Why is Autism Speaks considered to be an evil organization?

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We have made great progress, over the years, in reducing or annihilating many conditions. Autism doesn't fall under the blanket of, say, measles or diphtheria, though. Or tuberculosis, polio, or smallpox.

It's rather like saying there's a "cure" for anxiety.

I'm an advocate of "living with what I got," and making the best of it.

And the best of it.....can be great, indeed.

And I mean objectively great, according to anybody's standards.

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 26 Jul 2017, 5:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

No it doesn't because not all "problems" have the same cause or nature. Death is totally different than diseases.


That question would be irrelevant because the point I'm making is not about whether anyone should eliminate something; the point is about whether anyone can or will ever be able to eliminate it.

The least scientists can do is continue to try before giving up.

Now...did I ever advocate giving up? Hell no! Never!

I'm just stating something which is pretty much fact.

This is a pretty bad analogy: But think of the common cold. It can't be cured. You just have to deal with it. But the symptoms can be mitigated. Same with autism. The symptoms can be mitigated, but you can't just get rid of it.

Do you think there will come a time when you can "cure" Down Syndrome by magically making all the billions of cells in the body of such a person have 46 chromosomes, instead of 47?

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 26 Jul 2017, 5:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Spoken like a true Nazi.

No, seriously, that was the entire basis for their eugenics programs - killing off "inferior" specimens, to create a race of genetically perfect "supermen."

Impossible fantasies of a human race without imperfection aside, the fact remains EVERYBODY has flaws, and those, as much as your strengths, define your personality.

From the moment you are born, the experiences you have every day combine within the synapses of your brain, like the layers of a Jackson Pollack painting, to form the complex design of the personality that emerges from your psyche.

If you remove ANY of those influences, the end result of the whole process will be different, in ways you cannot predict. Individual "weaknesses" (and who gets to determine what is truly a weakness and what isn't?) will combine, due to circumstances, with other qualities that may ultimately produce strengths that might not have ever come into being otherwise.

For instance, a paralyzing fear might combine with an experience in which a loved one was harmed because of your fearful hesitation to help them, and ultimately result in your developing a strength you otherwise would never have had. Same thing on a medical level, removing a bacterium that seems to be involved in a chronic stomach ailment might leave the organism vulnerable to a type of cancer.

Selectively removing "weaknesses might have drastic unintended results. It would certainly, and without a doubt, alter the individual's personality in unpredictable ways. Encouraging informed social acceptance seems the preferable alternative.

I would never advocate the death of people with weaknesses. I would merely create technology that could eliminate them any time they wanted. This would not be forced, but left up to them.

Regarding the bacteria removal increasing the risk of cancer example, that would not be a problem in this vision of society I have, since literally EVERY physical condition on the planet would be removed and every mental condition would have the potential to be removed. Disease would be extinct in this society.

It'd be nice.

But it will never happen.

We should strive for that ideal, though.

With the fact that high definition fiber tracking shows different white matter structures in the brain than NT brains... there will not be a cure within our lifetime... it is the stuff of scifi as the brain has to basically be disassembled and rebuilt to change those structures... There is now, and will not be a cure for a good long time

I have included an image to show the differences... Every autistic brain that has been measured in this way shows these same differences... the autistic brain is on the left in this image.

What the OP is not considering is that some if not a lot of what is considered Autistic weaknesses are really unrecognized strengths. We are a small minority so the majority decided some of our strengths are weaknesses. Because our strengths are often punished even we think of them as weaknesses.

Fear of a Nazi like occurrence whereby Autistics are put in concentration camps and gassed to death seems like paranoia. It is not very likely that will happen but the fear of it is based on history. Before the Nazi exterminated the Jews and other groups they went after the disabled as a trail run. The Nazi's were influenced and inspired by eugenics in America. It was very popular because it was sucessfully sold as the humane thing to do because of similar reasoning used by the OP. Since the revelation of the Nazi horrors the word eugentics has a large stigma attached to it. So the eugenics idea needs to be sold using politically correct words. These words are "gene editing" and "early behavioral intervention" . They are not bieng sold as elimination therapies but as therapies to get rid of the bad parts. But they change via genes or brain wiring essential parts of the makeup of a person.

Autism Speaks is not nearly as bad as the were but there are still problems. They do not officially advocate for a cure anymore, Out of the 30 members of the board of directors only two are autistic. The still have a gene data base called #MSSNG. That tells me in some ways they do not think of us as human but as puzzle pieces. I am not missing. Through their lobbying Applied Behavoiral Analysis based therapies have become a monopoly squeezing out cheaper and less expensive therapies especially for children.

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 26 Jul 2017, 6:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Ask most autistics... This is not weakness... My autism is not a weakness... I have different issues than most, but I can do more with my mind in a few days than most people can in an entire year. So... You can remove your weakness... but not mine...

That being said... no one is opposed to a cure. we are opposed to the talk of a cure being forced on us.

I am NOT for harming those with disabilities including ASDs. As I previously said, it would be up to the person with the ASD, depending on their level of functioning, to decide whether or not they want to undergo the treatments to eliminate undesired traits in themselves. When it comes to mental disorder, this should be a choice on the part of the afflicted individual.


Physical illness on the other hand must be annihilated entirely, since many physical illnesses are contagious and cause immense harm to society. The total extermination of all physical illness will be a tremendous benefit to society, as the costs of treatment will be removed and we will be able to use valuable financial resources towards more important matters.

Which is why, as I've said many times, that the cures for mental disabilities would be up to the individual, since mental disabilities are not directly deadly to society, nor contagious, unlike physical illnesses.

I also hate Autism Speaks and I have a new and special symbol for them. I wouldn't even take my own worst enemy and crush their head between two battering rams.



Also, I'll stop here since debating and arguing are not my style.

Last edited by CockneyRebel on 26 Jul 2017, 6:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

How do you feel about the vision I proposed? There would be cures available for every mental disorder in existence, but it would be entirely up to the afflicted individual to receive said cures. So if you didn't want one, you wouldn't have to get one.

All physical illnesses on the other hand, would be exterminated ruthlessly.

I've always believed in fixing the body and not the mind. However, when it comes to mental health...

There a huge number of ethical arguments that come into play when we go changing or "fixing" the way people think, ASD or otherwise. Autism Speaks speaks out of turn, assuming to speak for people who do not want to change or in cases people who don't need to change, and aims to irreversibly "fix" them. I mean, it was only so long ago people were looking to "cure" gayness. Not to start a flame war here, but do we really want organisations going down the same path with mental health?

OP, don't worry. I appreciate you were only posing a question to the forum. I hope some of the answers people give you help you formulate an opinion.

I must warn you, some Aspies might feel the same way as you do and have well intended ideas but when they profess them on WrongPlanet, many mistake this for advocacy of the problems I mentioned, or even worse - plants and stooges from Autism Speaks itself pretending to be new members who support their ideas. Your name, plus your post count might see you lumped in with that bunch of people. I will continue to give you the benefit of a doubt and hope you enjoy your stay here.

Tell me, though..what led you to ask this? How long have you been considering this topic?
EDIT: Your recent post, plus the fact you are located in Boston, has me reconsidering my positions on your actual identity.......most concerning.

Your assertion that most physical illnesses are contagious is a flawed statement, but we'll not discuss that...

I go back to my original statement... My autism is not a weakness.