William Shatner in twitter war with ND advocates

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I guess Shatner meant well by supporting a group that supposedly helps autistics, and didnt realize that he was stepping into a hornets' nest. NTs rarely think about autism at all. So its to be expected that a NT celeb would not be aware of the civil wars going in the autism community, and the civil wars between autism lobby groups.

I had the same issue with ASAN. Wanted help creating a chapter here (back when I had time to do it), and got nothing but CRICKETS on their end.

As much as I can't stand A$, they have always gotten back to me if I've emailed them. Too bad ASAN can't bother to do that. I don't support either of them, and use my money locally for ASD causes.

Appearently the twitter war is continuing and has expanded into the vaccination issue.

William Shatner’s Tweets Are a Classic Case of Misinformation Spread It was frustrating to watch but also instructive.

Twitter is a bad tool for debunking autism stigmas because autism is a complex subject.

I have given up trying to email ASAN. I emailed news items, I wanted thier reaction and was met by silence.

I support ASAN in concept alone (its T-shirt is a good dog whistle). Otherwise, I have decided to take ASAN's mission of self-advocacy to the personal level. I speak out for myself by myself. Having been a longtime governmental lobbyist and public relations worker, I might be more effective than some ASAN "chapter."

I am on ASAN's mailing list and they send petitions with suggested scripts on how to write your congressman etc. Sometimes I do scrap thiers and use my own words.

Shatner has always been a bit of a dufus, but this really disappoints me. It's not that he tweeted in favour of Autism Speaks, it's his reaction to criticism that bothers me. It's like he has said something offensive, been made aware of it, and then continues to be offensive. Either he doesn't care or he doesn't understand, and both are bothersome.

It's like he doesn't think we're even capable of understanding our own issues.

Well autism speaks has done allot of good. And if you receive a pile of death threats your reaction to it is not going to be good.

Have you seen their video where the mother says, in front of her autistic son, that she has considered killing herself because of him, but hasn't because of her other normal child?
If you are not familiar with their productions, I can send you some links. I won't put them here because they make me sick.

Their main focus is genetic research with the goal of identifying the gene(s) causing autism so that people have the choice to abort. This is fine with me, but does bother some people.

Obviously I don't support death threats, but that just obfuscates the issue which is that Shatner is supporting a group that does not support autistic people.

You say they have done a lot of good, so tell me some of it. I think they have done a lot of harm. Even their name is insulting. I can express myself better than they can speak for me.

Autism Speaks pulled down the video about the mother and the child. And it is worth pointing out that Autism Speaks as weird as it sounds may have been trying to highlight just how much of a strain autism can be and how an autistic individual in many cases lacks the capacity for a good life. Though autism speaks definitely f****d up and deserves heavy criticism for normalizing that attitude.

Well the awareness and advertising is one major benefit that autism speaks has given us. In 2006 the first disease specific bill, the Combating Autism act was passed. This allowed for billions of dollars to be channeled into improving therapies for autistic children.

Autism Speaks lobbied for the Able Act, a bill which gave a separate non-taxable account for individuals with disabilities.

So autism Speaks doesn't represent you but it has enabled so many people to climb let's not forget that.

I agree 100%.

What matters is that they made it at all. It shows their thinking.


That's exactly what they were doing. Because they see autistic people as the illness. The victims in their mind are the family.


Any press is good press?


Helping children diagnosed with autism is good, but how much money do they need to throw at people to get them to just accept that some people are autistic.
I am sure that some of the therapies supported are ABA influenced and I don't support ABA at all. It is an attempt to turn autistic people into puppets.


How can we forget something that we don't know.

I wouldn't go so far as to say they see them as an illness and not people. Autism Speaks acknowledges them as living breathing humans . Or otherwise why would an organization focus so much energy on therapies for autistic people. I know a young girl at my school who couldn't properly speak until intensive ABA therapy.

Isn't autism arguably an illness if you have say epilepsy, crippling sensory issues and can't talk?

I know another autistic girl who is extremely smart but is thought of as ret*d because she can't speak a word. Maybe a cure would be good for her.

Autism is a mental disorder/disease. I think it's genetic. I take a couple of medications that help me to function more normally and, to a degree, they do help my autism symptoms. Had my parents had access to genetic testing that indicated I would be autistic they may have aborted me, I don't know.

Teaching kids to speak is great; what I have a problem with is their method.

Must be a tough thought to have.

I think that half the problems can be taken away if we remove Asperger's from being considered a form of autism. You probably have more in common with the average joe than you do with Rain man.

I think ABA is complicated, this girl says the therapy helped her tremendously. If the ends justify the means it may be useful.

Autism Speaks is an all out supporter of ABA.
Autism Speaks ABA webpage


Through their lobbying they have mandated insurance companies cover Autism therapies in 45 US states for kids and teens. Often this is mainly ABA because ABA is considered the "gold standard" of Autism therapies in part because of lobbying by Autism Speaks. Prior to their lobbying parents had to pay the full amount for Autism therapies of any kind. That still is true for many parents who wish for alternative therapies. They may have to move to another location far away just to find an alternative therapy.

Since ABA is the "gold standard" it is the go to therapy for researchers who want funding and prestige.

This in a way goes back to ND supporters attacking Shatner. I feel sorry for many autism parents. ND supporters often publicly browbeat Autism parents who put their kids in ABA but in America they Autism parents are often faced with horrible choices.

1. Go with ABA which despite being covered is often expensive and time-consuming because ABA requires hours of parents repeating what is done in school for consistency.

2. Ruin yourself financially and possibly move away from your job, your family and friends in order to find an alternative therapy. Do I need to tell people here how traumatic uprooting their family can be for an autistic child? Alternative therapies are often quack therapies.

3. Of course many if not most parents do not have the expertise or money to be an outlier and find an alternative to ABA. In that situation, they have to be the therapists.

Since Aspergers have the same core traits as Autism I look at separating Aspergers from Autism as similar to separating Stage 1 lung cancer from Stage 2-4 lung cancer. If Aspergers is not Autism what is it? In the real world, I think that would mean the Aspie supremacists will have won. Cash-strapped governments, schools districts, and everyday people would see no need for supports, accommodations or understanding. Why would anybody want to tolerate never mind help people who would be viewed as refusing to use their smart brains to stop bieng "as*holes"?