AspergersActor8693 wrote:
So then autism awareness is the better one? I was looking for some kind of AS decal or magnet to put on my car and ones for these two had the most search results.
Autism awareness does not describe a specific advocacy group. it refers to a cultural phenomenon about increasing awareness of autism. It can either be very helpful or as disastrous as Autism speaks depending on what those who are part of this culture are advocating.
Anyone who is willing to categorize autistics as horrific rageaholics, which autism speaks seems to be at least sometimes willing to indulge, is part of the problem. Discussion of autistics that focuses first and foremost on categorizing them as needless burdens to everyone else is a fundamental issue as well. Around here families of autistics with a martyr complex have been discussed, and rightly ridiculed and lampooned, ad naseum. When autism awareness moves in the opposite direction of this it's great.
And autism awareness also must be able and willing to educate the public on what exactly has to be done so that autistics and NTs can meet each other half way and alert them to what is the most overlooked fact; when you meet one person with autism, you have met one person with autism, nothing more and nothing less. Autism speaks is the bad one because they at least seem to refuse to educate anyone on this.