Autism Speaks - is it good or is it bad?

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I don't care for Autism Speaks...

True, but a society of survivalists stagnates. A generalist who can do everything for himself has no time to specialize; and a society of generalists is at the mercy of societies that are more integrated and support the specialists who can generate new ideas, undertake highly skilled projects, and practice arts that require a long time to master.

In the short run, yes, you'll survive longer if you are a generalist. However, if your society is made up of nothing but generalists, then you'll just survive long enough to go down with a sinking ship.

Integration of people who specialize--and autistics are some of those specialists--is what makes a group of people strong. Diversity is strength. Societies who don't accept diversity will eventually die.

Interesting thread. Must read for all. Especially in light of the Autism Speaks deal brokered with Alex

havent read all this... but even though i am highly skeptical for them... i do hope they can be turned to the aspie/auti side. hope they are doing some serious revamping.

Their comparisons of autism to cancer reminds me of PETA's holocaust on your plate campaign, you can't work for them if you're autistic, they almost completely ignore the higher functioning people even though we're responsible for beefing up their scare campaign (the diagnostic numbers were a lot lower before people included AS), and they're a hate group. They speak FOR us. I, personally, take extreme offense to that.

It seems like this thread has gone on for a long time, so I'll make sure not to repeat anything that's already been said, especially since this thread seems to pop up quite frequently all over.

Personally, I am all for Autism Speaks. They do not represent the views of persons with Asperger's Syndrome because that is not their focus. Persons with AS have the capacity to go on the Internet and complain about Autism Speaks, because their major issues are the same sort of issues many other people have, such as finding work and making friends, while many with classical autism have problems like feeding and dressing themselves. If you are able to go to the store, find food, take it home, store it away, prepare the food, and put it into your body, then go and post on the Internet, then you have exceeded the functional capacity of many autistic adults.

Adults with Asperger's Syndrome have the mildest issues of all persons on the autism spectrum, and do not, in fact, have classical autism. Persons with AS who say they are in the same boat as a severely autistic person clearly do not have a good understanding of what life is like when you can only communicate by crying, screaming, and hitting people.

Aspeger's can make you lonely, awkward, and frustrated. Being autistic generally means you will not be able to live a life that resembles anything like most human beings experience. Simply put, autistic persons cannot function on their own except in milder circumstances. It is certainly no great evil that Autism Speaks wants people to grow up into happy, healthy, functional adults, which is impossible when you have no means of communicating or effecting the outside world.

To me, autism speaks COULD BE a good organization, raising awarness, research, etc. But they're marketing is WAY too negative, and rather than celebrating people with autism, and helping them and others understand each other, they make it seem like they have a disease that needs to be cured. I do not support the organization and generally steer clear of their marketing campaigns. Autism every day broke my heart because those parents obviously had no support, and therefore were simply pitied. I felt even worse for the children - the parents spoke about them like they weren't even there! And I Am Autism was clearly just a disaster.

They do a lot of good things, and a lot of bad things. Whether you view them as good or bad probably depends on which of their activities you're most aware of or focused on.

I don't see myself complying with, or having
much to do with Autism Speaks.

I will keep doing my own thing thank you.

My way.

Over here, with our recessionary budget crisis, autism has appeared a few times in the papers. The latest (today) is about the budget for school bus (and taxi) transport, illustrated with the example of autistic children - provided, I guess, by some lazy journalist phoning a friendly contact in a charity organisation.

I am sure that the stories of severely autistic and disruptive children who can not walk to school, can not travel unaccompanied and need nurse supervision are genuine and the distress is real, but this is the stereotype of what all autism is.

While I don't think that Autism Speaks is a bunch of mustache-twirling villains out to kill every person with autism/Asperger's like most of the board members here, I also wouldn't donate to them since most of the money goes towards salaries and not helping people with autism.

I hope they read wp, maybe they'll have an idea of what they're being portrayed as and what people think of them. However I don't think it would change anything. They'd probably just see a bunch of poor autistics who don't know right from wrong.

When they did the walk in St. Louis I was so upset because a bunch of people on my campus were really into it and some of my friends were going. I mean it's great that they are supporting what they think is a good cause, I just wish they knew what autism speaks is really about.

A decent organization or "charity" as they like to call themselves doesn't debase or degrade the people they're supposedly trying to help. I mean I have no problem with research, I think finding a genetic component to autism is quite fascinating, and research for autism is also very interesting. However, that's not the most important thing right now. And autism speaks is just so negative with their marketing and is just so degrading to individuals with autism. It's really sad. The most important thing - in my mind - for a charitable organization to be doing is help the public understand people with autism/asperger's so instead of making fun of us maybe they can help us with social challenges. Autism speaks is pretty much doing the opposite. I understand that there are people (yeah not just children) who have a really hard time functioning day-to-day - I work with those kids for my job and teach them how to function properly, and they are capable of living full happy lives with the help of compassionate, patient people. Autism speaks seems to think that these people are doomed for eternity and the only way to help them is to get rid of them. Not to sound conceited but I believe I've done more for individuals with autism on a much smaller scale than autism speaks because I've taken the time to understand people who may be "low functioning" and I know what it's like to be high functioning but still have a hard time expressing myself. I've actually stepped in and tried to help people adjust to the world. I wish autism speaks could see the possibilities in people rather than their downfalls.

And I do think they're a bunch of mustache twirling villains