Autism Speaks

This discussion started in another thread. Click the link for the beginning of this thread I wanted to make an entirely new post that's on topic. Once you had read those posts come back here and post your response here as this one is on topic but that thread isn't.

http://www.belltreeforums.com/showt...et-another-controversial-gender-thread)/page3

It bothers me when people treat autism as the end of the world if their kid ever had it. There are many ends of the spectrum and people need to realize that not all "forms" of autism renders your kid unable to function in society.

Corrie said:

It bothers me when people treat autism as the end of the world if their kid ever had it. There are many ends of the spectrum and people need to realize that not all "forms" of autism renders your kid unable to function in society.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
or when ppl use "autistic" as an insult when most ppl w autism are more intelligent than the person who said it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So why is Autism Speaks a "hate group?"

rbell2915 said:

So why is Autism Speaks a "hate group?"

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So me and most other autistic folks who know about it hate that organization because it hates our existences and treats us like burden and if anything is out to erase us completely.

They?re adamant that autism is a disease that can be ?cured?. They don?t have a single autistic person on their board, yet speak for/over us constantly. Autism Speaks produces advertisements, small films, ect. about what a burden autistic people are to a society. They only spend about 4% of their money on ?family services.? They create a stereotype that makes it hard for actual autistic people, like myself and others, be heard and recognized as actually autistic.

Another issue is they act like they know what they're talking about and spread constantly false information. The autism ?research? that Autism Speaks does reeks very heavily of eugenics. Many of the allistics(non-autistic people) running the organization promote the horrific notion that you?re better off dead than autistic, and their influence and ?activism? only supports the ideology resulting in the continued murder of autistic children and adults by their parents and caregivers.

Quote from this article:

Former Autism Speaks board member Harry Slatkin, whose wife, Laura, continues to serve on the Board of Directors, stated in an interview with Town and Country while still a board member that sometimes he hoped their autistic son David would drown in the backyard pond rather than ?suffer like this all his life.? Evidencing a pattern of similarly violent rhetoric, Autism Speaks is also responsible for the 2006 PSA ?Autism Every Day? in which their then Vice President states on camera that she considered putting her autistic daughter in the car and driving off a bridge, and that the only reason she refrained from doing so was because her other, non-autistic daughter would have been waiting for her at home?her autistic daughter was in the room as she made these statements. Furthermore, the producer of this PSA explicitly admitted that the film was intentionally staged to portray negative images of autistic people and their families.

Only four days following the release of ?Autism Every Day,? pathologist Karen McCarron smothered her autistic daughter with a garbage bag. McCarron stated that she murdered Katie because her ?autism had not been improving,? had thought about killing Katie, that made an earlier brief attempt at suffocation, wanted to cure Katie, thought killing Katie would make her ?complete? in heaven, and wanted to live without autism and thus had to kill Katie. Investigators found that McCarron was obsessed with different treatments for Katie. (See People v. FRANK-McCARRON, 934 NE 2d 76 - Ill: Appellate Court, 3rd Dist. 2010.) Though it is not presently possible to draw a direct connection between Autism Speaks? PSA and Katie?s murder, this crime and dozens like it only underscore how the kind of rhetoric that Autism Speaks favors only serves to recklessly endanger the lives of autistic people.

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Autism Speaks also publicly supports the Judge Rotenberg Center, a group home for autistic and neurodivergent students that uses ?treatments? like food and sleep deprivation and electric shock to try and train the residents into acting neurotypical[source]. The center has changed states three times in an attempt to bypass regulation against abusive treatment, and their practices have resulted in the deaths of more than one student.

It all goes beyond the issue of Autism Speaks making it harder for us to get proper diagnoses and treatment. Autism Speaks is actively killing us.

Some other people have spoken up on this issue too, here's some of their posts:

Links: [x] [x] [x]

Honestly, as I read Goshi's point, I have become more and more disgusted with humans and this world. It is saddening that they treat autism like this. It's a disorder, not a disease. It is also not the end of the world. It is not a cancerous tumor for no help. I have friends who have asperger's or autism itself. But, even if sometimes communicating can be difficult as certain tones can fluctuate or they don't pick up on things that I do, there is literally nothing wrong with them.

