Autism Speaks and Makes a Derogatory Message.

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I was looking for stuff on the NYU Ransom Notes Campaign for a friend that said she didn't completely understand it and ran across this

http://www.youtube.com/user/AutismSpeaksVids

Am I the only one that notices how this message is derogatory? It says that they want a world in which Autism is only a word in the history books, and families won't have to deal with it.

I'm sorry, but I honestly think that a family that says they don't want to deal with thier childs autism is being rude and inconsiderate and flat out selfish.

The thing here is that Autism affects their child's brain, and their child's nuerology, not their's. I think there are way too many autistic communities on the web that say they do not want to be cured to be overlooked.

While Autism may be hard for the families, a cure would affect the Autistic person's brain and no one else's. And, being a Christian, I have to say that telling a child that they have to be cured of Autism and not being willing to accept it is akin to telling God that he made a mistake when making us.

And the bible does not allow for God to make mistakes when he makes people.

And the video does not seem to take into account those of us that respect ourselves for who we are, having Asperger's or some other form of Autism) but just seems to say that we are less than whole and not able to make those decisions for ourselves.

I know a frequent criticism of us is that we cannot consider how other people feel, but this comes off as them not being able to consider how we feel, which sounds a little like hypocrisy to me.

I think most people here would agree with you. I certainly do. I'm not Christian, but I strongly believe we are not a "mistake" either.

How about the part of the video where you see the quote: " A world in which a mom can hear her autistic child say "I love You"

Well guess what: Even if an autistic child is not able to speak, they can still be able to express it non-verbally. People on the autism spectrum are not employed by Autism Speaks, there are no people on the Autistic Spectrum that sit on the Board of Directors, nor are they allowed to speak at Autism Speaks conventions. The very same people they claim to help are the very same people they discriminate against when it comes to looking after their own.

Which makes me wonder if they're really about helping autistic people or just keeping us in line and keeping us from upsetting the status-qou.

Makes me wonder is Autism Speaks isn't really a hate group.

Makes me wonder why some people can't love us for who we are.

After studying their rhetoric closely, I've come to the conclusion that Autism Speaks is just a front group for Scientology... they do want to rid the world of anyone who doesn't fit their ideals... to them, extermination would be an acceptable 'cure' for autism...

I think groups like this are especially unfair when they tell autistics they can't have children.

What sort of awareness would you say you support?

I would be in favor of awareness that shows that we are actually real people that are not hiding under autistic shells.

Aye, similar to that. Focusing on how we are intelligent people in our own right; that having extra support from family/organisations merely benefits us rather than defines us.

In my book (which i wish was a Death Note), Autsim Speaks is nothing more than a syndicate of liars that play on the fears of parents and loved ones of people with autism, getting their support mentally and financially so they can further their own hidden agendas. In ways they are much like the Bush administration, determined to exploit a group for personal gain, only instead of the Middle Easterners, they use us.

As for Farsight's comment about Autism Speak's pro-cure mentality, they are intentionally ignorant of the fact that may with ASD are of average or above average intellingence. My IQ as a six-year old child was 156, and it only takes 150 to be considered a geinus. I believe I am more than capable to speak for myself.

It is human nature to want to make unusual things the same or 'normal'. Although I do think that this is taking human nature to the extreme. Which is interesting since this is a common trait of aspies (taking things to the extreme)...

While there are people out there who genuinely want to help and perhaps fix things that affect people in a bad way, there are many who have the idea that to fix means to remove. This has examples throughout history. Some people in the nazi party considered jews to be in need of 'fixing'. And back in medevil times when someone heard voices no one else could, the local priest drilled a massive hole in their head to help 'fix the problem'. These people need to consider the idea that not everyone needs fixing. If every little individual difference was 'fixed' and the person returned to a 'normal' state, we would still be very furry, living in caves and wearing animal skins.

Abnormalities and differences occur for a reason. I am not religious, but I do believe that every little twist happens according to an end goal.

One persons observation about a relationship to scientology may be correct. It is one of scientology's beliefs that there is no such thing as mental or psychiatric illness and that any problems with a persons mind are either self created or put their by someone else. They consider psychologists, psychiatrists, and counsellors to be bad people practicing a field that should be eliminated.
I wonder about the 'normality' of people who believe in a religion founded by a science fiction writer...

I would like to see more people being aware of what aspies and autistics CAN do not what we are deficient in. Far to many people focus on the negative instead of the positive. One of the state charities has a motto of 'creating capability from disability'. I think this is a good one for a multitude of situations. remove the first three letters from the word disability.