Autism Speaks is responsible for a short film called “Autism Every Day”, in which an Autism Speaks board member claimed that having an Autistic child was so exasperating, she had a desire to kill both herself and her Autistic daughter. Co-founder Suzanne Wright touted that the “Autism Epidemic” was a burden the world could not afford, and something had to be done to eradicate it. They dropped the suit when finding out about Kelly’s age, but still demanded Kelly to destroy the source code of her website and give the domain name of her site to Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks chapters and other fraternities and sororities continue to spread ableist rhetoric about autistic people, such as the “Autism: Putting the Pieces Together” event by the Georgetown University Omicron Pi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha in April, 2013 that had no representation of autistic people, but did have an Autism Speaks representative. Autism Speaks (abbreviated to AS or sometimes A$) is a highly controversial organization, run by non-autistic people, that seeks to eliminate autism. Despite how grim Suzanne Wright’s words were in that interview alone, her husband and the other co-founder, Bob, had his own equally harmful focus on the matter. raises over $1,000,000 a year for Autism Speaks, one Autism Speaks U chapter at Ohio State University posted signs with false fear mongering slogans, turned down another job offer from the Democratic National Committee, “YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE BRED! Shatner additionally sends his Twitter followers to attack autistic people online. The president of Autism Speaks, Mark Roithmayr, received a five year contract for $2 million dollars, and had no background or knowledge about autism. It wasn’t until 2015, ten years after the organization was founded, that Stephen Shore and Valerie Paradiz, two openly autistic people, were added to their board of directors, putting autistic people in positions of power for the very first time in the organization’s history. The autistic community also created alternative initiatives to #LightItUpBlue, such as #REDInstead, #ToneItDownTaupe, and going gold for autism acceptance. — autism speaks (@autismspeaks) May 13, 2020 Advertisement Hide Eventually, TikTok users began uploading videos with the same sound criticizing those who are taking part in the challenge. Their updated mission statement is, “Autism Speaks is dedicated to promoting solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the life span, for the needs of individuals with autism and their families through advocacy and support; increasing understanding and acceptance of people with autism spectrum disorder; and advancing research into causes and better interventions for autism spectrum disorder and related conditions. Text from the letter included, “This is the week America will fully wake up to the autism crisis. I will be sharing this with my network. Only people with actual mental illness, like psychopaths or schizophrenics do that kind of thing." It would have to change its literature and advertisements, including the 100 Day Kit and remove its pathologizing language and remove the myths it has spread, such as the myth that autism is “on the rise” and “more common in boys.” It would have to denounce Applied Behavioral Analysis and related harmful early interventions for autism and recommend alternatives such as occupational therapy, music therapy, and speech language pathology among others. It gives the viewer a sense of warmth at first. Your money will fall into my hands, and I will bankrupt you for my own self-gain. Choose which you prefer then tell us hwy as well as your connection to autism in the comments. For that it's right Autism Speaks is ableist. In ten years of the organization’s history, only three autistic people had been involved with any leadership positions in Autism Speaks. One myth that it spreads is that autism is “on the rise,” or that the prevalence of autism is increasing. The rainbow infinity loop for neurodiversity is also used as an alternative for the ableist puzzle piece symbol that Autism Speaks uses and other ableist organizations have used before it. PSAs involving Ad Council and the muppet, Julia from Sesame Street. Autism Speaks has spent millions of dollars lobbying for Applied Behavioral Analysis to be covered by insurance companies in the United States. As long as such an attitude toward developmental disabilities is normalized, then the futures of the autistic population in the next century will hang in the balance. When autistic people heard about the poll, they responded in waves on Facebook and Twitter, and the final poll result on Facebook was 69% for identity first language, or, “I am autistic,” and 31% for person first language, or, “I have autism.” The results on Twitter were 82% for identity first language, and 18% for person first language. Autism Speaks funds the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange, which was established by Cure Autism Now and is a DNA repository available to autism researchers. The thing is, when you talk about preventing autism, that includes the low-support needs autistics too. Many autistics are outspoken on the topic of autism and ableism, yet many parents are completely unfamiliar with the term. That was a mistake.” A full transcript of the PSA is provided here by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. Criticisms from the autistic community included the notion that autistic people were “missing,” and that this project would lead to prenatal screenings of autism, or eugenics. Thank you for this detailed