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Lydia X Z Brown
Georgetown University, Disability Studies, Faculty Member
- Georgetown University, Arabic and Islamic Studies, UndergraduateGeorgetown University Law Center, Institute for Technology Law and Policy, Department Member, and 2 moreadd
- Lydia X. Z. Brown (Autistic Hoya) is a gender/queer and transracially/transnationally adopted east asian autistic act... moreLydia X. Z. Brown (Autistic Hoya) is a gender/queer and transracially/transnationally adopted east asian autistic activist, writer, and speaker whose work has largely focused on violence against multiply-marginalized disabled people, especially institutionalization, incarceration, and policing. They have worked to advance transformative change through organizing in the streets, writing legislation, conducting anti-ableism workshops, testifying at regulatory and policy hearings, and disrupting institutional complacency everywhere from the academy to state agencies and the nonprofit-industrial complex. At present, Lydia is co-president of TASH New England, chairperson of the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, and a board member of the Autism Women's Network. In collaboration with E. Ashkenazy and Morénike Giwa-Onaiwu, Lydia is the lead editor and visionary behind All the Weight of Our Dreams, the first-ever anthology of writings and artwork by autistic people of color.
Lydia is currently a Fall 2016 Visiting Lecturer at Tufts University’s Experimental College, teaching disability theory, policy, and social movements. Most recently, Lydia was a Holley Law Fellow at the National LGBTQ Task Force. Previously, they co-founded the Washington Metro Disabled Students Collective with fellow disabled people of color and queer and trans disabled people, while working as part of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's national policy team. Lydia has been honored by the White House, Washington Peace Center, National Council on Independent Living, Pacific Standard, and Mic, and is a Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund grantee. Lydia’s work has been featured in various anthologies, including Feminist Perspectives on Orange is the New Black, Criptiques, Torture in Healthcare Settings, and QDA: A Queer Disability Anthology; and other media including Films for the Feminist Classroom, Tikkun, Disability Intersections, Black Girl Dangerous, hardboiled magazine, POOR Magazine, Washington Post; Sojourners, The Establishment, Al Jazeera America, NBC News Asian America, HerCampus, AfterEllen, and Vice Broadly. Lydia is now in their second year as a Public Interest Law Scholar at Northeastern University School of Law.edit
Aj Withers and I edited a provocative round table on disability politics in the Routledge Handbook of Radical Politics edited by Ruth Kinna and Uri Gordon. Authors: Lydia X. Z. Brown, Loree Erickson, Rachel da Silveira Gorman, TL Lewis,... more
Aj Withers and I edited a provocative round table on disability politics in the Routledge Handbook of Radical Politics edited by Ruth Kinna and Uri Gordon. Authors: Lydia X. Z. Brown, Loree Erickson, Rachel da Silveira Gorman, TL Lewis, Lateef McLeod and Mia Mingus.
Research Interests:
Orange is the New Black offers incredibly rich possibilities for critically examining representations of disability, madness, and trauma in the popular imagination. For all of the show's complexities, no discussion of its representation... more
Orange is the New Black offers incredibly rich possibilities for critically examining representations of disability, madness, and trauma in the popular imagination. For all of the show's complexities, no discussion of its representation of racialized, gendered, classed, incarcerated, or maternal bodies can be complete without an analysis of disabled, mad, and traumatized bodies. Orange is the New Black is replete both with explicitly disabled characters and characters whose portrayal implicates disability. For the character Tiffany Doggett (Pennsatucky), who evokes caricatures of rural white poverty against which disability and trauma are made legible, it is possible to develop a critical analysis joining Angela Carter's work on cripping trauma theory with Joanna Kadi's analysis of stupidity and classism and Eli Clare's writings on negotiating disability as a rural working poor queer. Similarly, the revolutionary frameworks offered by Nirmala Erevelles, Syrus Ware, Joan Ruzsa, and Giselle Dias on racism and ableism in the prison-industrial complex may complicate depictions of mental instability in Orange is the New Black, whether through analyzing Suzanne Warren (Crazy Eyes) or Dina.
While Orange is the New Black frequently resorts to pathologizing and limiting tropes in representations of disability, the show simultaneously suggests both disabled ordinariness and exceptionalism. The diversity of disabled visibility allows further exploration of disability's role in mediating transgender identity, disabled sexuality and intimacy, and "overcomer" narratives around disability and trauma experiences. In making disabled existence visible, Orange is the New Black allows its viewers to consider possibilities for embracing vulnerability and precarity as part of human wholeness and complexity, while resisting the demand of compulsory ablenormativity that empowered femininity must invisibilize any specter of disability. This is not a conclusion but an invitation.
