Do you support Autism Speaks?

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I agree with prenatal testing and might do the same as you if the severity were found to be high. But it may not be possible to determine severity. At any rate, I wish Autism Speaks would not make their ads so apocalyptic. Dont they realize that there are some autistic people making a go of it.

I feel that it's wrong to abort a baby because it's not the gender that a parent desires it to be. I feel that it's wrong to abort a baby because it has a genetic disorder, I feel that it's wrong to abort a baby because it's autistic. I also feel that it's a poverty that an unborn child must die so that the mother can live her life as she wishes. I feel that abortion is wrong under every circumstance. If a woman doesn't want the baby, she can give it to someone who does want it. I also feel that sex selection abortions are wrong as well. It's like a knife to my heart knowing that gender selected abortions are still taking place in many parts of the world in 2015. I have issues with my birth gender as it is. I don't want to be reminded of what's going on in China, India and some parts of Africa. I believe in the sanction of all human and animal life from conception until natural death.

I'm pro choice, but I'm not gonna get into the whole abortion debate here, because neither of us will change the other's mind so it's pointless unless you enjoy debating, which I do. However, you seem against ASpeaks being able to fund research to develop a prenatal test for autism because it could encourage abortion, so I guess my question is are you against other tests which women may based the choice to abort on? Are you against finding out the sex of the baby in ultrasound, or against tests that alert the parents to Down Syndrome and neural tube defects or ultrasound that shows anacephaly etc? I think that most women abort when they find out they have an alacephalic baby, which means a baby born with only a brain stem and no actual brain and those babies can't live very long at all after birth. Some people are against aborting for that reason but many staunchly pro life people do see that as a valid reason for abortion, since it's not something that's iffy, it really is a death sentence and a definite prognosis of basically no life at all - without an actual brain it's really not possible for anything.

What are your thoughts on those tests and also what do you think about abortion for anacephaly?

I don't do debates, so let's keep the peace.

Oh, I wasn't trying to debate abortion with you, I was just wondering what you thought about those tests which are sometimes used to decide on abortion and what you thought about abortion for anacephaly. We won't change each other's minds but I was really curious on your views about those.

BTW, I like your peace sign. You have a lot of the really cool graphics.

And BTW Cockney, I know you like retro stuff like I do, so check out the thread I started on Random about retro and vintage. I had one on women's but decided to start one there so more folks would see it, since it's not just a girl's fashion topic. I'm going to be posting some cool links there, hopefully, if people seem to be interested in it.

So, the vicious ads are okay as long as they bring in the dough? And there are people in the deaf pride movement who oppose a cure.

See, that's what I don't get. I totally get and support self esteem no matter what, but opposing a cure for something on your body that doesn't work is kind of ridiculous.

My youngest son is deaf in one ear from birth, and he doesn't want an implant because he's used to it and couldn't imagine it differently and thats his choice but hes not proud of the fact that one ear doesn't work.

Autism is a neurological deficit, it's not some great and wonderful gift that society is ruining. I wish I didn't have it. Most people do wish they didn't have it. Who is to say that we wouldn't still have the good things we have even if we didn't have the bad? The focus and special interests are hardly the sole property of autism. Plenty of NT's have them. As far as I'm concerned, autism has done but cause me problems and while it doesn't make me or anyone else with it a horrible person, a waste of space, or deserving to never have been born, I'd love it if autism never existed. There is nothing wrong with that.

I can see deaf people being proud of what they have accomplished in spite of being deaf, but I see absolutely no reason to be proud that something on your body does not work. Thats taking things a little too far, in my opinion.

OliveOilMom, I personally find "pride" in things you don't control to be ridiculous as well, so I actually do agree with you in that part.

Overall though, you do take a very similar "apocalyptic" kind of view with autism, like Autism Speaks. You just see it as something wrong with you. I know I'm not going to really convince you to think otherwise, but this is an argument over opinion.

I'm not deaf, so I can't speak for the deaf community. Let's not go there.

But I ask, why are there people here who seem so angry, cynical, and tired of feeling like an outsider? Why are people here so angry at organizations like Autism Speaks?

A lot of people on here have genuinely felt deprived, and I'm definitely one of those people. Most of us were forced into a schooling system which didn't fit our personalities at all, and were forced onto services and given labels that may not have been 100% necessary. I don't think most people here like to be called "learning disabled", but that's the official term.

For me, autism/Asperger syndrome in many aspects has been a gift. I'm not going to deny the crippling and depressing aspects of it either (such as bad social anxiety), but it's not all bad, and it's the tremendous skills here that make many people think that autism, unlike deafness or being on a wheelchair, is not as objective of a disability as others. Perhaps because you see the averse things that it done to you, that's why you see it as such. However, I've seen how so many of my NT peers struggle with subjects such as geography, history, etc and I see how much more smarter I am than they are (sorry for the arrogance, but I've been considered a very smart student by many teachers). I've also seen how most don't even bother with new ideas, whereas my curiosity (perhaps due to my autism) allowed me to explore and gain more knowledge. Why would I consider this a disability? I'd never trade it for anything in the world.

Those reasons are why I refuse to support Autism Speaks, or even ideas that make autism out to be more negative than positive. It's this whole portrait of an apocalyptic condition that ends up wiping out civilization (or, perceived as so) that I will not tolerate, and I refuse to accept. It's this entire image of pity that we're all destined to be failures. Frankly I'm sick of being treated like I need help with everything I need.

I can't separate autism from myself and can't imagine life any other way. I remember wanting to tell people that they are missing something important, something I could see, but they couldn't. Only to find out later that it was me that is missing something.
Things have changed for the better over the years though, I think. There is way more tolerance of differing norms than there used to be.

No, I don't support Autism Speaks.

HAHA no.

Hans - Oakland is a inner city s**thole so of course you stand out there

You wouldn't be Texan by any chance?! I've met some nice ones in my extensive travels in Texas but some very abrasive ones too who were the antithesis of the legendary Southern Charm..

I don't support AS - it is channelling money away from funding research into the complexities of autism and just focusing on the fashionable stuff that suits their agendas.

I have nothing left to add to this thread.