autism speaks = traditional while wrong planet = liberal

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a friend of mine observed the paradigm contrast between autism speaks and wrong planet. He noted that while autism speaks is a well intending group it presents autism in a negative light as a disease that needs curing while wrong planet celebrates it as neurodiversity, albeit in a more positive light, i do not now if many of you are aware that some people from that organization thinks that its foolish to celebrate what they term as a disease.

I prefer to take the middle ground....its a disability but people who have it are just as much people as anyone else, so their perspectives should be considered more since they are the ones with the 'disease'. Also though considering people are born autistic and have different genetic and neurological features than neurotypicals any cure.......is likely to be very invasive because they would pretty much have to significantly alter genetics and try and alter neurology. I don't see how else you rid someone of the way they were born.

So the way I see it there are disabling features of autism some have those worse than others, but that does not mean people with the disorder have to be miserable I think with all the focus on the cure they forget to encourage accomidations that could help things or maybe encouraging public awareness about autism(but factual awareness not all this 'oh its so terrible' nonsense). It seems they are so focused on changing the autistic behavior with therapy, drugs or 'genetic therapy' they might be doing more harm than good.

Also maybe people from that organization should consider the perspectives of people they claim to speak for....otherwise they should call themselves what they are 'give us money to spread fear and exagerations about the terrible epidemic that is autism.'

I think there are many things currently being called "autism." I think that some are caused or triggered by something outside of the individual and I believe perhaps those people are ill and in need of treatment/cure/etc. But I think some people are born autistic and were always "meant to be" autistic. So I do not think they have an illness or disease, so there is nothing to "cure" them of. They are simply different.

But like Sweetleaf, I tend to middle-grounded on this. It is not as clear-cut as either polar-end would have people to believe. I find people at both polar-ends to be unreasonable in their beliefs. It seems to me that at a certain point, the further someone's beliefs travel from the middle ground, the more they become steeped in ideology and raw emotion and the less they are grounded in sensible thought.

I'll probably get flamed for saying that out loud, but hey, it's what I think.

The bigger difference is that Autism Speaks is a group made up of mostly non-Autistic people who profess to speak for their Autistic family members and friends. While they have toned down their rhetoric a bit recently, because of protests from the Autistic community, their "mission" is all about a "cure" for Autism. While Wrong Planet is mostly made up up Autistic people who are more interested in finding out how to live day to day in this world with their Autism, instead of "curing" it. While a preventive cure may be possible sometime in the future, it does nothing to help the millions of us who already have and live with Autism everyday.



Oh, trust me, we know all too well what Autism Speaks thinks, and because they are not Autistic, they do not understand what it is like to be Autistic. I was born Autistic and would much rather celebrate who I am than to curse it…

We all have vital roles and functions to perform in the Autism Community; Autism Speaks is no exception.

I think organizationally it would be to an advantage for key players to work together and form alliances where possible.

In the next five years, i would like to see a figure in the billions associated with Autism research and resources. It's imperative THAT along with awareness, intervention, and acceptance THAT an increase in monies occur in-order to spur creative innovations and new discoveries.



TheSunAlsoRises

Well said. I agree with this very much.

@celebrei: I'm not sure that Autism Speaks and Wrong Planet are each other's opposite number per se... Wrong Planet is mainly an online community w/ message board, even though its founder Alex Plank does much in the area of positive advocacy of autism through Autism Talk TV and seminars, among other things. It isn't an organisation on the level of or with a function like Autism Speaks.
A more clear-cut ideological contrast between organisations, here in the Netherlands, would be between the NVA (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Autisme, kind of like the Dutch Autism Speaks, though not as cure-positive) and PAS ( Personen uit het Autisme Spectrum, an initiative created by autistics themselves, and more focused on self-empowerment). I don't know what's the American equivalent of PAS.

Also, beside Wrong Planet, there's the Aspies For Freedom forum, which I hear is far more militant than Wrong Planet when it comes to celebrating neurodiversity.

Okay, this is off-topic, but it's something I've been wondering about, SunAlsoRises... Why is the word 'that' (and sometimes other small words) in all caps in your posts? At first I thought it was emphasis, but it can't be that.

Yeah, kind of like the Ku Klux Klan has a vital role to play in the civil rights movement.

Except that when it comes to Autism Speaks, "forming alliances" means being their pet autistic and parroting their party line.