While Orange is the New Black frequently resorts to pathologizing and limiting tropes in representations of disability, the show simultaneously suggests both disabled ordinariness and exceptionalism. The diversity of disabled visibility allows further exploration of disability's role in mediating transgender identity, disabled sexuality and intimacy, and "overcomer" narratives around disability and trauma experiences. In making disabled existence visible, Orange is the New Black allows its viewers to consider possibilities for embracing vulnerability and precarity as part of human wholeness and complexity, while resisting the demand of compulsory ablenormativity that empowered femininity must invisibilize any specter of disability. This is not a conclusion but an invitation.
Research Interests:
Good documentaries about disability are hard to find. Representation is scarce and often teeters easily into dehumanizing and commodifying ableist tropes in which disabled people exist either for the edification of abled viewers or else... more
Good documentaries about disability are hard to find. Representation is scarce and often teeters easily into dehumanizing and commodifying ableist tropes in which disabled people exist either for the edification of abled viewers or else to elicit their pity and disgust at the spectacle of our freakishness. The films Sins Invalid: An Unashamed Claim to Beauty, Body and Soul: Diana & Kathy, and Service: When Women Come Marching Home, all of which focus almost entirely on disabled existence, share common themes of interdependence, self-empowerment, collective community-building, and the ordinariness of sick, disabled, and mad existence.
Research Interests:
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that can affect a wide range of domains, including communication, sensory and motor integration, language development, and emotional regulation. Interventions for ASD may... more
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that can affect a wide range of domains, including communication, sensory and motor integration, language development, and emotional regulation. Interventions for ASD may involve a variety of professionals, including psychiatrists, neurologists, psychologists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, physical therapists, and a range of paraprofessionals and technicians. Appropriate interventions have been linked to improvements in skills, independence, communication, and emotional well-being. Moreover, federal law requires that Medicaid plans cover the full range of medically necessary diagnostic and intervention services for autistic individuals under age 21, and sets standards for coverage that Medicaid providers must meet for beneficiaries over the age of 21. Nevertheless, it is essential that Medicaid providers maintain active quality controls to avoid funding inappropriate interventions. Such interventions may cause either delays in developing important skills or – in the case of painful " aversive " behavioral interventions, interventions that prioritize compliance over meaningful skills, or dangerous and unproven " cures " such as chelation or use of other toxic chemicals – may cause lasting harm. This guide is intended to provide guidance to Medicaid plan administrators on developing an effective coverage plan for ASD. It includes an overview of effective and emerging interventions, explanation of applicable federal laws governing Medicaid coverage, and considerations for developing meaningful coverage standards and quality controls. We hope that this resource also increases awareness of the continued need for policy advocacy across a range of intervention options.
Research Interests:
Educational professionals, clinicians, and medical personnel largely accept and condone compliance-based behavioral interventions as appropriate or necessary methods for correcting, treating, or ameliorating disability, including... more
Educational professionals, clinicians, and medical personnel largely accept and condone compliance-based behavioral interventions as appropriate or necessary methods for correcting, treating, or ameliorating disability, including psychiatric, learning, developmental, and behavioral disabilities. Such compliance-based interventions are grounded in a philosophy of indistinguishability from non-disabled people that emphasizes purely cosmetic behavioral changes. Yet behavioral changes centered on compliance and control are frequently contrary or detrimental to natural forms of movement, communication, and behavior. Unlike person-centered support services or self-directed therapy and care, compliance-based interventions do not support the development of functional skills or coping mechanisms. Furthermore, compliance-based behavioral interventions, which include restraint, seclusion, and aversive procedures, constitute torture as defined in the Convention Against Torture due both to their inherently and systematically abusive nature as well as their actual applications and methodology. Additionally, they discriminatorily target disabled people for such torture and violation of rights in contravention to the non-discrimination and protections provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Nevertheless, the prevalence and scope of compliance-based interventions, as well as their inherently discriminatory and abusive nature, have received little attention outside the disability community. Reframing the discussion of compliance-based behavioral interventions through an international human rights lens would strengthen existing advocacy efforts in the disability community as well as bring the issues to the forefront of international human rights activism.
