AutismSpeaks Doesn't Speak For Us

     In February of  2005, a new organization was formed. The founder's (Chairman of General Electric and his wife (needless to say I won't be buying GE products anymore)) grandson had just been diagnosed with Autism the year before. Geraldine Dawson, a clinical child psychologist, would join as the chief Science Officer, John Elder Robison as Chairman (more on him later). Later in 2010, Yoko Ono would be named the organization's Global Autism Ambassador. What's next? Justin Bieber? This Organization was called AutismSpeaks. At first many people believed they would be a great organization because they sounded like they truly cared. But after Organizations weren't receiving any needed funds and the organization's growing output of growing questionably acceptable (not acceptable at all in the eyes of most Autists) content, many people are backing away favoring Autism Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) or the Autism Society of America. 
     Let's take a look at their flaws. 1. AutismSpeaks claims to be a charity. If it were it would gladly see that other individuals and organizations get their needed funds, rather than use it for frivolous expenditures and research, or maybe having a huge pizza party every Friday night. Who Knows? 2. The biggest flaw is in their areas of research and how they view Autism. First of all, they believe there are risk factors for Autism, these being environmental. They view Autism as being a disease with Symptoms which needs a "cure". If I have a disease, then I must have a fever, malaise, etc. also right? We have traits or characteristics, NOT symptoms. And we don't suffer from anything accept depression due to the stigma this kind of stuff has created for us. And many of these traits have proved to be valuable assets to others in our lives, I must add (while banging my head against a filing cabinet like OMG LOL). Even if people are indeed nonverbal, for example, they can be a success. Look at Sue Rubin, a non-verbal Autistic woman who graduated high school with a 3.9 GPA. Granted she has used a machine for writing a communication, but it is her brain that pulls off this amazement. What about the individuals who are born non-verbal, but by the time they are adults, have grown to lead virtually normal lives and are just as verbal as a neuro-normal person? And the word "cured" makes my blood boil when used in conjunction with Autism. We don't need treatments, we need accommodations. Sure we may have accompanying gastrointestinal conditions or seizure disorders which are physically medical, but they are TRAITS and may or may not be related to the Autism itself. This sheer bull only stigmatizes and labels us. Autism Speaks also has merged with Cure Autism Now (CAN), and organization started in the mid-nineties with a focus on research to cure, treat and prevent Autism. It makes me sick just looking at it. And there is also the Combating Autism Act. What??? It would be like a vegetarian being for the Combating Nutrition Act. It makes no sense. It's despicable. Let's pray they don't reauthorize it, or if they have already let's pound it down again. Now, let's take a look at the AutismSpeaks Mission Statement: 

At Autism Speaks, our goal is to change the future for all who struggle with autism spectrum disorders.

We are dedicated to funding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a possible cure for autism. We strive to raise public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society: and we work to bring hope to all who deal with the hardships of this disorder. We are committed to raising the funds necessary to support these goals.

Autism Speaks aims to bring the autism community together as one strong voice to urge the government and private sector to listen to our concerns and take action to address this urgent global health crisis. It is our firm belief that, working together, we will find the missing pieces of the puzzle.

Urgent global health crisis? There's no urgency or a crisis people. Nothing is going to happen to us or anyone else. Autism is not deadly either. And nowhere in their mission statement does it talk about accepting us as we are, that we have a unique condition with awesome traits or characteristics. We need accommodations and equal acceptance in the world. 

It's actually right here in what their logo stands for:

They say the logo for Autism Speaks, a puzzle piece (pictured on the right), reflects the perspective of a parent or caregiver to whom the autistic person is a problem to be solved or an anomaly to be 'fit in' rather than an autonomous individual deserving of dignity on his or her own terms.

It reflects the hurtful belief that we autists are a problem and that we deserve no dignity on our own terms. Just detestable. 

The word "disorder" is questionable. To me it seems like an okay word to use because Autism is a disorder, but some view it as negative. I think everyone is entitled to their own opinions on that one. 

     The last problem with AutismSpeaks is their spending ways. Per the Boycott AutismSpeaks Website (www.boycottautismspeaks.com), the organization spends less than a third of their budget on program expenses. More than 20 million dollars goes to payroll taxes, benefits and salaries. And more than 15 million dollars goes to science grants and awards. What does that tell you? A mere just over 2 million dollars went to family services. And the fact that AutismSpeaks has garnered many companies under their belt to support them, only says they are dehumanizing the Autism community for financial gain. 
     Even John Elder Robison, a former senior leader with AutismSpeaks, who put a lot of effort into trying to steer AutismSpeaks in the right direction resigned his rolls with the organization in late 2013 for the aforementioned reasons. He only stayed with them because he thought their powerful fundraising methods could be directed to research and services that could be truly beneficial to those with Autism today. Unfortunately, this hasn't happened. And he says in his blog that he cannot continue with an organization that repeatedly makes mistakes and cannot connect (correctly) with the audience that it wants to represent. He along with many other leaders have resigned or been fired in order to keep the idea going that vaccines cause Autism (blog on this exhaustive subject to come later). 
     So, as you can see AutismSpeaks only speaks for themselves to exploit Autists for money. So stay away from anything affiliated with them and go to boycottautismspeaks.com and sign the petition to have this Organization defunct, as I have.