Autism TV and Autism Speaks

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The main complaints about Autism Speaks.

They did not recognize higher functioning adults.

They did nothing for the current autistic population.

They lacked an insider view.

In this one step they have answered all complaints.

They are retracting the view that Asperger's is not Autism, and accepting that adults exist.

Under Autism Awareness, they are promoting a much broader view. Mass education.

No one has anything to do with Alex's choice of content, subjects, or final cut.

It is an insider view from a man who deserves some credit for starting Wrong Planet, which has produced a mass education about autism, from autistics.

If viewed as a Culture War, Alex won. Other groups are paying tribute to his superior logic.

Once upon a time Autism Speaks did promote and instant cure as the answer. After several hundred million spent on research, that has been proved impossible.

All of the points expressed by Wrong Planet posters, how growing up could have been better, how a little accomidation as adults could work wonders, have won the discussion by default.

The interview with the Wired writer of the foundation work in, you need autistics, is exploring the far end from where Autism Speaks and Psychology tried to define and limit autism. They are not disabled, disordered, they are just Geeks. They did have a lot to do with computers and the internet. They are autistic.

It is Alex's, One Big Tent, Autism, now going mainstream.

Donations are down, everywhere, science has not produced a cure, and from Wrong Planet posters, the cure is broader acceptance, and some help in growing up. The message that Autism Stole Your Child failed. The new and combined message, is Aspies are Proto Geeks, and with a little work, could become very useful Geeks. There is a clear ladder of function, from total withdrawal, to founding tech empires. Like everyone else, the best we can do is reach the next rung.

Focus on the childhood phase without looking at adult outcomes was doomed to fail from the start.

Now Alex is looking at the whole range, and it is all Autism. Counting Broader Autism Phenotype, 30,000,000 Americans. Most do not know, and like Dilbert, just cannot get a date. Most are functioning in a job, lack a social life, and could become more productive if they had some education.

Autism has been given a bad name, none can define it, Geek Syndrom, poses a much clearer image.

Techno Geek dates from 80's culture, the Wired article came at the same time Autism Speaks was founded, a mear five years ago. It has become part of the broader culture complex, ask in any office, who is the Alpha Geek, everyone knows.

I can think of none better than Alex at casting our broader cultural identity.

We reach from the scientific work funded by Autism Speaks, which is producing results in many fields, to the Technological engine of our economy, we are the problem and the promiss. It is a better image than just being a hopeless problem.

Our differance in thought and perception, our world of our own, is just that, and when resources are directed at building our world, rather than drugging it, preventing it with electroshock, it will flower as a world of wonder, just as the majority of autistic geeks have produced much good for all.

We have come to the first step, first, identify the problem. All solutions are inherant in a proper discription of the problem.

That's not actually true though. Take it to an extreme. If Alex et al were doing something illegal to fund their project then there would be plenty to say.(Being funded by terrorists or perhaps a sideline in smuggling refugees into wherever or as a front for child pornography) then there would be a lot to say. A lot of people find Autism Speaks as unpalatable as any criminal fraternity and perhaps more so, and simply do not trust them.

Hard to say if this is a sensible position because Autism Speaks don't make many waves in the UK, but it is still how people think. For myself, I'm wary of big American groups in the mental health field, if only because the US has some pretty medieval positions on certain aspects of health-care.

Regardless, being clear about Autism Speaks involvement in matters is fair-minded, and prevents people "Voting with their feet". (Or helps them to do so, depending.)

Internet folks have this skewed image of Internet communities. They think the owner has the right to do whatever. Sure, in a way, because they can. It's their house!

But everyone of us is a WP'er, we are what is behind the "brand name" Wrong Planet. It doesn't mean it should be a democracy. But an internet community is alive, it is not a dead thing. And if some people find a home here and the home changes, of course there will be upset feelings.

I later realized my poor wording and the misunderstanding it could cause. Please forgive me there.

