Autism Speaks - is it good or is it bad?

Post Reply New Topic

I'm really confused about Autism Speaks. On onne hand they try to spread autism awareness (celebrity PSAs; Autism: The Musical), on the other hand they tend to point out the negatives of autism, (I Am Autism; Autism Every Day.) What should I believe? Can anyone give me some suggestions?

Autism Speaks is almost entirely bad. Even the PSAs paint autism as a horrible thing, something that we have to get rid of and squash out, something that breaks up families, turns children into unresponsive automatons, costs money, and ruins lives. They are overdramatic, and in the name of raising awareness they make people believe that a life with autism is hopeless, joyless, and a burden to everyone around you.

Can you imagine a mother whose toddler has just been diagnosed, and that kind of propaganda being the only thing she's ever been exposed to? Or a child who knows he is autistic, listening to those ads about how his condition is a horrible thing that everybody's fighting to erase, that will make his parents divorce? Causing such fear is not the mark of any sort of benevolent charity. (I'm not speculating here, either; it has happened, and will happen again.)

PSAs are all well and good; but everybody knows about autism now. We don't need more awareness; we need more acceptance. Autism Speaks doesn't advocate acceptance. They paint us as people just sitting around being useless (or, at best, we're "heroic" just for living our lives), until some kind of magical cure can come along and turn us into standardized human beings.

What I've heard about Autism Speaks is that they only want a cure for autism, like it's a disease that needs to be treated.

Yes, and very little research on education, therapy, and increasing social acceptance and integration. It's all focusing on genes and finding prenatal tests to do eugenic abortions.

Apparently, finding ways to help autistic kids learn better isn't glamorous enough. They've got to go for the mad science and devise ways to either kill or cure us, because obviously, it's impossible to have a good life if you're autistic; so finding ways to make school, work, and society autistic-friendly is a completely useless pursuit.

(Heavy sarcasm there, in case you don't catch sarcasm.)

Autism Speaks is in it for the money.

Honest curebies make me laugh, but they at least have ideals that they cling to. They often truly want what's best for their children. I've seen that firsthand, and I've seen the good that curebies can do.

Autism Speaks, however, doesn't care about our welfare. They just want our money.

Yes, for their six-figure salaries and posh fundraising events... while in the same city are homeless autistics trying to figure out where their next meal is going to come from.

I am glad this thread exists...these are questions I've been asking myself. I don't watch TV and even as a child I don't ever remember seeing an autism PSA.

The corollary to this question would be Michael John Carley, friend or foe? I still haven't figured him out.

BTW I like your blog...I'll follow it for a while.

Asking Questions-is it good or bad?

Most have an agenda, talking points to support one view. They are also the ones who keep claiming genocide.

Autism Speaks has questioned all, and debunked most points of view.

It was research they sponsered that proved that the DNA is not a simple situation, like Downes, it covers twenty or more sites, and will never likely be used for a test.

Those who love to claim genocide, do not read science.

Most of what is being funded is early childhood intervention studies, for that has shown the most promise.

Starting out they did have to look at the whole field, Metals, Vaccines, all the snake oil, and marketing did turn out some poor taste, bad science, video.

That has narrowed the field, raised awareness, and money, which is being directed at what has been proven to work.

Life does not give problems in the form of A+B=?. It gives you a bag of garbage, and you must sort out the problem from the banana peels, then seek a solution, after fully identifying the problem.

That is where we are, it is not what you have heard, it is not simple, but some things do work.

All of Autism Speaks is now directed at results in proven fields. They do not have the final answer, but they have been through all the wrong questions and answers.

Anyone who is sure what Autism is, or anything about it, is selling snake oil.

Autism Speaks is the only group doing research. They have put up more money that everyone ever born did before, and have kept it focused on Autism.

Real results come slowly, have to be field tested for years, the grind of science. It is working, moving in the right direction, and and has shead light on much more than Autism.

