Ari Daniel Ne'eman (; born December 10, 1987) is an American
disability rights
The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people.
It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around ...
activist and researcher who co-founded the
Autistic Self Advocacy Network in 2006.
On December 16, 2009, President Barack Obama announced that Ne'eman would be appointed to the
National Council on Disability
The National Council on Disability (NCD) is an advisory agency on disability policy in the United States for all levels of government and for private sector entities.
NCD is an independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U ...
. After an
anonymous hold was lifted, Ne'eman was unanimously confirmed by the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
to serve on the Council on June 22, 2010. He chaired the council's Policy & Program Evaluation Committee making him the first
autistic
Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...
person to serve on the council. In 2015, Ne'eman left the National Council on Disability at the end of his second term.
He currently serves as a consultant to the
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million.
T ...
.
He is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Health Policy and Management of Harvard University.
Early life
Ne'eman was born to American-Israeli and Israeli parents and raised in
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...
. Ne'eman grew up in
East Brunswick, New Jersey
East Brunswick is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The suburban bedroom community is part of the New York metropolitan area and is located on the southern sho ...
, where he attended
East Brunswick High School.
[Harmon, Amy]
"Nominee to Disability Council Is Lightning Rod for Dispute on Views of Autism"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', March 27, 2010. Accessed September 9, 2013. "Whether the hold is related to the criticism of Mr. Ne'eman (pronounced NAY-men) and what it might take to lift it is unclear.... Mr. Ne'eman, who grew up in East Brunswick, N.J., has said his condition caused him to be bullied in high school." He displayed autistic traits at an early age, and eventually developed an interest in
public policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...
. He engages in
stimming
Self-stimulatory behavior (also called stimming, stims, self-stimulation, stereotypy, and stereotypic movement disorder) is the repetition of physical movements, sounds, words, moving objects, or other behaviors. Stimming is a type of restricted ...
, such as pacing and hand-flapping.
He also has
sensory processing issues that affect his reactions to certain sounds and textures.
Early in childhood, Ne'eman was verbally advanced and
socially isolated. Like many children on the autism spectrum, he was
bullied
Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...
, and in his early teens he struggled with
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...
and would engage in
self-harm
Self-harm refers to intentional behaviors that cause harm to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues, usually without suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-abuse, self-injury, and s ...
by picking his skin.
[ He had to leave the Solomon Schechter Jewish day school around the fifth grade, which distressed him. For a period in high school, Ne'eman went to a segregated ]special education
Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...
school. There, he was frustrated by the segregated school because he felt it was a "day care
Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...
" that focused on "normalizing" disabled students instead of challenging them academically. He said that he and his fellow students "were being written off because of what society expects of people with disabilities." Using his advocacy skills, Ne'eman was eventually able to return to a mainstream school.
This experience had a strong effect on Ne'eman's view of the world. He has said that although he himself was successful at returning to a mainstream school, "What is, I think, most frightening to me is that for many students out there that kind of message is absorbed—the idea that they are inferior is absorbed, and that can be very damaging because it really puts a limit on people's potential."
Upon graduating high school, he founded the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. He then attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a Public university, public research university in Catonsville, Maryland named after Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County. It had a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 un ...
where he became a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi
Alpha Epsilon Pi (), commonly known as AEPi, is a college Fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded at New York University in 1913. The fraternity has more than 150 active chapters across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Israel ...
and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Political Science as part of the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program.
Advocacy work
Founding and leading the Autistic Self Advocacy Network
After graduating high school, Ne'eman founded the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), a national advocacy organization run by and for autistic adults and youth. In February 2006, he was appointed by the Governor of New Jersey
The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...
Jon Corzine
Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006, and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran f ...
to the New Jersey Special Education Review Commission, a body tasked with developing recommendations on the educational needs of students with disabilities in the State of New Jersey. There, he authored a minority report to the commission's main document expressing concern over the lack of substantive recommendations regarding aversives, restraint, and seclusion. In his letter to commission chair Joyce Powell, the head of the New Jersey Education Association, he noted, "It would have been our preference to find a solution in the main document to this issue. However, owing to numerous compromise proposals having been rejected, including one as basic as requiring parental consent prior to the utilization of these techniques, we feel it incumbent upon us to file a minority opinion."[Special Education Review Commission Report submitted April 2007](_blank)
Garden State Coalition of Schools. Accessed September 9, 2013. In the minority report, he and three other commission members argued for a total ban on aversives
In psychology, aversives are unpleasant stimuli that induce changes in behavior via negative reinforcement or positive punishment. By applying an aversive immediately before or after a behavior, the likelihood of the target behavior occurring i ...
, restricting restraint to emergency situations only and a variety of other policy recommendations applying to public schools and other entities receiving public funds.
As ASAN President, Ne'eman continued his work against aversives, restraint, and seclusion in a variety of contexts, ranging from grassroots campaigns to comment on specific regulatory proposals. In late 2007, Ne'eman and ASAN began to focus their advocacy efforts against new targets. On November 30, Ne'eman gave public comment to the Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee, a body within the Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Im ...
that he would join two years later. In his remarks, Ne'eman called for a re-focusing of the autism research agenda away from the priorities of causation and cure, urged increased representation for autistic self-advocates on the Committee and condemned Autism Speaks as "morally complicit" in recent murders of autistic children, due to their Autism Every Day fundraising video.
Under his leadership, ASAN's work focused on both public policy priorities and social and cultural change. Ne'eman attracted significant public attention for ASAN's successful campaign against the New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
Child Study Center's Ransom Notes campaign and the organization's long-standing criticism of Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks Inc. is an American non-profit autism awareness organization and the largest autism research organization in the United States. It sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governm ...