Yes, you and I and still others "have something to say" here, yet we still have "no say" or "no vote" or "no voice" in the matter. Personally, I would prefer to see WP be completely autonomous and have no affiliation of any kind, but Alex is under no obligation beyond his own will to even consider my opinion.



As far as I know, Alex is actually the *only* one who has the "right" and the authority to do with WP as he pleases.



Alex is actually the one behind WP, and we are its visible "body", as such.



Whether or not any one or more of us might think it *should* be, it is not ... and that is something we each and all need to clearly understand: Alex is the "sole proprietor" of WP.



You bet, and I do not like seeing WP and Autism Speaks linked in any way whatsoever. But other than saying that and possibly also saying why we might feel as we do, none of us has any say in the matter.

So if I wanted to buy a 1000 year old house just to demolish it, it would be fine?

I have no idea what point you are trying to make there, but yes, you can usually do as you wish with whatever is your own.

i believe this individual may be making the point that sometimes a house or institution becomes significant or culturally important beyond the needs or of the 'owner'. here in canada we have buildings designated as historic sites, which must be protected and cannot be demolished on a whim. i think maybe this individual may be comparing WP to a house that is important to a community beyond just the desires of the owner.

Ah, okay. I once had a landlord who had to get permission from the city before doing anything at all to one of his houses in an historical district of some kind.

I do not happen to believe Alex is going to cause any harm to WP, but neither are we members any kind of government with any authority over anything he might do. So personally, I have just this one concern:

Let nobody here or anywhere else ever confuse anything Alex might say or do as being the words or actions of us here at WP ... and I do not say that in any kind of fear of anything Alex might ever say or do. Rather, and precisely:

Let Autism Speaks clearly understand it does not automatically get each and all of us as part of any kind of arrangement it might either now or ever have with Alex, our fellow.

Alex may have created Wrong Planet, but I don't think that the community and Alex are tied in any way to wanting the same future. This place represented what was a passion of his at one point in time; he now has another one, and that is his film making. I don't think he sees the two as connected at all; they are entirely different projects, with different motivations and different goals. Wrong Planet, as a community, has kind of taken on a life of it's own, and we actually have no idea if the community goals line up with Alex's goals at this point in time. Alex does the work he believes is necessary for this place to keep going, but he rarely participates in the community; he's moved on, in a sense.

I would suggest that Alex's goal right now is to make his films any way he can; a recent film school grad out looking for footing. Autism Speaks has provided that. For him, I guess, it wasn't that complicated. Want funds - get funds. He probably stopped to make sure they weren't taking editorial control, and then moved forward.

As members of this community, we don't have a say in Alex's film making decisions. And we have a right to totally disagree with what positions he takes; he doesn't own the members, any more than the members own him. You can use the forum to promote any agenda you wish, as long as it does not violate the TOS or any posted rules. But, I think the one thing that everyone can take away from all the discussion is Alex is WrongPlanet.net but he is not the Wrong Planet Community. And the Wrong Planet Community is not Alex, and is not obligated to support his opinions or priorities. Two completely different entities, with their own goals and priorities.

Is alex in Cahoots with Autism speaks? the videos on the front page could be misleading. However, Dw_a_Mom's post made a lot of sense.

ca·hoots/kəˈho͞ots/
Noun: Colluding or conspiring together secretly.

Nah.

i hope the site does indeed generate profit, and that some one that has put the idea together, even if they dont do anything, is getting residuals from this site. Any one who thinks that is unmoral in any way is just upset that they didn't manage to use their talents to make money. when i go to a bar to simply be around people i have to buy a drink, nothing is free, i have spent alot of time trying to find a like minded aspie in the area and have had great difficulty, When i do make a donation I will make it only if i know that the creator is getting some money in his pocket and it is not to spent on making things better for people that actually use the site and dare to ask about income.

What was your income last year?

make money and go on a nice vacation ! a really nice earned vacation