Research Interests: Disability Studies, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Disability policy, Torture, Disability, and 6 moreState Complicity in Torture, Disability Rights, Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Special Education, Autism, Adhd, Faculty Development, Behavior Modification, Cognitive Behavior Modification, Learning Disabilities, and UN Convention against torture
Since the late 1960s, policymakers, advocates, and service providers have largely moved away from the assumption that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DDs) are best served in large institutions segregated from... more
Since the late 1960s, policymakers, advocates, and service providers have largely moved away from the assumption that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DDs) are best served in large institutions segregated from the community. From 1977 to 2010, the proportion of American adults with developmental disabilities residing in large, publicly-operated facilities has fallen from 35.8% to only 4.2% (Larson, Ryan, Salmi, Smith, & Wuorio, 2010). Most people with I/DD now receive services while living in their own or family member's homes, or in smaller, often ostensibly “community-based” facilities. Unfortunately, many of the latter facilities, while supposedly more integrated with the community, fail to meet their promises of supporting meaningful self-direction and community integration. Residential services can be roughly divided into two types: scattered-site and congregate. In the international literature, these
settings are often referred to as “dispersed” and “clustered,” respectively. The available research demonstrates that the scattered-site housing model provides the best possible means for fulfilling the
requirements of the Final Rule. Scattered-site housing schemes optimize autonomy for individuals with disabilities, integrate
residents into the surrounding community, involve the individuals with disabilities in staffing choices, and create access to
opportunities for participation in the community.
settings are often referred to as “dispersed” and “clustered,” respectively. The available research demonstrates that the scattered-site housing model provides the best possible means for fulfilling the
requirements of the Final Rule. Scattered-site housing schemes optimize autonomy for individuals with disabilities, integrate
residents into the surrounding community, involve the individuals with disabilities in staffing choices, and create access to
opportunities for participation in the community.
Research Interests:
The lives and history of autistic people are fraught with violence. The patterns of abuse and violence in the lives of autistic people can be clearly tied to systemic ableism in public policy and society. In this talk, we will discuss... more
The lives and history of autistic people are fraught with violence. The patterns of abuse and violence in the lives of autistic people can be clearly tied to systemic ableism in public policy and society. In this talk, we will discuss the realities of violence for autistic people, what autistics and allies are doing now to build meaningful alternatives to unsafe spaces, and what potential avenues we might have to change our futures.
Lydia will be speaking on the pathology paradigm of autism as a system of oppression and how activists, community builders, scholars, and advocates are moving toward the (neuro)diversity paradigm of disability.
The diversity paradigm of disability demands a reconceptualization of what it means to be disabled by asserting the subversive power of disabled identity. As part of the emerging disability rights movement and development of critical... more
The diversity paradigm of disability demands a reconceptualization of what it means to be disabled by asserting the subversive power of disabled identity. As part of the emerging disability rights movement and development of critical disability theory scholarship, disabled activists and scholars have become accustomed to analyzing ableism in rhetoric about disability both past and present. It is time to take an intersectional turn and consider the impact of disability representation and ableist metaphor not merely on disabled lives, but more broadly, across marginalized communities. Ableist metaphor has become the ubiquitous oppressive tool, used historically and currently to further such oppressive structures as racism, classism, sexism, cissexism, binarism, heterosexism, and sizeism; to justify radical and revolutionary movements aimed at toppling these structures; and to further sub-divide disabled communities among and within themselves. Disability organizing demands intersectional theory and practice. Identity is multifaceted and communities inextricably connected. We must now interrogate notions of agency and capacity in order to deconstruct ableist hegemony.
The field of special education has much to learn from the emerging philosophy of neurodiversity, which re-frames neurological difference as human diversity. The voices of advocates and allies demanding presumption of competence, universal... more
The field of special education has much to learn from the emerging philosophy of neurodiversity, which re-frames neurological difference as human diversity. The voices of advocates and allies demanding presumption of competence, universal design for learning, abolition of abusive practices, and equal access to alternative and augmentative communication are often overshadowed in public discourse and omitted from public policy. Nevertheless, the educational system has a unique opportunity to promote empowerment and to amplify the voices of those who have been historically and continue to be marginalized. Highlights of this presentation will include an examination of neurodiversity, a deconstruction of common misconceptions about Autistic people, and a spoken word exposition of aversive practices with disabled students.
Many campuses are establishing disability cultural centers to promote community and culture and a disability studies attitude. In this panel presentation, you will hear from representatives of campuses that have established cultural... more
Many campuses are establishing disability cultural centers to promote community and culture and a disability studies attitude. In this panel presentation, you will hear from representatives of campuses that have established cultural centers, or started the process of doing so. You will learn about options, resources, arguments for/against, and potential roles of disability services, student affairs, and other groups on campus.