Don't get me wrong--I appreciate your idealism and I wish I could have the same sort of hope that Autism Speaks could genuinely change into an organization that listens to real autistic people and conducts research to help autistic people, and advocates for autistic rights. But I don't think it's going to happen. They are too entrenched in their fear-pity rhetoric and too set on their NT-centric perspective. I think our best bet is to encourage other organizations which are doing better work, but are less well-known than Autism Speaks--people who are doing practical research focused on improving our daily lives or non-cure-related theoretical research to find out how autistic people think; people who are focusing on improving integration, acceptance, and self-determination; and most of all groups that are led and directed by autistic people primarily, with input by family members of children and those who don't use language. I think that if we play our cards right, as the disability rights movement gains momentum, NTs in general will start to move away from the fear-pity idea that Autism Speaks uses, and groups who represent the desires and opinions of autistic people will find themselves moving into the gap that Autism Speaks leaves behind. In the end, they'll either be forced to close their doors entirely, or else survive by changing their rhetoric to something that supports autism rights. Either way, they can't dominate the "autism charity" field forever. Too many people are just plain pissed at them.

I think the American equivalent is ASAN, Autism Self Advocacy Network.

I agree with Callista. Autism Speaks appears to have a very set agenda that has nothing to do with any Autistics having a voice. While they have let some Autistics write a few articles for their website, that appears to be more of throwing Autistics a bone so they will stop bothering them, and then they can say, "Look, we published these articles written by actual Autistic people." I don't trust them.

They want to "cure" us, but don't want to "hear" us…

I once was autistic pride, but that's years ago.

Now I see ASD as a disabillity, but where life is also worth living and where I have the right to decide about my own mental health and if I want to treat my autism or other mental disorders or not.

I also don't see autism as a classical mental disorder, but as a neurodelopmental disorder which you can't devide from the personality of that person.

I look at Autism Speaks in three fundamental ways (1) I understand the origins of Autism Speaks, how and why, it was founded (2) Their practices are consistent with their missions statement (3) As far as organizations go, they are fairly young.

I do not have the same expectations of Autism Speaks as others do, given the three reasons I listed above.

However, despite disagreements, I think alliances can be made in implementing translational research involving Autistic children AND Autistic Adults. I believe Autism Speaks is open to scientific research concerning Autistics, period. It's just that their focus(and everyone elses) has been on children.

I do not view Autism Speaks as the KKK in a Civil Rights Movement of Autistics.

Autism Speaks has a specific pro-Autistic agenda structured around their missions statement.

We have to remember there were many players within the Civil Rights Movement who had different methods and opposing opinions. It did not mean that they could not build bridges.....for a common goal when necessary.

TheSunAlsoRises

Last edited by TheSunAlsoRises on 08 Sep 2012, 3:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sometimes, it is to emphasize and sometimes, it's NOT.

TheSunAlsoRises

Don't be so quick to drop the "autistic pride" label. I think you still fit quite well into that category. Autistic pride is a lot like that--"This is part of me; this is a disability, but it's fundamental to who I am. I have a worthwhile life. I have the right to decide for myself."

Autistic supremacy needs to go away. But autism pride? Well, why not? You can be proud of being any number of other things that you were just born being; why not autistic? Liking who you are doesn't have to mean you put others down for not being like you.

How can we distinguish between parts of our personalities and experiences of life that are "disordered" and parts that are merely "different" (difference still being potentially disabling, depending on circumstances)? Isn't it ultimately subjective? Even if, say, I am obsessive about my interests because my mother had the flu while pregnant with me, does that make the obsession a sickness? What if that obsession leads to some discovery that I wouldn't have otherwise made?

I think each of us has our own way of distinguishing those aspects of our AS we would "cure" if we could and those we would not, and in one of us it can change from year to year, back and forth, with our experiences. It's not something someone else can define for us: it comes too close to passing judgment on someone's tastes, personality and interests. However, I don't think those involved in organizations like Autism Speaks necessarily think about those issues at all. They objectify autistic people, view them through their own set of values, and the very idea of consulting the people in question is alien to them. It's not malicious, it's just the typical way a privileged group looks at a marginalized one, without even thinking twice about it. Look at the way, in this community, autistic men often look at women, discounting what women say of themselves in favor of their own theories. Look at race, or class, or sexual orientation. The default is to ignore experiences of people with less power or visibility, whether you are autistic or NT, and it's something that only gets changed through a long, slow process of raising awareness and enduring the defensiveness and backlash it stirs up (because people resent having to reconsider anything).

Well, that's how I see it.

Autism Speaks = scared NT parents

Wrong Planet = Aspies and Auties themselves.