WI: advocate for special needs children in Nixon administration (highest realistic)?

This idea comes from something Gov. Palin said in her acceptance speech at the '08 RNC:
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/p...videos/transcripts/20080903_PALIN_SPEECH.html

To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message for you: For years, you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. And I pledge to you that, if we're elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.

So, what if Dick and Pat had one more child who was special needs, or Spiro and Judy, or Dick's brother, or a grandchild of John and Martha Mitchell?

And I'm looking for the highest realistic trajectory, or among the highest.
 
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Let's say Dick and Pat had a third daughter born in '57, call her Carol. And let's say she's variously diagnosed with childhood schizophrenia, slight mental retardation, learning disability.

Carol turns twelve in Nixon's first year as president in 1969. And then Dick and Pat start hearing that autism is spectrum. For example, that persons on the spectrum are far more likely to have sensory issues and these can vary widely depending in the individual.

Interesting times, for back then, some 'experts' were still writing the horseshit that autism was caused by a 'refrigerator mother.' Some so-called behavorists were at times starving the autistic child to 'make' the behaviorism work.

Alright, for high trajectory, let's say the Autism Rights movement happening right now in the UK, let's say this happens in the '70s in the United States.
 
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One potential POD is the formation of the National Autistic Society in the UK in 1962.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/04/clara-claiborne-park-obituary

' . . . Park's experiences with professionals were distressing and unhelpful, and she decided to help her daughter herself, by experimenting and finding out what worked best for her. Park helped many other parents feel that they knew what was best for their own child.

'Autism campaigning was gaining momentum in other parts of the world. In the UK, the National Autistic Society was set up by a group of parents, including myself, around a kitchen table in 1962. . . . '
Another potential POD is the publication of The Siege: A Family's Journey Into the World of an Autistic Child by Clara Claiborne Park in 1967.
http://www.care2.com/causes/remembering-clara-claiborne-park.html

' . . . 1967 was also the year in which Clara Claiborne Park published a book called The Siege: The First Eight Years of an Autistic Child, an account of exactly that, Park’s and her family’s experience raising her youngest child, Jessy. (The book’s subtitle is now ‘A Family’s Journey Into the World of an Autistic child.’) After learning that Jessy was autistic, the Parks decided they would raise her on their own, with their family of three older children, and The Siege documents this, in the days before there was any Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, before autism was widely known about, before there several autism organizations across the country and around the world (including organization started by individuals on the autism spectrum themselves). . . '

Jessica Park, now in her '50s, works in a university mailroom and is a reasonably successful painter. And actually, it's pretty hard for anyone -- whether autistic or not! -- to really make it in the visual arts.
http://folkart.org/mag/jessica-park

Now, to some extent the 1970s were a good decade in the United States. For example, mainstreaming kids with special needs was at least the stated goal. I'm asking how could things have gone even better.

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You might remember that one reason Nixon supported FAP (Family Assistance Plan) was his contempt of meddlesome case-worker types. Imagine his ire toward so-called 'professionals' who blame autism on the parents!
 
Some autistic persons make significant progress, some don't.

Karl Taro Greenfeld wrote Boy Alone: A Brother's Memoir in 2009.
A Profoundly Manipulative Book
https://www.amazon.com/Boy-Alone-Ka...8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=recent&pageNumber=2

Straight up. That's how someone titled their review on Amazon. Because Karl took a flight of fancy in which his brother started doing better and learning skills, and even started a relationship with a young woman who was also different. And it was like a 50-page flight of fancy. And it all comes crashing back to earth. We find out his brother is institutionalized as an adult.

There is some good stuff in the book. For example, early on his mother observes that plenty of people are willing to help try to cure Noah, but not many people are willing to help care for him. So, some good stuff, but be warned.
 
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Assuming everything else about Nixon is the same as OTL, I don't see advocacy for special needs doing much to redeem his reputation among anyone who isn't already a diehard Nixon apologist. In real life, he established the EPA, but that hardly garnered him any sort of reputation as a "green" president.

But, as you say, if he somehow gets caught up in the controversies surrounding autism and maybe other mental illnesses, that could lead to some fireworks. It's hard to say where he'd be on the issue of mainstreaming. On the one hand, I could see him thinking it'a juat another case of "meddlesome case worker figures" with a social-engineering agenda, plus it would have a degree of unpopularity with the Silent Majority, some of whom would see it as a hinderance to their schools and a threat to their property rates. On the other hand, he might see it as a relatively risk-free way to soften up his image, since, property rates aside, being pro-disabled(as opposed to pro-black or pro-gay) has always been one of the safer planks in the liberal agenda.
 
Assuming everything else about Nixon is the same as OTL, I don't see advocacy for special needs doing much to redeem his reputation among anyone who isn't already a diehard Nixon apologist. . .
If Dick and Pat did have a third daughter 'Carol' on the spectrum and the Nixons were low-key and effective advocates, perhaps some redemption of his reputation. But mainly they help to speed the day where autistic persons and their families have more good choices.

If Nixon occasionally responds in a press conference: We love all our daughters. Of course we love Carol. And autism spectrum probably has a variety of causes and probably has a variety of methods of teaching autistic persons, that there is no one size fits all.

The dogmatic Freudians and the dogmatic behaviorists come off looking bad in comparison.
 
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If Dick and Pat did have a third daughter 'Carol' on the spectrum and the Nixons were low-key and effective advocates, perhaps some redemption of his reputation. But mainly they help to speed the day where autistic persons and their families have more good choices.

