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Autism Speaks next CEO, President

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ASPartOfMe
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08 Oct 2021, 8:08 am

Autism Speaks names former financial exec its new CEO, president

Quote:
Keith Wargo will take on the roles Oct. 15, succeeding Angela Timashenka Geiger, who is stepping down after five years. He joins the organization after a long career in finance on Wall Street, including leadership roles with Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and others.

Geiger, who served on the search team, will work closely with Wargo on the transition, Autism Speaks noted.

Wargo and his wife are parents of two adult children, one of whom has autism. He is also an owner of Monarch Cypress, an amenity manufacturer and supplier with a mission to employ autistic individuals.

Wargo will work out of the New York metro area, the organization said.


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carlos55
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08 Oct 2021, 2:03 pm

When I hear of autism speaks, I picture the wax manikin on the rack I saw in the London Dungeon as a kid, pulled between those with autism & families who desire a cure and the anti-cure advocates at neurodiversity who hate them.

It didnt work out well for those on the rack in medieval times just as it wont end well for AS.

Trying to please everyone & hated by everyone in the end.

The only hope for them now is to join with the National Council on Severe Autism the only ones that may take them and keep them going.

They can pretend to like neurodiversity by taking cure off their website, while putting pathology research info also to please everyone, but it won’t make the ND advocates hate them any less who would like to see nothing less than the organisation destroyed.

They have ASAN & don’t need or want autism speaks, I wonder who still funds them?


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Mona Pereth
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15 Oct 2021, 3:13 am

I would hazard a guess that Autism Speaks has a loyal donor base consisting mainly of parents of autistic kids who were born 10 to 20 years ago.

In all likelihood, most such parents have given up on the idea of a "cure" and just want their kids to be as happy as possible and, if possible, to live independently. Many of these parents might still consider a "cure" to be desirable, but they're not holding their breath waiting for one.

It is likely that many of these parents have come to recognize that, in order for their kids to have happy lives, it is essential that their kids' human rights be respected and that their kids have the kinds of accommodations and opportunities that the neurodiversity movement calls for. So it is only natural that many parents would at least partially embrace the aims of the neurodiversity movement, even while still regarding a "cure" as theoretically desirable.

Autism Speaks's main appeal is probably to parents with this middle-ground position.


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