Blog Post 2

Social movements are, in fact, just what the phrase implies: a system of beliefs and/or disbeliefs that challenge the status quo of society and acquire followers in large numbers as well as a claim to morality. These are all key elements to a successful social movement, and necessary to ensuring the spread of whatever message or value system that is being promoted.  Every social movement struggles to change the status quo or the norms in society and promote their own values, such as gender/racial equality, animal rights, veterans’ benefits, etc. To promote these changes and values, a social movement must have the support of society and gain widespread notoriety through public events and a large time-frame. Social movements, as the phrase suggests, move beyond to where they originate and broaden the scope of their goals, sometimes even globally. One gathering of a disgruntled group of people in a certain area does not count, but a group that encourages more groups in other areas to form with them belief/disbelief system is vital to a social movement.

The Neurodiversity movement is still small, as it has only been around for two decades, but it is growing and strengthening slowly but surely, rallying for peoples with any and all neurological conditions or disorders to stand up to the negative view society has of them. Their goal is to get rid of the idea that people with neurological differences (Autism, Attention Deficit Disorder, general learning disabilities, Asperger’s Syndrome etc.) have something wrong with them, and the value they promote is that people are simply neurologically different, and should only be addressed as such. They also are involved with a number of organizations, not just in one area, such as Autism Speaks, The Neurodiversity Working Group, and Autism Self-Advocacy Network, to name a few. This movement has a broad scope of followers, a belief/disbelief system, and a claim to morality. Spokespeople for this movement claim that like gays or lesbians, they are simply different and encourage society to celebrate those differences, just like any other civil rights movement.