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Real Life in an Autistic World
Too often, society dehumanizes and abuses autistics.
I would like to believe that most do not mean to do so and are only following the lead of a select few who have no problem whatsoever with dehumanizing and abusing autistics.
There is a wonderful advertisement that was created in Europe that has a voice over in English. I would encourage everyone to watch it.
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC_MY9vMV0U
American pathologist, Dr. Karen McCarron was recently found guilty of killing her autistic daughter.
Source #1: http://www.ccdionline.org/newsletter.php?article_id=26&
Source #2: http://www.pjstar.com/stories/011708/TRI_BFHBKR7R.008.php
Supposedly -- according to Ms. McCarron -- she was 'inspired' by the Autism Speaks video "Autism Every Day" and the comments made in that video by Allison Tepper Singer, Senior Vice President of Communications and Awareness, regarding Singer's own thoughts of murdering her autistic daughter because she was autistic.
Autism Speaks in fact still has legal issues pending with Lauren Thierry who produced the "Autism Every Day "video as she has not been paid for her commissioned work.
Source #1: http://autism.about.com/b/a/257851.htm
Source #2: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,278814,00.html
And now the latest (February 2008), Autism Speaks used intimidation tactics via their lawyers to threaten a 14-year-old autistic child who was exercising her First Amendment Rights under the American Constitution by parodying the Autism Speaks site and their articles which are insulting to autistics and the lives autistics live.
Source #1: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/mg19726414.300-voices-of-autism-silenced-by-charity.html
In fact, if you want to see the one remaining shard of the parodies that were found at this autistic child's website, you only have to copy and paste this URL into your browser:
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxx5EmCRxYY
In the Autism Speaks official video for "What Kind Of World Do You Want" it states "[quote] autism speaks wants a world where autism is a word in the history books [end quote]."
OFFICIAL AUTISM SPEAKS VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwq3LtPWm5k
Autism Speaks wants "a world where no family has to live with autism." Parents of autistic children want a world where no family has to live with discrimination against their child and their family because of misperceptions and false beliefs held about autism and its origins.
Autism Speaks wants "a world in which a mom can hear her autistic child say I LOVE YOU." Parents of autistic children know that "I love you" is expressed in many different ways and words are only one of those many ways.
Autism Speaks wants "a world that doesn't judge an individual with autism." Parents of autistic children want a world that doesn't judge an individual with autism and our first hope is that organizations such as Autism Speaks would be the first to stop judging and dismissing autistics as they do.
Autism Speaks wants "a world where autism is a word in the history books." Here's what parents of autistic children have to say about what Autism Speaks wants for autistics.
Medical research by the Autism Genome Project wherein 137 medical researchers, 50 medical centres and 9 countries along with 1,600 families where at least one child had been diagnosed with autism has proven that autism is genetic. There is no cure. You can no more cure autism than you can cure blond hair or brown eyes or size 11 feet.
The only way to have a world where autism is a word in the history books is to murder and abort every autistic individual. And that sort of promotion on the part of certain organizations claiming to have the best interest of autistics at heart only serves to dehumanize an entire group of individuals in today's society.
Support autism organizations by all means but know which autism organizations are actually doing something to help individuals and families living with autism rather than dehumanizing and abusing them.
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Raven |
6 months ago |
- For those who do not wish to subscribe to New Scientist, here is the article in its entirety.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/mg19726414.300-voices-of-autism-silenced-by-charity.html
VOICES OF AUTISM 'SILENCED' BY CHARITY
02 February 2008
An extraordinary dispute has broken out between people with autism and a charity that aims to help them. At stake is how such people are perceived by the general public.
Like many people with autism, an autistic blogger who goes by the screen name "Abscout" is angry about the way the condition is portrayed by some charities. To try and paint a different picture, Abscout set up a spoof website called NTSpeaks.org, a parody of the site of the New York-based charity Autism Speaks. The NT stands for neurotypical, a term sometimes used by people with autism to describe the rest of the population.
Last week, however, in response to demands from Autism Speaks, Abscout took the site down. Autism Speaks claims the site infringed its copyright, and that it could have confused people looking for information about autism. That in turn has outraged Abscout's supporters, who say that Autism Speaks is suppressing the views of the very people it is supposed to represent and help.
"If we do speak, we're only allowed a voice if it agrees exactly with the people who say they're speaking for us," says Amanda Baggs, another blogger with autism based in Burlington, Vermont. "That keeps people believing the same thing Autism Speaks wants people to believe, including every negative stereotype of autism out there."
Autism Speaks says its aim is "to change the future for all who struggle with autism spectrum disorders". One of its stated goals is to "cure" autism - an aim some people with autism find offensive.
"The autism spectrum is something that is intrinsic to our personalities," says Ari Ne'eman, president of the Autism Self Advocacy Network in Baltimore, Maryland. "We can no more separate the autistic part of ourselves than we could our gender or race."
Particularly galling for people with autism, he says, is a video on the charity's site called Autism Every Day, in which mothers of children with autism talk about the emotional and financial impact the condition has had on their lives. "Autism Speaks puts out a very fear-based message," says Ne'eman.
NTSpeaks.org carried a much more assertive message. Under the slogan "Learn the signs of NTism", it listed "dislike for people who are different", "refusal to accept that there is a problem" and "conforming attitude". Another one of its headlines read, "NTs destroying AS/Auties pride and joy".
Autism Speaks says that people could have confused NTSpeaks.org with its own site, as it carried a similar logo. "If an improper use of our name or logo creates confusion among those we serve about the source of information, it is a disservice to all," a charity spokesman says.
Baggs insists there is a need for people with autism to publicise their own messages. She says the charities "change a lot about how autistic people are treated and understood by other people and by professionals".
Gareth Nelson, who founded the autism rights group Aspies For Freedom is doing his bit. In protest at Autism Speaks's actions, he has secured the NTSpeaks.net and NTSpeaks.com domains and posted new parodies of Autism Speaks there. "It is important to do this in order to stop Autism Speaks from simply silencing their critics and to show them that we are not going to sit back while they intimidate people," he says.
To see the spoof Video entitled "Neurotypicalism Every Day" copy and paste the following URL into your browser.
"Autism Every Day" VIDEO PARODY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxx5EmCRxYY
