The following article was inspired by a correspondence I had with my friend, and fellow Autistic self-advocate, Jason Ross, here, on his website, which I also shared in my post, “Discussing the Organization, ‘Autism Speaks’…“…
Listen to the Tax Returns, that is…
The officially-stated mission of Autism Speaks is “to fund research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families.” While their mission may sound noble, does this organization truly represent the interests of the Autistic community? Being on the Autistic spectrum, myself, and somewhat interested in the possibility of becoming more actively involved in the Autism Speaks organization, I decided that I would venture to discover the answer to my question by doing some much-needed research. I found a well of information on the internet, beginning with the following controversial Autism Speaks video, released on Sept. of 2009, entitled, “I Am Autism”:
Update: here is a version of the video that recently popped up on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/20692567
Click here to download a copy, in case it disappears, again! (note: sadly, all traces of this video have since been scrubbed from Vimeo)
Update: here is yet another version of the video that recently appeared on YouTube:
This completely tasteless and offensive video seems to perfectly illustrates what Autism Speaks is REALLY all about: IRRATIONAL FEAR-MONGERING FOR PROFIT through promotion of a very disingenuous “disease/cure” paradigm, with no regard for the DAMAGE they cause to the MANY groups that are aimed at the currently pressing issues of garnering AUTISM ACCEPTANCE and facilitating SELF-ADVOCACY.
(Claudia Wallis) It is one of the most intriguing labels in psychiatry. Children with Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism, are socially awkward and often physically clumsy, but many are verbal prodigies, speaking in complex sentences at early ages, reading newspapers fluently by age 5 or 6 and acquiring expertise in some preferred topic — stegosaurs, clipper ships, Interstate highways — that will astonish adults and bore their playmates to tears.
In recent years, this once obscure diagnosis, given to more than four times as many boys as girls, has become increasingly common.
My Commentary: According to this article, “though [Asperger’s syndrome] became an official part of the medical lexicon only in 1994, the experts who are revising psychiatry’s diagnostic manual have proposed to eliminate it from the new edition, due out in 2012. If these experts have their way, Asperger’s syndrome (AS) and another mild form of autism, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (P.D.D.-N.O.S.), will be folded into a single broad diagnosis, autism spectrum disorder — a category that encompasses autism’s entire range, or spectrum,” from mild to severe.