. Ne'eman and ASAN have also been frequent advocates on issues like expanding access to employment supports for autistic adults, fostering greater educational inclusion for youth on the autism spectrum, strengthening rights protection laws across the lifespan and other more traditional disability rights
The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people.
It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around ...
priorities. After the passage of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–325, ADAAA) is an Act of Congress, effective January 1, 2009, that amended the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and other disability nondiscrimination laws at the Federal level of th ...
, Ne'eman was one of a number of advocates specifically recognized by then House Majority leader Steny Hoyer
Steny Hamilton Hoyer ( ; born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and retired attorney who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1981. He also served as House Majority Leader from 2007 to 20 ...
in the ''Congressional Record
The ''Congressional Record'' is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Publishing Office and issued when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record Ind ...
''.
On July 18, 2016, Ari Ne'eman announced that he would step down as president of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, to be succeeded by Julia Bascom. He subsequently joined the American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million.
T ...
as a consultant on disability policy. , he is writing a book for Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
on disability history in the United States.
Other autistic advocacy
Ne'eman believes that society should focus on developing supports for autistics rather than searching for a cure
A cure is a substance or procedure that resolves a medical condition. This may include a medication, a surgery, surgical operation, a lifestyle change, or even a philosophical shift that alleviates a person's suffering or achieves a state of heali ...
. He believes a cure for autism will not come anytime soon and genetic insight gained on autism may be used to develop prenatal tests for the condition that will result in the premature termination of autistic fetuses. He urges scientists researching the genetics of autism to be cautious of the ethical
Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied e ...
implications of their studies.
Ne'eman believes that social pleasantry should be eliminated as criteria for hiring and a good job evaluation.
In 2010, President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
nominated Ne'eman to the National Council on Disability. Criticism of Ne'eman's view that society should not be curing autistic people may have been a factor in the hold on his confirmation. However, Daniel Pfeiffer
Howard Daniel Pfeiffer (born December 24, 1975) is an American political advisor, author, and podcast host. He was senior advisor to President Barack Obama for strategy and communications from 2013 to 2015.
Pfeiffer was a long-time aide to Oba ...
, then the White House Communications Director, accused Republican senators of intentionally blocking many of President Obama's nominees; in May 2010, there were 96 people waiting to be confirmed to administration posts.
In addition to serving on the NCD, Ne'eman was a public member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee and a board member of TASH. He had been Vice Chair of the New Jersey Adults with Autism Task Force, and served on the New Jersey Special Education Review Committee.
Ari Ne'eman led a campaign in Washington State to get a bus advertisement removed which advocated the "wiping out" of autism.
In 2014, Ne'eman was awarded the $100,000 Ruderman prize.
Ne'eman has advised several Democratic presidential candidates on disability policy. In the 2016 election, he advised Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
's campaign on autism and disability policy proposals. In the 2020 election, his advice was acknowledged and credited by both Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
and Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...
in the development of their disability plans.
ASAN was initially neutral on Kevin and Avonte's Law, which would have provided money to fight wandering behavior in autistic children, until a provision was introduced into the bill that would have allowed for tracking devices to be installed on people with disabilities that could be used for purposes other than locating them if they were lost. ASAN then opposed the bill, which failed to pass. Later, a revised version of Kevin and Avonte's Law passed which did not include the language ASAN had objected to.
Ne'eman supported the FDA's ban on electric shock devices at the Judge Rotenberg Center in 2020.
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Ne'eman has advocated for the rights of people with disabilities to get access to necessary services, prescription drugs and lifesaving treatment when necessary. In an op-ed in ''The New York Times'', he argued that ventilators and other scarce medical resources should not be denied on the basis of disability, provided that the care was not medically futile. Early in the pandemic, Ne'eman urged states to allow early refills on prescription drugs. He also articulated a series of recommendations to states to help ensure continuity of long-term care services for people with disabilities.
In 2014, Ne'eman co-founded MySupport, a technology platform that enables people with disabilities to find and hire support workers. MySupport was acquired by RISE Services in April 2020.
Views on autism
Multiple media sources have claimed that Ari Ne'eman sees autism as a difference as opposed to a disability. In response to those claims, Ne'eman has stated that he actually believes that autism is both a neurological difference and a disability, not a disease
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...
that should be cured. He is against what he sees as the stigmatization of autism in the media and views autism self-advocacy as a civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
issue. Proponents of a cure for autism, such as Cure Autism Now
Autism Speaks Inc. is an American non-profit autism awareness organization and the largest autism research organization in the United States. It sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governm ...
co-founder Jonathan Shestack, have criticized Ne'eman for his views on autism. Shestack has stated that Ne'eman does not understand the suffering those severely affected by “classic autism
Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...
” and their parents endure.
Personal life
Ne'eman married Rabbi Ruti Regan, a Conservative Jewish Rabbinical scholar and disability rights advocate, in July 2017.
See also
* Autism rights movement
The autistic rights movement, also known as the autism acceptance movement, is a social movement allied with the disability rights movement. It emphasizes the neurodiversity paradigm, viewing autism as a set of naturally occurring variations in ...
* Neurodiversity
The neurodiversity paradigm is a framework for understanding human brain function that considers the diversity within sensory processing, Motor skill, motor abilities, Social anxiety, social comfort, cognition, and Attention, focus as neurobiol ...
References
External links
Sometimes a Lion
National Council on Disability - NCD Council Members
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ne'eman, Ari
1987 births
American Civil Liberties Union people
20th-century American Jews
Autism activists
Autism rights movement
American disability rights activists
East Brunswick High School alumni
People from East Brunswick, New Jersey
Living people
People with Asperger syndrome
American activists with disabilities
American people of Israeli descent
American Conservative Jews
21st-century American Jews
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni