Autism Speaks in the UK: Autistica.

Post Reply New Topic

I've noticed that Autism Speaks' pages for Canada and the UK are quite different from their main US site, with their UK site being totally re-branded as Autistica.

considering that the UK already has the National Autistic Society, it does make me wonder why Autism Speaks is branching out to the UK, and why they felt the need to re-brand themselves.

Could it be because the NAS aren't All that supportive of Autism Speaks?

I hope they get nowhere in the UK. NAS is a very helpful organization that supplies good information and facilitates research that has prospects of helping people with ASDs. NAS tries to help us which is much better than the trying to make everyone frightened of us. While Autism Speaks is a group that targets parents, NAS understands that we are people in our own right. Where Autism Speaks appears to seek to eliminate us, NAS seeks to make our lives better.

I do not even live in the UK, yet NAS has been helpful to me (by making information available). I have never found Autism Speaks useful but I have been offended by them.

It seems from looking at the page that they are a research funder. But not for a cure, but in general, I quote from there site:

It looks like they are not trying to eradicate us, but merely to help us by finding the cause of our difference.

"Specific characteristics of ASD that are amenable and relevant to treatment" could be anything from genuinely distressing traits (severe sensory issues, self harm etc) to the harmless or beneficial ones (minor stims and tics, special interests etc) depending on your point of view. The NAS is all for helping autistics integrate, but not at the cost of their personhood or sanity, and their actions support these aims. Autistica is a front group for Autism Speaks. I wonder what aims their actions support? I've seen first hand the results in adulthood of an effort to eradicate all autistic traits from a child using ABA and holding therapy. Post traumatic stress disorder and multiple personality disorder isn't a pretty thing to see.

I've had a putter around - and I can't find any evidence of this assertion.

I can't say I'm too impressed with Autistica, as they do seem to be predominantly voicing a pro-cure stance - and waffling about it - see their FAQ entry: "Will there be a miracle cure for autism?"

Anyway, registered charuity number 1107350 - AUTISTICA
Activities: http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk

===========

Having said all that, it remains to be explained why:
http://www.autismspeaks.org.uk
takes you to
http://www.autistica.org.uk

... and, as you say, SDFarsight, that's because the UK registered charity "Autism Speaks" changed it's name to "Autistica".

The UK registered charity formerly known as "Autism Speaks" was initially funded by the Shirley Foundation:
http://www.steveshirley.com/shirley_foundation.asp
You may also find it as company number 5184164
http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/
The name change there is shown as happening on 21st Dec 2009.
It actually had another name change, back in 16/02/2006, from: NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR AUTISM RESEARCH (UK) - a subsidiary of the US parent company.

Can of worms.

The Canadian Autism Speaks website has a link to Autistica, titled as "UK" (see right of page).

Why is Lau's post dated "Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 12:22 am",

when it's only Thurs Feb 04, 2010, 15:27 ?

Get off the Ley line Lau! It's messin' up the Net!

Aw Man! So's mine... Please someone help! I've got the Outer Limit's intro rolling around my head...

I read that Autism Speaks UK had to rebrand themselves because of all the bad press they got here from that hateful video (you know the one).

They don't seem to be a major operation at all here, though, so we have little to worry about.

Plus, the NAS is pretty much the autism charity of the UK anyway, which is good because the NAS are actually doing something to help us instead of kill us.

"They don't seem to be a major operation at all here, though, so we have little to worry about"

Autistica exists because it believes that autism is the most serious challenge facing medical science today

Research We Fund

2009 Brain Bank for Autism and Related Disorders
2007 British Autism Study of Infant Siblings (BASIS)
2009 Chair of Autism Research at Cardiff University
2006 The Autism Genome Project (AGP)
2008 Hypersensitivity in autism: a psychological and neuroscientific approach
2006 A twin (pilot) study of brain anatomy and connectivity

Last edited by TheNewRepublic on 04 Feb 2010, 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

And their new set of research projects will be published this month:

In 2009, Autistica announced its first Call for Proposals to researchers in the UK to support pilot studies for biomedical research into the causes, diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.

We are pleased to announce that Autistica will be funding a number of new projects will be funded in 2010.

The research Autistica supports is of high quality and aligned with the charity’s mission to deliver benefits to individuals and families affected by autism spectrum disorders.

This research includes but is not limited to: human brain function, language, behaviour and cognition; human studies involving early detection; studies on underrepresented populations; diagnosis; developmental trajectories; behavioural, psychosocial, medical, and pharmacological treatment; genes, genetics, pathways and biomarkers; clinical and biological phenotypes; epidemiological research; translational research; neurobiology; gene-environment interactions; environmental factors; molecular and cellular physiology; laboratory models.

In funding these projects, Autistica recognises the value of increasing research capacity in the UK achievable through routes such routes as:

supporting autism-dedicated younger investigators in the first independent stages of a research career

through encouraging established researchers with a strong track history in non-autism research areas to bring their expertise to bear on autism spectrum disorders

providing infrastructure or networks (for example development of nationwide cohorts and as a platform for research activities)

Each pilot study award funded by Autistica will be for an amount up to £50,000 per year for a period of one or two years. .

Yes, some organizations, when rejected by the region they're trying to have influence in, will cloak themselves under a new name to look like a good, legitimate organization starting from scratch. Of course they have to legally show what organization they're an umbrella of, afaik.