I am Autism

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In 2009, Autism Speaks made a short and controversial video. Don't forget to dislike and cuss out Autism Speaks in the video comments.

Yeah, we all know about it. Lots of people are pissed about it. The lady from Autism Speaks I spoke with last week said they pulled that ad and saw that it was a horrible mistake for many reasons, not just because it got them bad feedback.

I am Wonder Woman.

The problem isn't what they said, it's what they believe. And they wouldn't have put that out if they didn't believe it.

I dislike the first part, which makes autism seem like a terrible thing and uses generalizations like "autism will ruin your marriage." I like the second part better because at least the parents are expressing their love for their kids. But they're still viewing autism as something bad that needs to be fought against instead of accepting it.

Have you discussed this with anyone who works there or represents them? If so, have they told you thats what they believe? Or are you just assuming?

The video made me cry. One line got to me in particular and it was "Everyday I wake up and cry what will happen to my child after I'm gone" (or something along those lines) - because I can imagine that's a worry on every parents mind who has a child with Low functioning Autism.

This is a video articulating the parents point of view of Autism. Usually traditional and non verbal autism. Most of us here are high functioning to mid range so we just don't "get" what was driving this video.

There is a lot of grief involved for a parent of a child with Kanners autism. To them it's like a disease, a "monster" that has stolen away all the hopes and dreams they had for their child.

Having autism doesn't mean the children have to have horrible lives. Many manage to find a lot of pleasure in life. I don't think parents should wish their child would fulfill their expectations about what they wanted their child to do. I think they should find a way for the child to be successful in his/her own way.

Believe me, most non verbal low functioning autistics DO indeed have rough lives. They are boxed away in institutions or mental hospitals.

I don't know which part of Canads you're from but I live in Ontario and when I was 14 I stayed in a treatment centre in London Ontario. There were many wards in the hospital and there was a ward for Autistic and mentally delayed people and you would not believe the horrible conditions they were living in. I walked down there into the ward one day because I was "curious" and I saw them banging their heads up against the wall, many were in diapers with no pants running around screaming. It was very very sad.

I suppose it's possible they spent tons of money on an ad campaign and approved said ad even though they disagreed with what it said.

That's awful. I hope we get better at treating people with disabilities humanely. I do think parents should express their anger at the people who mistreat their children, rather than at the autism itself.

Wikipedia has a nice long list of sources about Autism Speaks... -Link

There are many controversial videos that Autism Speaks has made. If they saw the error of their ways, why do they continue to repeat the same mistake?
-Autism Every Day
-Autism: True Lives
-Sounding the Alarm
- And many more...

And remember the time when Autism Speaks said that "stopping child abuse is too political" ?

Or how about the long list of fraudulent fundraising?

Or how about the times when Autism Speaks has threatened to file lawsuits against autistic bloggers?

In Vermont, Autism Speaks was found harrassing fundraising events by local Autism Charities who decided not to invite Autism Speaks to their events.

Or the lack of non-negative reporting?

Or the way they illegally used the words of an autistic writer in a pamphlet? And refused to apologize? And then harassed the author?

Or the fact that Autism Speaks refuses to hire autistic people or their family?

Yeah... because being verbally abusive furthers our cause.

0/10
would not watch again

They did tell us that that's what they believe. By putting out an expensive video that said so. Should we just assume that companies disagree with their own advertising, unless confirmed by an individual there?

According to John Robinson who did work for them before resigning it is not the average person working for them many who do on some level get it but the leadership. IMHO until the leadership changes any positive changes can't be trusted to last.

I finally saw that travesty of a PSA for the firts time the other day. I couldn't watch it again because it just made me feel like nothing but a burden on society.