It is also the only game in town. If all members of Wrong Planet put up $2,000, they could fund studies at the same level. That much a year is being spent by Autism Speaks, and their costs for expenses and fund raising are low.

As someone who follows research, they have come up with a few things I would try. I think progress is being made in the right directions.

http://notautismspeaks.tk/ <-check that site out and tell me for yourself.

Autism speaks doesn't help to give Autistics a voice. They push us aside when we want to speak and say "Hey everybody! Check it out! Come feel sorry for this ret*d over here who can't even speak for them self."

They think you we don't deserve to live because you can't possibly be happy as an autistic individual.

They portray us as burdens on our families, which no good can come from, because we have no souls.

They seriously, seriously, have compared Autism to f**king cancer/AIDs.

Their Vice President (I think it was.) said she thought about murdering her autistic child by drowning her, because she's autistic and such a burden on her and her normal child. I don't care how bad she has it; that's despicable . No sentient creature deserves to have it's life stripped away because they "Inconvenience" you.

Now, what do you think I think of em? I'm not against the cure movement (I'd prefer abortions not be done, but if a child is going to be so severely autistic they can barely function at all, I wouldn't condemn a doctor for providing that choice, nor condemn parents for taking that choice.), because I'm not so naive as to believe there aren't some autistic individuals who have it so bad they'd want and/or need a cure to be able function, but I'm sick and tired of hearing how we should ALL should have to be cured by people who ignore people like us; people who LFA and HFA, like being autistic and who falsely portray autism as a hopeless situation in which you can experience no joy or sense of meaning in your life, so as to justify a eugenic policy. If they cared about Autistics, they'd help them by promoting acceptance and by educating people on the good AND bad aspects of Autism Spectrum Disorders and how to cope and care for with people who have the disorders, while yes, researching a cure for people who may benefit from it by weighing the options and making an informed decision, which is hard when you're being fed B.S from an all you can eat buffet of propaganda

Personally, I hope Autism Speaks and Defeat Autism Now! and other groups which promote nothing but disdain for Autism as a whole, fold. Is there a degree of truth in what they're saying? Sure, but the same can be said for (some) urban legends and (some) stereotypes; though overblown and untrue, they stem from a small kernel of truth, which is that some of what they're saying does apply on an individual, case by case basis. Some black people are poor and do love watermelons and fried chicken, some white men are racists trying to hold people of other races down due to their own innate bigotry, some men are pigs who care only about getting a girl's clothes off, some women gold-diggers and yes, some autistic people do suffer immensely, as I've already noted. The problem is though, that not all people who are women, men, autistic, black, etc, fit certain preconceived notions that you may have of them and by promoting that ideology to susceptible people, you not only offend large parts of the group you're generalizing (Even if your generalization may be true to the majority of the group, and I've yet to see proof that that is so with regards to what Autism Speaks says.), to which your sweeping statements do not apply, but breed an unnecessary hatred/pity/mockery/feeling of superiority over these people which deters real progress and integration that can made by presenting the facts in a spin-free manner.

Other organizations and/or forums do this well, for example, WrongPlanet, which is a great resource for Autistic individuals, Parents, Guardians,Friends, and Loved Ones of Autistic people and the community as a whole (which would benefit from dropping their prejudices about who and what we are, just because they heard it on the grapevine.). Their positive impact cannot be overstated. My hope is that more places like this come along to combat cancers like AutismSpeaks, which unfortunately, seems to be one of the larger Autism "Advocacy" groups, when they're really the equivalent of a PETA: Vile hypocrites who hurt the cause they claim to promote.

They make me mad.

Autism Speaks doesn't do anything to help us out. They steal money from all the drones, who think that they're doing such a wonderful thing, and they only speak for themselves. I wish that Autism Speaks, never existed. They believe the crap about autism, that they read in the psychology text books, and they've watched the move, Rain Man, too many times. Autism Speaks don't realize, that there's more than one type of autism, and they paint us all, with a broad brush. 90% Of the human population fall for their tactics, as well. That makes me question the general population.