Interview with Peter Bell of Autism Speaks

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There's a lot more to Autism Speaks than that one person. The president of the damn thing a lot less... Logical. She said she wanted to drive her autistic daughter off of a bridge, for a start.

And perhaps you should listen to what the man actually says.

There's NOTHING in the video to suggest he does not like his kid.

Nor is there anything indicating he wants his child to comform to the rest of the world.

I've yet to see one negative comment on the video that's an actual response to the content of the video. Listen, truly listen, with an open mind (all of you), instead of imagining you know what's going to be said.

And if there's people reading these posts who haven't watched the video yet, please, please, don't think that's what's said here is really what's in the video. Don't assume any of us are right and watch the video for yourself, truly listening.

Frankly, the reactions here confirm my impression that 90% or so (vast majority, but not at all all) of the negativity towards Autism Speaks here is B.S. based on misimpressions rather than anything coming out of the reality of Autism Speaks.

Also, as Michhsta said, don't prejudge him (before watching the video), based on your impression of an organization he belongs to.

Last edited by Mysty on 03 Jun 2010, 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm not sure I disagree with anything he said.

Mystified topic

I have listened to what the man actually says. And what he does NOT say. I heard a man speak about his son as damaged.There was subtle comparison with his NT sibs. This is what I heard as I listened.

I could have said the same thing about my son, who has mild CP. Instead of grieving that he will never ben a hockey player, because of the weakness in his legs, I am proud that my son is a weight lifter and wants to learn military police intelligence in the Canadian army. He will be attending college in the September.

When my son was assessed at the Hugh MacMillan Rehab Centre in Toronto, at age 17 months, part of my coming to terms with my son's challenges was that I saw him as an individual, not as some sort of failed Olympic sprinter. Parents of AS children might want to remember this for their own piece of mind. Children will pick up on what their parents think of them. I prefer to think in a position of positive strength.

Hmmm.... Difficult. Because he is a part of autism speaks so I'm not quite sure if he was being truthful about his words and his speech.
I would of thought he weren't too sure like any other parents would of been with their autistic son or daughters.

But don't forget, the champaign seems to be more focused on the lower end of the spectrum and how to cure it and stuff not the higher end of it.

In their adverts, its mainly the low functioning on there, but still, in some ways, I just think its just corrupted how they not let the son/daughter or the person have their expressions about it, because not all of them will agree or want the cure.

Personally I don't like the idea of being cured and the money just goes to themselves but idk?


- superboyian.

Agreed. I don't think I disliked what I heard in the video but he seemed to treat autism as if it were some sort of illness waiting for the right cure to come along and everything will be better. I really wouldn't want someone to come and take AS away from me to be honest.

Hmm I thought he said he didn't want to change his sons personality, but rather wanted to allow him to better communicate and share in things with his family. I guess thats a change of sorts though.

He seems like a nice guy. But after what I have seen from Autism Speaks so far, it will be a long time and a lot more evidence before I feel like I can trust them as an organisation.

Yeah, but, ALL parents want their children to change. It's called growing up.

My brother in law and his wife have a 6 year old son with autism, and their wish for him right not is potty training.

Using the word "cure" for the desire to have one's child communicate does not magically make that desire into unfairly desiring change for one's child. "Cure" is just a label. The desires of parents for their children are good or bad independent of that "cure" label.

I'm thinking not trusting them is okay. But closemindedly seeing them as all bad, as some do, is not good.

Did he seriously say he wants to cure this kid's autism without changing his ability to relate to other people?

Does he know what autism is?!

Seriously. Also, honesty is part of character; extraversion is part of character; pickiness is part of character. All these are intimately tied up with autism.

Maybe that's just my hyper-literal brain there, but this guy doesn't sound like he knows what he's saying.

Can he actually not realize that?

That doesn't make sense. Was he lying? I can't tell. I don't know enough to judge. Is he honest and stupid or is he deceitful? I can't judge from the way he's talking. I feel very confused, because it seems so likely that they're all evil liars, but I can't pick up on anything that would indicate that he's lying.

Here's a thought. Every one us who participate here has the ability to communicate. Some better than others; still, we all have the ability to share our thoughts in words.

So why is it wrong, then, for a parent to want that for their child?

I hadn't caught that so had to relisten. Yes, he said that. Listening to it in context, though, I think it was bad wording on his part. I'm honestly not sure what he meant by that, but, from the nature of the rest of the list of which it was a part, I think it means he does not want to change who his child is, some version of that. Like, there are different aspects of how we relate to others. He did elsewhere say he would like his child to better communicate, and surely that would include better ability to relate to others. But there are aspects of how we relate to others that are things he doesn't desire to be changed in his child. He used imprecise wording that didn't get at what he meant to convey, and we can realize that from the context of the other things he says.

My abilities to relate to others have so much improved over the past 10 years, and I'm so grateful for that. But, yet, at the same time, there are things about how I relate to others that haven't changed. So, I can see how he can be thinking of those second kind of things, and came up with the wording he did.

I thought he did pretty well considering he was addressing a hostile group and was nervous as hell (he certainly sounded it). As he said himself, it's easy to interpret words as you like. To me, the message seemed to be that he'd like to cure the 'autism' (i.e. the difficulty in his son's life) without affecting his son's personality, which is kind of what every parent on the planet would like for their child.

I think there is a huge difference between AS and high functioning autism and the rest of the spectrum. It doesn't mean that we don't have it difficult, or that those lower down don't have rights, but I think it's important to be aware that these parents have a huge burden and whilst they may love their children, it is reasonable that they should want a way to enable them to become more independant and capeable of looking after themselves.

Alex, I liked the piano music at the beginning. It would have been nice to hear you ask the question out loud to him on the video though. That would make it easier for the audience to tell if he's nervous because he's something to hide, or whether it may be because he's been put on the spot by an aggressive question (not saying that's what you did, just that the opposition may claim so).

No idea where you got that one from... I'd like to think most parents (including my own) like their children for who they are, autism or not. Besides, since most autism traits cross over with personality traits, how do you judge where autism ends and personality begins?

He's talking bogus if you ask me. Like a good PR man should.

That would be the part where he says that he would have reservations over giving his child a cure if it affected his personality. Also, the parts where he talks about loving his son and his personality and wanting him to be happy. I could go through the whole clip and quote all the other times too but you have the video yourself.



I'm sure most parents do like their children. I never said they didn't, and neither did he.



Good question. Who knows? You could argue the same for ADHD and ritalin etc..

I'm not professing to know the answer, but if it were my choice and there was an option to make life easier for the child, I would. At least up until they could make their own informed decison about their treatment.



You're entitled to your opinion.

Last edited by Lene on 04 Jun 2010, 11:02 am, edited 1 time in total.