Kassiane Asasumasu Explained

Kassiane A. Asasumasu (; born 1982) is an American autism rights activist who is credited for coining several terms related to the Neurodiversity Movement, including caregiver benevolence (2014), neurodivergent, and neurodivergence (2000). As stated in the text Neurodiversity for Dummies, "Asasumasu's work set the stage for a broader understanding and acceptance of neurological differences", which "continue[s] to be shared, shaped and formed by all sorts of people who recogniz[e] that our world should be accepting, inclusive, and accommodating of people regardless of their neurotype".[1]

Early life

Kassiane Asasumasu[2] was born in 1982[3] and has seven siblings, all of whom are neurotypical.[4] She was diagnosed as autistic when she was three years old and was bullied for much of her childhood.[5]

Asasumasu has shared that she also has temporal lobe epilepsy[6] and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of applied behavior analysis.[7]

Asasumasu is Hapa and Asian American.[8] She is of Croatian, Japanese, Mongolian, and Romanian descent.[9]

Contributions

Neurodivergent and neurodivergence

Following the rise of the autism rights movement in the 1990s, many autistic advocates, including Asasumasu, recognized that a wide variety of people experienced the world in ways similar to autistic people, despite not being autistic. As a result, Asasumasu coined the related terms neurodivergent and neurodivergence circa 2000.[10]

According to Asasumasu, these terms refer to those "whose neurocognitive functioning diverges from dominant societal norms in multiple ways". She intended for these terms to apply to a broad variety of people,[11] [12] [13] not just people with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and dyslexia. She further emphasized that it should not be used to exclude people but rather to include them.[14] This term provided activists a way to advocate for increased rights and accessibility for non-autistic people who do not have typical neurocognitive functioning.[15]

As stated in the text Neurodiversity for Dummies, "Asasumasu's work set the stage for a broader understanding and acceptance of neurological differences", which "continue[s] to be shared, shaped and formed by all sorts of people who recogniz[e] that our world should be accepting, inclusive, and accommodating of people regardless of their neurotype".

Caregiver benevolence

Asasumasu coined the term caregiver benevolence in 2014[16] to describe the overarching societal assumption that caregivers are "angelic, saint-like figure[s]" for offering their time, energy, and financial resources to care for a disabled person. In alignment with this belief, ignorance is the only harm caregivers can do to the disabled person in their care. Asasumasu argues that due to the presumption of caregiver benevolence, the relationships between disabled people and their caregivers are frequently framed through "claims of hardship and suffering" on behalf of the caregiver, while neglecting the harms caused to the disabled person on behalf of their caregiver; such a presumption and reframing can lead to society overlooking the abuse of disabled people.

