, a father, and a brother. At a very young age, Sinclair identified with other disabled people. Xe saw a blind man walking with a cane and imitated it with a cane found in xyr grandparents' basement. When Jim was 6, xe played with a set of Johnny West action figures with xyr brother. If one of the arms came loose, Jim would secure it by turning the lasso into an improvised sling. For another figure that broke, Jim fashioned a wheelchair for it. Jim explained that "from very early on, I had the concept that you don't throw people away for being broken".[3]
Sinclair has said that xe did not speak until age 12.[4] Sinclair was raised as a girl, but describes having an intersex body,[5] and in a 1997 introduction to the Intersex Society of North America, Sinclair wrote, "I remain openly and proudly neuter, both physically and socially."[6] Xyr first act of self-definition was to jump off xyr father's lap and shout "No!" when xyr father sang to xem about being "Daddy's little girl". Jim objected to undergo a Bat Mitzvah, saying xe "didn't want to do it under false pretenses". Jim appeared on the Jesse Sally Raphael show as a guest with the alias "Toby" to talk about being intersex and asexual.[7]
Jim was taken to a series of doctors and therapists to determine why xe struggled to get ideas across. Xe did not initially get an autism diagnosis, but would be told by xyr parents "stop acting so autistic!" when flapping hands or rocking.
In 1998, Sinclair was a graduate student of rehabilitation counseling at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.[8] [9]
Sinclair was the first person to "articulate the autism rights position".
In 1993, Sinclair wrote the essay "Don't Mourn for Us" (1993) with an anti-cure perspective on autism.[10] The essay has been thought of by some to be a touchstone for the fledgling autism-rights movement and has been mentioned in The New York Times[4] and New York Magazine.[11] In the essay, Sinclair writes,
Sinclair also expresses their frustration with the double standard autistic people face, such as being told their persistence is "pathological" when neurotypical people are praised for their dedication to something important to him. Sinclair has criticized the medical view that autistic people have deficits in social skills, arguing that autistic people can be compared to a different culture in a neurotypical-dominated society.[12]
Sinclair is the first documented autistic person to reject people-first language.
Sinclair established and ran Autreat, the first independent autistic-run gathering,[13] for fifteen years after attending conferences that mainly included parents of autistic children and professionals. Xe and other autistic adults described these conferences as isolating and dehumanizing. Autreat explicitly prioritizes autistic needs, with programs like an "Ask a Neurotypical" panel.