The desexualization of disabled people has a long, troubled history of forced medical procedures, laws prohibiting disabled people from marrying, and the widespread denial of age-appropriate sex education for disabled children and youth.... more
The desexualization of disabled people has a long, troubled history of forced medical procedures, laws prohibiting disabled people from marrying, and the widespread denial of age-appropriate sex education for disabled children and youth. The infantilizing presupposition that disabled people should not have agency over their sexuality is profoundly disturbing in its theoretical, political, and practical implications for asexuals, the disabled, and disabled asexuals in particular. Disabled people are assumed to be asexual, incapable of either the cognitive choice to engage in sexual activity or the emotional desire to exist as sexual beings, yet disabled asexuals are presumed to have “chosen” their sexual orientation because of internalized ableism.
These realities reflect the problematic idea that those considered “proper humans” make decisions based on what is rationally advantageous, whereas those who are deemed “subhuman” make decisions out of animalistic or emotional impulses. When applied to the field of sexuality, society mandates that sex should ideally be chosen rationally for objective purposes, often procreation, and not simply for irrational, thoughtless indulgence of animal instincts. As part of this notion, people thought to be "less rational" are thought to be incapable of experiencing a legitimate sexuality. Thus, their sexualities are labeled pathological and taken as further evidence of illness and unreason. This is related to the idea that the knowledge, ideas, experiences, and feelings of privileged people are untainted by personal biases and subjective interpretations, while the knowledge, ideas, experiences, and feelings of oppressed people cannot be removed from such biases and subjectivity. This also mirrors how queer sexualities were likewise classified as a mental illness in the past, wherein society de-legitimized queer sexualities in the same way that disabled sexualities were and are de-legitimized. When applied to theories of sexuality in the context of systemic oppression, the sexual experiences of privileged people are considered to be chosen objectively by reason, while those of oppressed people are deemed irremovable from their bodily desires.
These realities reflect the problematic idea that those considered “proper humans” make decisions based on what is rationally advantageous, whereas those who are deemed “subhuman” make decisions out of animalistic or emotional impulses. When applied to the field of sexuality, society mandates that sex should ideally be chosen rationally for objective purposes, often procreation, and not simply for irrational, thoughtless indulgence of animal instincts. As part of this notion, people thought to be "less rational" are thought to be incapable of experiencing a legitimate sexuality. Thus, their sexualities are labeled pathological and taken as further evidence of illness and unreason. This is related to the idea that the knowledge, ideas, experiences, and feelings of privileged people are untainted by personal biases and subjective interpretations, while the knowledge, ideas, experiences, and feelings of oppressed people cannot be removed from such biases and subjectivity. This also mirrors how queer sexualities were likewise classified as a mental illness in the past, wherein society de-legitimized queer sexualities in the same way that disabled sexualities were and are de-legitimized. When applied to theories of sexuality in the context of systemic oppression, the sexual experiences of privileged people are considered to be chosen objectively by reason, while those of oppressed people are deemed irremovable from their bodily desires.
Lydia Brown, a Disability Rights Activist and Undergraduate Student at Georgetown University will be speaking about the history of the disability rights movement and the emergence of the neurodiversity movement. She will also address the... more
Lydia Brown, a Disability Rights Activist and Undergraduate Student at Georgetown University will be speaking about the history of the disability rights movement and the emergence of the neurodiversity movement. She will also address the current realities of erasure, oppression, and silencing within our society.
The desexualization of disabled people has a long, troubled history of forced medical procedures, laws prohibiting disabled people from marrying, and the widespread denial of age-appropriate sex education for disabled children and youth.... more
The desexualization of disabled people has a long, troubled history of forced medical procedures, laws prohibiting disabled people from marrying, and the widespread denial of age-appropriate sex education for disabled children and youth. The infantilizing presupposition that disabled people should not have agency over their sexuality is profoundly disturbing in its theoretical, political, and practical implications for asexuals, the disabled, and disabled asexuals in particular. Disabled people are assumed to be asexual, incapable of either the cognitive choice to engage in sexual activity or the emotional desire to exist as sexual beings, yet disabled asexuals are presumed to have “chosen” their sexual orientation because of internalized ableism. This is a reflection of the Augustinian notion of the ideal sexual encounter as a semi-detached reason making a conscious decision rather than an animalistic indulgence without reason, which discounts people who are "less reasonable" as having legitimate sexualities, and posits that disabled people must therefore have pathological sexuality. It ties into the notion of privileged versus oppressed epistemologies, namely that knowledge known by privileged people is removed from the biases of a knowing agent whereas knowledge of oppressed people cannot be separated from the knowing agent. We see this contrast with privileged sexuality becoming Augustinian sexuality “chosen by reason” for “utilitarian purposes” separate from the agent by personal agency, whereas the desires of the oppressed are a Sartrean sexuality—the bad faith projection of desire wherein the pathetic are drawn into their bodies and their corporeality overcomes their agency.