Publications

Book chapters

Journal articles

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Marble . John . https://books.google.com/books?id=JibyEAAAQBAJ&dq=Kassiane+A.+Asasumasu&pg=PA19 . Neurodiversity For Dummies . Chabria . Khushboo . Jayaraman . Ranga . March 19, 2024 . John Wiley & Sons . 978-1-394-21617-8 . 19 . en . Understanding Neurodiversity . March 4, 2024 . March 4, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240304032222/https://books.google.com/books?id=JibyEAAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA19&dq=Kassiane+A.+Asasumasu&hl=en . live .
  2. Web site: Fletcher-Watson . Sue . June 3, 2020 . Neurodiverse or Neurodivergent? It's more than just grammar . March 4, 2024 . DART Development, Autism, Research, Technology . . en-US . December 7, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231207095632/https://dart.ed.ac.uk/neurodiverse-or-neurodivergent/ . live .
  3. Web site: History . March 6, 2024 . The Autistic People of Color Fund . Kassiane A. Asasumasu is a vintage 1982 autistic & epileptic activist who has been active this whole century. . February 27, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240227053834/https://autismandrace.com/all-the-weight-of-our-dreams-anthology/history/ . live .
  4. News: Sibley . Kassianne . April 11, 2006 . Why Not Ask Us? . March 8, 2024 . . en-US . 0362-4331 . June 8, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210608211415/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/11/science/letters.html . live .
  5. Web site: February 5, 2020 . How abuse mars the lives of autistic people . March 4, 2024 . Spectrum . en-US . March 4, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240304005857/https://www.spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/how-abuse-mars-the-lives-of-autistic-people/ . live .
  6. Asasumasu . Kassiane . UVGKassi . 1622738048575307778 . February 6, 2023 . Yes, I'm epileptic (temporal lobe epilepsy). and everyone when I was a kid decided it was Behaviors instead of, like, a medical thing so now it's refractory because it was left untreated for too long. WHEEEEE . March 6, 2024 .
  7. Asasumasu . Kassiane . UVGKassi . 147445025805049858 . December 15, 2011 . @lizditz @thinkingautism I have PTSD from ABA. PTSD + autism + self loathing is WAY worse than autism. . March 6, 2024 .
  8. Web site: Tink . Amanda . 2023-03-07 . Black Inc. has stumbled with its anthology of neurodivergent writing. The term is not a diagnosis – it is part of a political movement . 2024-04-08 . . en-US.
  9. Web site: Grace . Elizabeth J. (ibby) . NeuroQueer: Kassiane A. Sibley's Open Letter to Identity Police (Part 1) . NeuroQueer . 5 April 2024 . 13 September 2013 . I am biracial. Hapa. Hafu. Eurasian. Eastern European and East Asian. Mongolian, Romanian, Japanese, Croatian. Unacknowledged on a demographic form..
  10. Web site: Thompson . Rachel . September 3, 2020 . Disability Justice Advocate and Writer Lydia X. Z. Brown on Autism and Neurodivergence . March 4, 2024 . . en-US . March 4, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240304005856/https://roommagazine.com/disability-justice-advocate-and-writer-lydia-x-z-brown-on-autism-and-neurodivergence-2/ . live .
  11. Book: Walker, Nick . Neuroqueer heresies: notes on the neurodiversity paradigm, autistic empowerment, and postnormal possibilities . 2021 . Autonomous Press . 978-1-945955-27-3 . Fort Worth . Neurodiversity: Some Basic Terms & Definitions.
  12. Web site: Neurodivergence . March 4, 2024 . University of Massachusetts Office of the President . March 4, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240304010926/https://www.umassp.edu/inclusive-by-design/who-before-how/understanding-disabilities/neurodivergence . live .
  13. Coates . Shannon . October 25, 2022 . Neurodiversity in the Voice Studio, Clinic, and Performance Space: Using a Neurodiversity Affirming Lens to Build More Inclusive Spaces for Singers. Part 1, Current Understanding of Neurodiversity . Journal of Singing . 79 . 2 . 213–219 . 10.53830/VHSX6387 . 253177063 . March 4, 2024 . October 27, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221027085904/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/867856 . live .
  14. Web site: Chapman . Robert . August 18, 2021 . Negotiating the Neurodiversity Concept . March 4, 2024 . . en-US . March 8, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240308162055/https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/neurodiverse-age/202108/negotiating-the-neurodiversity-concept . live .
  15. Web site: Liebowitz . Cara . March 4, 2016 . Here's What Neurodiversity Is – And What It Means For Feminism . March 8, 2024 . Everyday Feminism. en-US . March 4, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240304172242/https://everydayfeminism.com/2016/03/neurodiversity-101/ . live .
  16. Web site: Kronstein . Alex . June 29, 2018 . Caregiver benevolence: When parents don′t know best . March 4, 2024 . Nova Scotia Advocate . en-CA . March 4, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240304005856/https://nsadvocate.org/2018/06/29/caregiver-benevolence-when-parents-dont-know-best/ . live .
  17. Cagulada . Elaine . 2021 . All the Weight of Our Dreams: On Living Racialized Autism by Lydia X. Z. Brown, E. Ashkenazy, and Morénike Giwa Onaiwu (review) . Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies . 15 . 4 . 499–502 . 10.3828/jlcds.2021.39 . 1757-6466 . Project MUSE.

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