They are as human as anyone else. They are as average as the next person. Honestly, they tend to be more intelligent, and excel in a lot of different other areas that "normal" people can not, but at a different price.

I may not be able to understand myself, as I do not have that disorder, but other mental disorders that plague my existence, they would never truly define me, as autism never truly defines them.


Treating anyone like a pestilence of a sort, is inhuman, and those people deserve to be taught a lesson in what they are due for.

Yeah that group is just full of bs opinions and people..and pretty much what Goshi said.

Having asperger's/asd myself it's makes me sad that these people actually exists and get all these publicity out :|

Electric shock treatments turned one of my close family members into an evil evil man. what a shame that they do that to people with autism. id rather have my child have autism then electric shock treatments.

helenkeller said:

Electric shock treatments turned one of my close family members into an evil evil man. what a shame that they do that to people with autism. id rather have my child have autism then electric shock treatments.

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... wow they still use that **** on people? thought it was illegal nowadays but eh apparently not :/

Well, you don't really choose to have autism either but I guess I get your point.

Thanks for the thorough and insighful post.

Autism Speaks is literally a hate group. Autism can't be cured and you can't choose whether you have it or not, plus it's certainly not a vaccine. Treating it like a disease creates more stigma around an already sensitive issue, which is unforgivable.

If an organisation existed with the same ideaology but against LGBT people (or even straight people), people would be outraged and it wouldn't be supported. So this organisation with the exact same ideology on a disorder that isn't 'curable' is just as bad as an organisation claiming that bein gay/bi/lesbian/trans is a disease and is curable (which, sadly, some people still think this).

That last paragraph was a complete mess but I hope it gets across the point I was trying to make.

I actually never heard of Autism Speaks until last year when I created a thread on GameFAQs PotD forum, which was about if you believe in boycotting a business for their political beliefs (like how people stopped going to Chick-fil-a over their same-sex marriage comments). Over there, someone made a long post about what she is boycotting. Two companies she is specifically not buying products from are Nestl? and Lindt. One lf them (Lindt) made a donation to Autism Speaks before within their lifetime. For that reason, she refuses to buy their products permanently. People were questioning what Autism Speaks was, and I learned a little more about them over there. That was the first time I heard of the organization. Although I wouldn't boycott a business over their political beliefs or their corporate behavior (like who they are putting funds into) since it has nothing to do with their business, I would be opposed to their funds for hate organizations.

Just saw that Autism Speaks does not have a single autistic employee/member of their board and when they did have someone who had autism on the board, they didn't respect him so he left the organisation. Really says a lot

im autistic
autism speaks focuses too much on the Poor Autism Moms who have to live with their annoying kids lmao. curing autism isn't somethindg that's desireable, good or even possible. having a child with problems or a disability will always be difficult but focusing on the parent when the kid is the one who has the hardest time is Really ////:::

having a brain that works differently isn't a bad thing and i wish people would realize that lol

visibleghost said:

im autistic
autism speaks focuses too much on the Poor Autism Moms who have to live with their annoying kids lmao. curing autism isn't somethindg that's desireable, good or even possible. having a child with problems or a disability will always be difficult but focusing on the parent when the kid is the one who has the hardest time is Really ////:::

having a brain that works differently isn't a bad thing and i wish people would realize that lol

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plus curing autism is near to impossible. i think we should strive for acceptance of people with autism rather than trying to 'cure' them.

Hulaette said:

This discussion started in another thread. Click the link for the beginning of this thread I wanted to make an entirely new post that's on topic. Once you had read those posts come back here and post your response here as this one is on topic but that thread isn't.

http://www.belltreeforums.com/showt...et-another-controversial-gender-thread)/page3

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Fancy seeing you here ;p I read it and i kinda agree with you. It is a disorder not a disease but in order for them to be treated equally they need to be seen as equal which means, if they harass others they'd receive the same reaction as someone without autism. The fine line is do we give autisitic people more leeway because a disorder affects them? I think so but then it's treating them differently. It's a thorny situation in which i am on the fence xD

Either way I think they should be seen as equal but given the help they require if wanted.