post. Autism Speaks preaches to aid autistic people, yet refuses to hire us. Of the $69 million that Autism Speaks made in 2008, over $600,000 was paid towards a single executive, Geri Dawson, who received $669,751 in 2008 including nearly nearly $300,000 to move her family from Washington to North Carolina. Ableism characterizes persons as defined by their disabilities and as inferior to the non-disabled. I will make sure that every day you wake up, you will cry, wondering, “Who will take care of my child after I die?” And the truth is, I’m still winning. While social skills can be challenging for many on the spectrum, that does not mean they should be deprived of opportunities to work. We do not need any more people with autism. MSSNG is a database compiling 10,000 genomes of autistic people and their families that utilizes Google’s cloud software throughout different labs across the world. There's no normal child hidden behind the autism. Autism Speaks is responsible for films and PSAs (which are no longer available on its YouTube channel) that depict autistic people as aggressive, as monsters, as soulless, and as empty, hollow shells. In the kit (and keep in mind this was last updated in 2018), it tells families to go through the five stages of grief after their child has been diagnosed with autism, it discourages autism acceptance, and it has a parent testimony wishing that their autistic child was given the same amount of sympathy as another child diagnosed with leukemia. In 2013, he resigned after Suzanne Wright released an op-ed calling for the United States to act on the “autism epidemic.” and said in his blog that, “My words and efforts have had no real impact on the beliefs of the actual leadership of the organization.”. It’s honestly that simple. Autism, while it varies in complexity, is a diversion from neurotypicality. All three of these organizations support research into causes, treatment, and cures/prevention of autism. She then got a phone call that Autism Speaks rescinded the job offer. Yes, that’s right, Autism Speaks featured an institution that abuses disabled people as a “service provider” at one of their Autism Walks. Autism Speaks had a three day summit called National Autism Summit in Washington, D.C. from November 12-15, 2013 involving congressional leaders, bipartisan officials, and neurotypical “autism experts” to advocate for more cure and treatment research funding and to raise money for their own organization. Following tragic mass shootings in America, Bob Wright, the co-founder of Autism Speaks, has recently made a proposal to the Trump Administration to monitor people with mental health disabilities for signs of aggression to predict violence. I don’t sleep, so I make sure you don’t either. Its logo uses the ableist puzzle piece for autism, a symbol that has promoted ableism since the 1960’s. Actions that would take a lot more work for Autism Speaks to become an autism and neurodiversity positive group would be to transform its leadership and include many autistic people. In July 2019, Autism Speaks made a poll asking, “Do you prefer person-first language or identity first language? In 2008, a fourteen-year-old autistic teenager who was a member of the Aspies for Freedom forum and went by the nickname, Kelly online made a website called “NT Speaks” (or Neurotypicals Speak), which was a satirical parody of Autism Speaks that suggested interventions for neurotypical behaviors the same way Autism Speaks suggests interventions for autistic behaviors. In 2013 during an Autism Walk in Washington, D.C., Autism Speaks chose to host and feature the Judge Rotenberg Center as an exhibitor and promoted it as a resource and service provider for autistic people and their families. It also funds the Autism Tissue Program, which is funded by the National Alliance for Autism Research and manages and distributes brain tissues donated for autism research. people with mental health disabilities are far more likely to be victims of violent crime than committers of violent acts, The Ableist History of Autism Speaks – In the Loop About Neurodiversity – International Badass Activists, Stop Saying Autistic People “Defeated” Autism When They Succeed – In the Loop About Neurodiversity, Good Autistic Advocacy Organizations vs. Bad Autism “Charities” – In the Loop About Neurodiversity, A New Decade of Autism Appreciation – In the Loop About Neurodiversity, A New Decade of Autism Acceptance – In the Loop About Neurodiversity, Por que não devemos apoiar a organização Autism Speaks – A Menina Neurodiversa, Is Autism Speaks Capable of Change? The company continues to be one of the largest fundraisers for Autism Speaks. Her undergraduate degree is in Humanities with a minor in Political Science. “If you’re going to lose one to two percent of your male population to autism, that means they’re not going to be productive. We’d call up every member of the National Guard. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Autistic Self-Advocacy Network was founded in the 1990s—before my birth, in a time we autistics cringe at the memory of—to be a platform for our voice in this fight. Well, little of that money actually went to hurricane victims at all, but to executives, administration, and PR. More people are not suddenly “becoming” autistic, but more autistic people are receiving diagnoses. Putting identity first means embracing autistic identity rather than separating autism from people. View all posts by Cassandra Crosman, although the number of participants has declined in recent years, murder of an autistic three year old by her mother. 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