Uniquely Hari

DREDF Spotlight

This month is Disability Rights. Thrilled to be on the same board with the likes of living disability legends like Judy Heumann. What an honor to be invited.

https://mailchi.mp/dredf/dredf-monthly-august-22

Hari Srinivasan joins the DREDF Board of Directors.

Hari Srinivasan just moved from Berkeley to Nashville, but we're lucky that he's staying connected to Berkeley by joining DREDF's Board of Directors. Hari has autism and ADHD with very limited speech ability, and primarily uses Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to communicate. He is a Ph.D. Neuroscience student at Vanderbilt University, a PD Soros Fellow, and a Fellow at the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation. Hari graduated from UC Berkeley in 2022 as a University Medal Finalist, along with a Departmental Citation Award, Highest Honors, Phi Beta Kappa, and Psi Chi. As an undergraduate Haas Scholar, he carried out a year-long independent funded research on awe and empathy in autism. He also served as student president of the Berkeley campus organization Autism: Spectrum at Cal, stressing the idea of autism needing to go beyond mere Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion and towards Belonging. Hari's other affiliations include serving on the board of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, and as a Non Federal Committee member of the Interagency Coordinating Committee (IACC). He is also a member of the Council of Autistic Advisors for the Autism Society of America and sits on the Community Advisory Board for The Brain Foundation.

Sense Lab - Social Emotional NeuroScience Endocrinology

Fall Semester was a lab rotation with Dr Corbett at the SENSE Lab

(Social Emotional NeuroScience Endocrinology)

First day at the lab with my PI, Prof Blythe Corbett

My name on the office door!!

Imagine I get an office!!

with Sense Lab mates.

https://senselab.vkcsites.org/

This time last year

This time last year. 8/25/21: First day of class in final year of undergrad at UC Berkeley

Grad School Orientation @ Vanderbilt

Day 1 of Grad student Orientation

Neuroscience Retreat

Existence, Essence and when Hell is other people

Existence Precedes Essence & Bad Faith

"Existence precedes essence" is a fundamental idea in Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialism philosophy. It means that individuals are not defined by any inherent nature or purpose, but rather by the choices we make and the actions we take.

According to Sartre, human beings have complete freedom and responsibility for their own lives and must create their own meaning and values. This is in contrast to traditional philosophical views, which often hold that individuals have an inherent nature or purpose that determines their actions and choices. Essentially, the concept of "existence precedes essence" highlights the importance of individual freedom and responsibility in shaping one's own identity and purpose.

The idea of "existence precedes essence" is closely linked to Sartre's concept of "bad faith," which refers to the denial of one's own freedom and responsibility. When individuals act in bad faith, they try to escape their own freedom and responsibility by blaming external factors or by denying their own choices and actions.

Hell is other People

"Hell is other people" is a phrase from Jean-Paul Sartre's play "No Exit," in which the character Garcin utters the phrase in response to the realization that he is doomed to spend eternity in a room with two other people. The phrase has come to be widely recognized as a reference to the idea that other people can be a source of suffering or torment, either because of their actions or simply because of their presence. Sartre's play is a commentary on the human condition and the ways in which people interact with one another, and the phrase "hell is other people" captures the sense of frustration and despair that can arise in relationships with others.

ADA 32 in DC

Was a honor to be part of group invited to attend formal reception hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris at her residence, Naval Observatory, in DC, to celebrate ADA 32 and get to meet and interact with so many luminaries.

What can I say. OMG.

Photo 1: Vice President Kamala Harris and Mr Emhoff.

Photo 2: Attorney General Merrick Garland

Photo 3: Senator Tom Harkin (who was chief sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990)

Photo 4: Got to meet my hero in-person, Judy Heumann, the legendary disability civil rights activist. In deepest admiration and awe of the grueling efforts of her generation that helped open the doors of inclusion and opportunity for the current generation of disabled folks like me.

Photo 5: Me just hanging out with the flags, quite wide-eyed at my surroundings and the people I was surrounded by and got to interact with. Was honestly quite stunned to receive a White House event invite.

(Image Descriptions: work in progress....)