What is Autism Speaks?

Post Reply New Topic

Yes, distress can be a challenging factor for many people on the spectrum, I acknowledge that, and you see it here on WP consistently, though as I see it, personal distress doesn't justify to any degree the repugnant aims of Autism Speaks. (I not really clear if your inference is that Autism Speaks is on the right track in your view or not).

My personal view? I'm not against them looking for what causes autism and how to prevent/cure it. I definitely do not like their previous productions. The mother talking about murder was the most disturbing, but the one where they talk as autism as a man stealing kids was also a bit f****d up too. I think they could distribute their donations better, but that's an opinion.

And yes, you see incredibly distressed people here. But I do not think that that justifies talking about murdering autistic children. That's wrong.

Thanks for your clarification, I can see where you're coming from now.

This sums it up for me:

http://cartesianfaith.com/2013/12/13/se ... sm-speaks/

Yes, they COULD be considered impaired because of those things, but they are NOT because heterosexual men are the ones who decide who is impaired. That is exactly my point.

I'm sorry that you are not living a happy and comfortable life. I don't mean to say that Autism isn't a disability, but the disability is mostly because of the expectations that NT society places on Autistic people and a refusal to value neurodiversity. There are lots of Autistic people who live comfortable, happy lives, and it is my belief that almost all Autistic people could live happy, comfortable lives if NT society would be more understanding and accommodating of Autistic people.

Isn't that some American far right organisation thinly disguised as a charity? Therefore a hate group.

They make great informative videos on autism, like this these.

They actually do have autistic staff (all of whom I know of do not share A$'s vision for a world without autism), what they lack is autistic people on the board of directors, the people who actually have any say on their policy.

This is ridiculous, you don't know what you are talking about. Genetically men actually have more longevity than women, the reason that women have longer life spans is because men are more likely to do something which will get them killed like go to war. And giving a few random examples doesn't make people equal in terms of advantages and disadvantages, you can't quantify such thing. There are plenty of advantages to being autistic as well which you neglected to mention.

"The impairment causes distress in a lot of people." So does being gay. What is or is not a disorder depends on social context on what is normal functioning. If procreating through natural means is seen as important, than homosexuality is in fact a disorder, and being PC isn't going to change that. You do realize it was classified as a disorder in the past? The reason that changed is not because of a fundamental difference in understanding of homosexuality, but because of a change in social mores.

Such as what? I can't think of any example. Enlighten me.

We could, though it would derail this thread by being off topic, and you can start your own thread on that if you want to.

It's mainly stuff with memory or focus.

I can tell you many things I saw as a toddler, yet I have a hard time following directions. [sarcasm] Real useful [/sarcasm] having amazing long term memory yet almost non existent working memory and short term memory. I can also remember every single mistake I've ever made in horrifying detail. [sarcasm] Real confident boost and great to fall asleep to, isn't it? Boy, being autistic is great. [/sarcasm]

Not my fault you're an obnoxious pessimist. Anyway, the memory and focus stuff was for practical advantages, not emotional ones.

What practical advantage is there to being able to tell you in detail what I did at 3 years old, but at the same time being physically unable to follow more than one task or direction because of having poor working memory? I really don't see the use of that. Is following tasks emotional? I think it'd be a very practical thing to have, yet it physically hurts my brain trying to process and make sense of directions and I still end up forgetting. A regular human wouldn't have these "emotional" problems like deficits in working memory.

Yikes! Autism Speaks sounds totally terrifying! I'm glad I found out more about them! Anyway, it is my belief that Autism and Asperger's are gifts, and it is healthier to try and think of them in that way.