Autistic organizations

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Is there a good resource somewhere on what autistic organizations are active, and what their positions and policies are? Or maybe some of you familiar with them will take the time to give me a quick education. I am mostly interested if they are legitimate organizations, and if they are furthering a particular political viewpoint and what that viewpoint is.

I notice the blogger on the front page is critical in a couple of posts on something called “Autism Speaks.”
Is this simply a misnomer, or do they objectify autism in a negative fashion? And does this site have its own agenda that it supports?

Basically, I would like to know which organizations are the good ones- which are the support sites and which are promoting a political cause. Thanks.

To answer your questions, there are several organizations which are good and some that need improvement. The Autism Society of America is basically a good organization. They have autistic people on their advisory boards. Another one that many here like is Aspies for Freedom. This organization is made up of people on the spectrum. One of my favorite is ASAN The Autistic Self Advocacy Network. This organization is also made up of people like us. It advocates for acceptance and accommodations. I think the organization that is disliked by most people on the spectrum is Autism Speaks. This organization is in search of prevention (eugenics?) or a cure to autism. They do not have any autistic people on their policy making boards (at least the last time I checked). They are also known for threatening and intimidating autistic people who publicly disagree with them. I suggest using you favorite search engine to look up each of these organizations to get the information.

Thanks cyber. I've heard of most of those, but wasn't sure what they represented. It is hard to sort through all the quackery and false information that comes up with most search engines. It is good to go to the people that have firsthand knowledge. I will look into them more thoroughly.

Is it fair to ask if this site supports a particular position itself? Is my membership here considered as an acknowledgement of my
support for a cause or lobbying effort? I might be paranoid, but I have been burnt before.

Also, is this a non-profit site, and do the owners derive an income from operating it? Maybe that is private information, but I believe in public disclosure when something is associated with a vulnerable medical issue.

Not that I'm aware of. The rules are basically to have respect for your fellow WPers and not to verbally abuse or attack anybody, regardless of position.

There's also ANI - Autism Network International. It's "an autistic-run self-help and advocacy organization for autistic people" (qouted from thier homepage). Here is a link to thier philosophy and goals.

The best organizations are the ones which are run by autistics. the "Global Registry of Autistic-Run Organizations" lists most of them:
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt58920.html

Here is the latest version (v.1.0.1) of the registry:

The Global Registry of Autistic-Run Organizations (v.1.0.1)
(compilation date: 5th of March 2008).

Belgium
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PASS-partout.be – "Zelfhulpgroep voor Personen met een Autisme Spectrum Stoornis"
Website: http://www.pass-partout.be/

Finland
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ASY - Suomen Aspergeryhdistys
Website: http://www.kolumbus.fi/asperger/

France
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SAtedI – "Spectre Autistique troubles envahissants du développement International"
Website: http://www.satedi.org/

Germany
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Aspies e.V.
Website: http://www.aspies.de

Aspergia e.V.
Website: http://www.aspergia.de/

Israel
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ACI – "Autistic Community of Israel"
Website: http://aci.selfip.org/

Netherlands
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PAS – "Personen uit het Autisme Spectrum"
Website: http://www.pasnederland.nl/

Sweden
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OA – "Organiserade Autister"
Website: http://www.autister.org/

Switzerland
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WAA - Worldwide Autism Association
Website: http://www.beepworld.de/members61/autism_waa

United Kingdom
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AFF - "Aspies for Freedom"
Website: http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com

Autreach -
Website: http://autreach.backpackit.com/pub/1382191

Autscape organising committee -
Website: http://www.autscape.org/

APANA – "Autistic People Against Neuroleptic Abuse"
Website: http://apana.org.uk/

ARGH – "Autism Rights Group Highland"
Website: http://www.arghighland.co.uk/

LARM - "London Autistic Rights Movement"
Website: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/politicsofautism/

United States of America
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AAGW - Asperger Adults of Greater Washington
Website: http://aagw.net

AASCEND.net - "Autism and Asperger Syndrome Coalition for Education, Networking, and Development"
Website: http://www.aascend.net/

AASPIRE - "Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership In Research and Education"
http://aaspireproject.org/index.html

ANI - "Autism Network International"
Website: http://ani.autistics.org/

ASAN - "The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network"
Website: http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/

autistics.org: "The REAL Voice of Autism"
Website: http://www.autistics.org/

GRASP- "The Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership"
Website: http://www.grasp.org/