How can a laptop and a thousand strangers lead to a positive outcome for an Autistic student charged with assaulting her teacher after being restrained for an hour? And why did a petition against the Judge Rotenberg Center about a former... more
How can a laptop and a thousand strangers lead to a positive outcome for an Autistic student charged with assaulting her teacher after being restrained for an hour? And why did a petition against the Judge Rotenberg Center about a former resident whose mother claimed abuse fail to gain traction? In the digital age, social media has transformed all aspects of society and culture, including the ways in which advocates can organize and direct support for a cause. We will discuss different types of opportunities for organizing grassroots support for a cause or action item using online social media. We will explore the effectiveness of online grassroots advocacy, the roles that social media can play in an advocacy context, and methods for integrating online advocacy with offline action. Through examining a few case studies of actual campaigns -- successful, unsuccessful, and ongoing -- participants will learn more about the dynamics of social media and disability advocacy and activism.
The Autistic community is disproportionately queer, particularly among Autistic rights activists. Consequently, queer Autistics face particular challenges and barriers to equity, inclusion, opportunity, and access that neither straight... more
The Autistic community is disproportionately queer, particularly among Autistic rights activists. Consequently, queer Autistics face particular challenges and barriers to equity, inclusion, opportunity, and access that neither straight and or cis Autistics nor queer non-Autistics face. In this presentation, we will discuss ways to highlight the contributions of queer Autistics to both disability and queer rights activism and scholarship, empower queer Autistics as leaders in both the queer and Autistic communities, and support allies of queer Autistics in both the queer and disability rights movements.
How can a laptop and a thousand strangers lead to a positive outcome for an Autistic student charged with assaulting her teacher after being restrained for an hour? Social media has transformed all aspects of society and culture,... more
How can a laptop and a thousand strangers lead to a positive outcome for an Autistic student charged with assaulting her teacher after being restrained for an hour? Social media has transformed all aspects of society and culture, including the ways in which advocates can organize and direct support for a cause. We will discuss different types of opportunities for organizing grassroots support for a cause or action item using online social media. We will explore the effectiveness of online grassroots advocacy, the roles that social media can play in an advocacy context, and methods for integrating online advocacy with offline action. Through examining a few case studies of actual campaigns -- successful, unsuccessful, and ongoing -- participants will learn more about the dynamics of social media and disability advocacy and activism.
Philosophy of disability is a relatively recent subfield of philosophy that both builds upon the political motivation and insights of disabled people's movements and draws upon work done in a range of other subfields within philosophy and... more
Philosophy of disability is a relatively recent subfield of philosophy that both builds upon the political motivation and insights of disabled people's movements and draws upon work done in a range of other subfields within philosophy and a variety of disciplines across the university. T he most recent writing in philosophy of disability focuses critical attention on the demeaning conception of disability that continues to prevail in the discipline of philosophy and the ways in which this conception-according to which disability is a "natural" disadvantage-has shaped the composition of both the discipline and profession of philosophy (for example, T remain 2017). Put briefly, philosophy of disability remains marginalized in the discipline of philosophy, including in feminist philosophy, while disabled philosophers continue to be excluded from adequate employment in the profession. A growing number of philosophers of disability persistently produce work that challenges this grievous state of affairs. Addressing Ableism: Philosophical Questions via Disability Studies, by Jennifer Scuro in collaboration with Devonya Havis and Lydia X. Brown, is a vital new contribution to the annals of philosophy of disability and to philosophical discourse more generally, a contribution that all philosophers of disability and feminist philosophers-not to mention all feminist philosophers of disability-should take time to read. T he book spans a wide spectrum of issues and concerns that the disability studies community has introduced into academic discourse, considers the political character of the ontological and ethical claims of other philosophers of disability, incorporates Scuro's personal reflections on her own social and institutional position as a white, nondisabled philosopher of disability with a disabled child, and highlights a fascinating and provocative dialogue that Scuro engages in with Havis, a Black disabled woman, and Brown, a disabled queer of color. Indeed, the attention that Scuro gives to the details of oft-overlooked conflicts and controversies that surround critical work on disability, the diversity and volume of research that she uses throughout the book, and the centrality to the aims and design of the book of the dialogue