Shain Neumeier

Shain Mahaffey Neumeier (born 1987) is an American autistic and nonbinary transgender attorney from Los Angeles, California. Neumeier is best known for advocacy against coercive and forced treatment, including advocacy to close the Judge Rotenberg Center, an institution for people with developmental disabilities that has been condemned by the United Nations for torture due to its use of electric shocks on people with disabilities. They are also an activist for autism rights, disability rights, youth liberation, asexuality, and transgender rights. Neumeier has multiple disabilities including post-traumatic stress disorder, cleft lip and palate, ectodermal dysplasia, and depression.
Biography.
Education.
Neumeier studied at Smith College and Suffolk University Law School and later worked on youth rights policy issues for the Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth.
Career.
Neumeier advocates against coercive and forced treatment, and calls to close the Judge Rotenberg Center, an institution known for using electric skin shock aversive treatment on people with developmental disabilities. In 2012, Neumeier attended a medical malpractice trial against the Judge Rotenberg Center brought by former resident Andre McCollins, who received 31 shocks over a period of six hours. Neumeier also testified before the United Nations special rapporteur on torture about the Judge Rotenberg Center. They supported the FDA's ban of electric shock devices in 2020.
The Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network stated that "without [Neumeier's] groundbreaking work, JRC might not have the same level of visibility it does now in the autistic community worldwide." In 2019, University of Portsmouth psychology professor Dr. Steven K. Kapp wrote, "Shain Neumeier and Lydia Brown [...] have taken leading roles in activism to stop the electric use of shocks as 'treatment'." Neumeier has stated that the shock "treatment" is connected to the behavioral modification goals of applied behavior analysis, a widely used form of early intervention treatment for autism.
As an attorney, Neumeier worked for Disability Rights New York, a statewide protection and advocacy agency for people with disabilities, before going into solo practice in Massachusetts. Their law practice represents people facing petitions for involuntary commitment. They are an adviser for Supported Decision-Making New York, a statewide coalition focused on development of best practices and policies to enable people with intellectual disabilities and cognitive impairments. They are also an adviser and New England/New York Region Leader for the Intersex and Genderqueer Recognition Project, a transgender rights legal and advocacy organization.
Published articles.
Neumeier published a series of seven articles for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network about the trial against the Judge Rotenberg Center. Neumeier has written and commented on ban on the electric shock aversive, reproductive justice, abortion rights, and bodily autonomy for USA Today, The Nation, Rewire, and "NOS Magazine". One of Neumeier's articles about abuse and discrimination against children with disabilities was published by Icelandic disability rights organization, Tabú. 
In Neumeier's essay for disability rights activist Alice Wong's 2018 collection "Resistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People", they describe life in the U.S. under the Trump administration as creating a "culture of abuse" and relying on a form of social Darwinism that praises strength and vilifies perceived weakness, such as desire for safe spaces. In 2019, they co-authored an article describing their and Lydia Brown's advocacy work against the JRC for a collection of essays titled "Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement: Stories from the Frontline".
Awards.
In 2018, Neumeier received the Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award from the Massachusetts Bar Association. In 2015, they received the Leadership in Advocacy Award from the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. 