Boycott Autism Speaks

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I saw that..but it doesn't have much to do with cognitive empathy...IN REALitY.. necessarily....

Here's the thing..i've experienced more adversITy in one lifetime than most folks experience in 10 or 15...

Even doctors tell me that...

So at least in my case... it's a feather friend....

It's all a matter of perspective..

i guess

Like i sAID..JUST MY OPINION...

friend

It is literally impossible for words to hurt me.

But in effect...i'm kinda like a zen master...NOw..so that has something to do with that...

At least that's what people tell me in REAL LIFE..

TO EACH one's OWN WILL..NOT MINE

I have studied marketing and political science where words and their consequences, how they are interpreted and misinterpreted were topics of study. So that is a why my experiences may be different then yours and explains my sensitivity to words.

Makes perfect sense to me friend..:) But to be clear i've studied both of those sciences too...and actually done it for the government...as well...and got paid for it too...

There is absolutely nothing unusual about Autism Speaks approach to Marketing...and or political science...

But almost anything in life can hurt someone's feelings..

So that's how life goes..

Marketing and or political science simply cannot please everyone..and gain success..in the real world..

As human beings for the most part buy..vote..and make decisions with their heart..instead of logic..

And the target audience..my friend..is not the people here..and has never been the people here for potential donations...

Nothing said here...or anywhere else beyond the target audience makes any substantial difference...

And that my friend is part of marketing 101..

The target audience is everything..and pulling heart strings..is what empties pockets...

It's really as simple as that...

Anything said here is of no significant consequence to the actual operation of the autism speaks organization...

It's just a little PR annoyance..per total effect.. everywhere folks are talking about a silly boycott against organizations that donate to autism speaks..

But as they say in marketing..the true effect will be sung on the bottom line of the annual financial report...

And in full effect Autism Speaks IS increasing donations when most other large organizations..like the Autism Society of America..are having substantial difficulties in growing donations..

A ten percent increase in total donations for Autism Speaks..in the last report..speaks the truth..on who or what is making a difference..complaints..or actual efforts to gain donations...

And these complaints are nothing new..for at least 4 years now..with much greater overall dissent in the past..over videos like the two expressed earlier in this thread..that are no longer promoted by the organization..but continued as a tool to attempt to discredit the organization..by folks who call themselves autistic..on a few sites on the internet..with maybe at most several thousand folks out of the approximately 3M folks with Autism in the US.

While the criticisms..are certainly true in how they affect the emotions of people here..

They simply are not affecting the bottom line of the organization..Autism Speaks...

Again..simply per the target audience..it just ain't here..period.

It's just the singing to the choir thing..as well.

But i'm not suggesting you or anyone here like it..or accept it..

It's just the truth..and that is what i always seek..the truth..that is all..
friend.

So it's kool to vent..but anyone who thinks that this boycott thingy..is going to significantly impact the bottom line of Autism Speaks..

Simply does not understand..how the charitable organization..business works...

And seriously marketing too..per the actual impact on the bottom line..of donations...

If Autism Speaks were to cater to the desires of folks on this website per marketing efforts..

Donations would simply go down..and that is no option..in the business of charitable organizations.

In the general world of politics negative advertising to pull heartstrings is the norm. While it is effective we are not a better country for it, to put it mildly. With charity fundraising in general and with charity fundraising related to diseases, disabilities etc only with cancer have I seen any marketing resembling this. I sure if you try hard enough you will find other examples but it is not the norm for successful charities.

well if you're only trying to help someone on the spectrum talk or use the toilet, that's not curing, that's helping. we teach NT kids to talk and use the toilet all the time and yet we don't call that "curing". Why us?

remember that what you are saying now is how you're shaping america to be: a country with a lack of respect for those who aren't like "the rest".

If Autism Speaks showed and talked about people on the higher functioning end of the spectrum and did documentaries about happily functional families where the parents had no other problems than remembering to bring their kids stuffed animal to school or not letting the chicken nuggets touch the fries on their kids plates or people who are having trouble coping with smaller things, or those whose problems could be solved if people were simply more understanding of differences that autism causes, exactly how much money do you think they would raise? Probably less than ten grand, that's how much.

They are going to give worst case scenarios because that's what causes people to say "Oh no, that's horrible! We can send them some money to help." Everything I've ever seen from them shows kids who are profoundly effected by autism. By that, I mean kids who have major issues. It doesn't imply that everybody with autism has those, even though it doesn't say that everybody with autism doesn't have those.

Compare it to how other places raise money. Did you ever see any of Jerry's kids that was just mildly effected? Do you see the Humane Society showing families who just bring their well taken care of pet in to be given away because their kid has an allergy and they can't keep him anymore? Do you see those Sally Struther's places show kids who get meals at home and have a decent roof over their heads but are just enrolled in the programs those places fund? No. You don't. Because it wouldn't raise squat that way.

Genocide gets brought up quite often in these debates because of the chance of being able to detect autism in utero and the fact that a lot of parents would choose to abort because of it. That's not genocide. It's done with Down's every day, and you don't see people going around rounding up and killing Down's kids who are already here and killing them. And no, it's not going to lead to it. It hasn't led to locking away all Down's folks either, and it's not going to.

Just because Autism Speaks shows kids with major issues doesn't mean that they are trying to say you have those issues. Just because they show parents who have a hard time coping with them doesn't mean all parents have a hard time coping with them. Just because being able to detect autism in the womb would lead to some parents aborting because of that doesn't mean they are saying you shouldn't have been born. Just because some people realize that having autism is a pain in the ass and would be glad to take a cure that was available doesn't mean that people who don't want the cure shouldn't have accomodations.

You want people to respect your differences, and your rights and beliefs and thoughts, so how about extending that same courtesy to other people? Not everybody wants to go through life with the difficulties that autism causes. Not everybody has the opinion that it's some sort of "gift".

_________________
I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com

ITT*: Autistic people argue vociferously in favor of ableism against autistic people and minimize difficulties autistic people face when they are not labeled "low functioning."




* In this topic.

Why don't they mention that there are many "high functioning" autistics who are still disabled, but maybe will live independently, contribute to society in many more ways than they already do, etc, but ONLY if their needs are acknowledged and accomodated so that they CAN be the most succesful [by each persons definition] autistic possible. There are already so many accommodations for what works best for NTs'. MAJOR accommodations. That is how this culture is set up. Why do our people not have access to many even minor accommodations?