If Nixon occasionally responds in a press conference: We love all our daughters. Of course we love Carol. And autism spectrum probably has a variety of causes and probably has a variety of methods of teaching autistic persons, that there is no one size fits all.

The dogmatic Freudians and the dogmatic behaviorists come off looking bad in comparison.

Yeah, if you factor in an autistic daughter, that does have possibilities. Of course, Dick and Pat would have to avoid falling into the clutches of the dogmatic Freudians and behaviourists for that to work. (Would this discredit Bettelhein earlier?)

Interesting, it was in Nixon's book about world leaders that I first read about De Gaulle's relationship with his own mentally disabled daughter. It's a rather toucning account.
 
Yeah, if you factor in an autistic daughter, that does have possibilities. Of course, Dick and Pat would have to avoid falling into the clutches of the dogmatic Freudians and behaviourists for that to work. (Would this discredit Bettelhein earlier?)

Interesting, it was in Nixon's book about world leaders that I first read about De Gaulle's relationship with his own mentally disabled daughter. It's a rather toucning account.
One of Nixon's across the aisle pals was the most prominent disabled politican under then fdr, New Jersey attorney general and wheelchair user Arthur sills
 
Ironically the ada's prescessor the rehab act section 504 pushing mainstreaming was a pet project of agnew.
Thanks for the info. Did not know this about Agnew.

I mainly have in mind mainstreaming kids in school, where to the extent possible, the kid is in regular classes but might also spend some time in special ed.

And special education kind of went awry in that it has been used to warehouse kids. That was never ever the purpose. It was supposed to give children some extra help who didn't learn well in the standard ways.

A lot might have to do with whether a teacher is in favor of a particular reform or change. If so, then you may get the Hawthorne Effect where if someone knows they're being observed or are in an experiment, they tend to do better regardless of the particular content of the change or experiment.

PS And thanks for the info on New Jersey Attorney Gen. Arthur Sills in the other post. In a different timeline, maybe we could get an ADA sometime before 1990. To me, it's straightforward and reasonable and could have come considerably earlier.
 
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Yeah, if you factor in an autistic daughter, that does have possibilities. Of course, Dick and Pat would have to avoid falling into the clutches of the dogmatic Freudians and behaviourists for that to work. (Would this discredit Bettelhein earlier?)

Interesting, it was in Nixon's book about world leaders that I first read about De Gaulle's relationship with his own mentally disabled daughter. It's a rather toucning account.
Let's assume the Nixons followed the same logic as above author Clara Claiborne Park. Clara's autistic daughter Jessy was her and her husbands fourth child. She figured they did a good job with the first three. So, this whole Freudian business where supposedly the child detects that she's rejected and thus withdraws, she didn't put a lot of stock in it.

So, if the Nixons did have a third daughter Carol (in OTL, they only had two), might come to a similar conclusion. We did a fine job with the first two. This idea that autism is caused by our parenting style is just this highly speculative, wild-blue-yonder, Freudian flight of fancy. Being charitable, it might be interesting, but there's hardly a shred of evidence for it.

And this Bruno Bettelheim guy does sound like a work of art, doesn't he? In classic con artist fashion, it sounds like he built on what people were already inclined to think, about him, about autism, about what might help. He did not have the credentials he implied he did.
 
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by the National Autistic Society in the UK

This is an alright video. However, it doesn't put sensory issues front and center like some advocates do.

It does end with "accept difference, not indifference," which strikes me as a particular UK expression, in a very good way! :)
 
Nixon was the only person in Bob Dole's 35 years in Congress who always remembered to shake his non-injured arm. It's a minor note but I think it says a lot about Nixon . The PoD is likely as simple as giving the Nixon family a disabled child.
 

by the National Autistic Society in the UK

This is an alright video. However, it doesn't put sensory issues front and center like some advocates do.

It does end with "accept difference, not indifference," which strikes me as a particular UK expression, in a very good way! :)

Nice video, this coming from one with Asperger's. Pretty good summary.
 
Thanks for the info. Did not know this about Agnew.

I mainly have in mind mainstreaming kids in school, where to the extent possible, the kid is in regular classes but might also spend some time in special ed.

And special education kind of went awry in that it has been used to warehouse kids. That was never ever the purpose. It was supposed to give children some extra help who didn't learn well in the standard ways.

A lot might have to do with whether a teacher is in favor of a particular reform or change. If so, then you may get the Hawthorne Effect where if someone knows they're being observed or are in an experiment, they tend to do better regardless of the particular content of the change or experiment.

PS And thanks for the info on New Jersey Attorney Gen. Arthur Sills in the other post. In a different timeline, maybe we could get an ADA sometime before 1990. To me, it's straightforward and reasonable and could have come considerably earlier.
I'm a college adjunct wheelchair user finishing a phd. Sills was a giant. He left 20 million to his caregivers
 
Yeah, if you factor in an autistic daughter, that does have possibilities. Of course, Dick and Pat would have to avoid falling into the clutches of the dogmatic Freudians and behaviourists for that to work. (Would this discredit Bettelhein earlier?)

Interesting, it was in Nixon's book about world leaders that I first read about De Gaulle's relationship with his own mentally disabled daughter. It's a rather toucning account.
Degaulle refused to have her instutionalised and sang her to sleep. This tough as nails warrior had the guts to fight medical opinion
 
I'm a college adjunct wheelchair user finishing a phd. Sills was a giant. He left 20 million to his caregivers
Congrats on your upcoming PhD. :)

I think we should endeavor to build an open society, whether a person is a wheelchair user or not, of course we should!

And I'm glad we've made some progress in this direction, although I suspect still some ways yet to go.
 
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