Another autistic person here! Yes, it's a hate group and I speak out against Autism Speaks aaall the time on social media. Do. not. support them. I could go on and on and on about this for days.

Listen to autistic people. Understand us, don't try to change us to fit your standards. It's harmful to us. Accept us as we are because there is nothing wrong with us, we just have a different neurotype. There are so, so many of us that you don't even realize how common it is and this is why it's totally unacceptable to treat us like we're broken. That's what hurts us.

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forestyne said:

plus curing autism is near to impossible. i think we should strive for acceptance of people with autism rather than trying to 'cure' them.

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The "cure' is to abort babies who have an "autism gene". That's what they're trying to find. Just like they do with Down's Syndrome.

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On ABA / Abuse:
https://madasbirdsblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/i-abused-children-for-a-living/

A very breif, general idea of why Autism Speaks is bad, but this is just the surface:
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/7-reasons-not-support-autism-speaks

Oh, and in case anybody brings up the "high functioning, low functioning" debate, "low functioning" autistic people also do not think autism is negative, it's the way they are treated and misunderstood that makes them suffer.
http://www.autismandtheartofcommunication.com/nonverbal-autism---first.html

Remnantique said:

Fancy seeing you here ;p I read it and i kinda agree with you. It is a disorder not a disease but in order for them to be treated equally they need to be seen as equal which means, if they harass others they'd receive the same reaction as someone without autism. The fine line is do we give autisitic people more leeway because a disorder affects them? I think so but then it's treating them differently. It's a thorny situation in which i am on the fence xD

Either way I think they should be seen as equal but given the help they require if wanted.

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this discussion isn't about if autistic people are good enough to exist or if we should be seen as equal to allistic people tho lmao it's about autism speaks but yay i guess u are getting a gold star for saying that autistic people should be treated like people

also "harass" is a very wide word. obviously it's not okay to make other people sad or uncomfortable by saying or doing very inappropriate things, but at the same time there are a LOT of social rules and cues that are incredibly unnecessary and stupid and breaking them isn't bad. it's important that the people around autistic people accommodate and learn about autism (like by understanding that someone's not being rude if they're avoiding eye contact) because autistic people can't change their entire selves to make allistic people happy.
i know you didn't write anything about being polite or nice or whatever bc u wrote "harass" but so many people seem to think that the only acceptable autism is if it isn't noticeable and doesn't affect anyone in any way and then they get upset and angry when autistic people show symptoms of being autistic (like not getting jokes/sarcasm, the "you know what you did wrong" thing (no i don't), not making eye contact etc. like literally anything that's a part of being autistic can make some people angry and whatever lol)

Mr. Cat said:

Another autistic person here! Yes, it's a hate group and I speak out against Autism Speaks aaall the time on social media. Do. not. support them. I could go on and on and on about this for days.

Listen to autistic people. Understand us, don't try to change us to fit your standards. It's harmful to us. Accept us as we are because there is nothing wrong with us, we just have a different neurotype. There are so, so many of us that you don't even realize how common it is and this is why it's totally unacceptable to treat us like we're broken. That's what hurts us.

The "cure' is to abort babies who have an "autism gene". That's what they're trying to find. Just like they do with Down's Syndrome.

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yea
it doesn't feel that great to hear that it would be better if you never existed, that people like you should be aborted before they're born because of their disability, and that the parents of autistic people suffer because they have an autistic child.
if people want a kid they have to understand and accept that the kid can't and won't be exactly what the parents want them to be, but that they have to take care of them even if they aren't the Ideal Child.
i get that it can be difficult to be a parent to an autistic child (because of all the problems autistic people may have or face) but that doesn't mean that the autistic person should have to hear that they're a burden and that it would be better if they didn't exist.
it's important to not think of autism like a Bad Disease That Makes Everything Bad. autism makes your brain work differently but not worse. it's just that society isn't adapted to our needs lol

I don't think people understand that Autism can yes a be problem for some people, but it's hardly noticeable, I have been friends with people for years and never learn that they have it. It doesn't lessen my view of them because I don't care, it doesn't affect our friendship so why should I? Just like TS or Asperger S, it doesn't matter, people have it let's move on