Nurylon wrote:
...for us.
Here are the reasons summed up why we must not support Autism Squeaks.
List of reasons not to support Autism Speaks (aka Autism Squeaks, Autism Shrieks, etc)
1. They told me to say nothing if I had nothing positive to say about Autism Speaks. I tell them to say something postive about autism. I didn’t, however, tell them to not speak if they had nothing good to say about it, just that they should not spread FALSE propaganda that autism ruins lives and marriages and families, that autistics are hopeless without their treatments (some of which are abusive).
2. They threatened at least two autistic people (one who made a parody of the Autism Speaks website and another who made a t-shirt saying he didn’t need Autism Speaks because he was autistic and could speak for himself). The two people came out triumphant, however… there’s this little thing called fair use that includes parodies and comments.
3. They say autism is a negative thing.
4. They propose some abusive treatments for some autistics, or all.
5. They are trying to develop a genetic test that will ensure that nobody autistic is ever born again on this planet. Even if it is meant to simply plan for the child’s life, the truth is that there are a lot of ignorant people out there who will abort their children after learning they are autistic.
6. The corporate greed is the reason Autism Speaks exists. They want us to think there is a crisis to direct our attention away from their scam. We are not a tragedy. The same with other things, like gangs, school shootings, missing children, etc. They use that stuff to get our attention away from the bigger issues... THEM. Also, they want us to believe we are a tragedy so that money can be made for or given to them to erase us from the world, when really they want that money for themselves... corporate greed.
7. They also don't let all autistics speak for themselves, and claim to speak for autistics even tho they are NT, but they will not let autistics speak for other autistics, saying we can't speak for them.
8. They think treatment is the only chance for certain, most or all autistics to lead a productive/meaningful/functional life, when some people who are severely “low-functioning” grow up to be extremely high functioning with NO help whatsoever.
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt177883.htmlEveryone of these "urban internet myths" has been solidly refuted with third party evidence per the link above. If you don't want to peruse the full content, in the comprehensive thread above, that also provides evidence of the benefit of the organization to the full spectrum of autism, I will be happy to provide the evidence for you here, but it is evidenced as another opportunity for the organization to continue to receive further advertisement for brand name recognition, as detailed in the link above.
But, perhaps you could start here with what their research mission and goals actually are for the current year. These are the current beneficial research efforts directed at the full autism spectrum.
http://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/documents/science-grants/2012_research_emphasis_areas_general__1_17.pdfQuote:
Autism Speaks supports global biomedical research into the diagnosis, causes, prevention, and treatment of autism or its disabling symptoms. Our mission is to improve the future for all who struggle with autism spectrum disorders. In support of that mission we provide funding along the entire research continuum - from discovery to development to dissemination - for innovative projects that hold considerable promise for significantly improving the lives of those affected by autism.
Autism Speaks research funding will be restricted to projects that address one of the following priorities:
Understand environmental risk factors and their interaction with genetic susceptibility to enable prevention and improve diagnosis and treatment
Discover biomarkers that can improve risk assessment and subtype stratification that will allow for an individualized approach to treatment
Improve quality of life through more effective medicines, behavioral interventions, and technologies
Enhance diagnosis and treatment of underserved and under-studied populations, specifically,
Nonverbal persons with ASD
Ethnically-diverse and/or low resource communities
Adults
Those with medical co-morbidities
Disseminate and implement evidence-based clinical practices to the broader community worldwide
The organization already is evidenced as having 340,000 volunteers that participate in an average charitable walk every other day across the nation, with millions of additional supporters that support these volunteers in their charitable efforts in the walks to help individuals on the autism spectrum, by supporting and funding autism speaks mission.
They really don't need any more free advertisement as there are a multitude of other organizations that don't get the same media exposure as Autism Speaks gets as the most popular and largest autism advocacy organization in the world, but autistic online communities continue to carry the banner of brand name recognition highlighted topics, providing anyone the opportunity to do a google search on their own and find out the organization is among the highest rated autism charitable organizations by the third party watchdog group, Charity navigator; has a CEO that makes less than the median salaries among large charitable organizations in the Northeast per that same watchdog group analysis, and has a comprehensive website that details all the beneficial efforts that the organization provides with a simple search of Autism Speaks on google, as well as with a simple search on the charity navigator site.
But to make it even easier, here are the links:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12720http://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/documents/as_annual_report_2010-web_01.pdfAnd if you'll notice in the first paragraph of the second link, the origin and intent of the catchy trademarked phrase "Autism Speaks" has nothing to do with speaking for individuals that can speak for themselves with autism, as quoted in the excerpt below:
Quote:
Dear Friends,
It’s hard to believe that five years have passed since we founded Autism Speaks. What began as an idea to give a voice to millions of families around the nation affected by autism has evolved into the largest autism science and advocacy organization in the world. We are incredibly proud of what Autism Speaks has accomplished in such a short span of time and so thankful to our friend Bernie Marcus for his support and his $25 million donation to help launch this organization.
It's highly unlikely that anyone in the general public, among the average 1500 hundred visitors that peruse this site at any given moment, are going to believe hyperbolic urban internet myths, when those myths are so easy to refute, with just a couple of mouse clicks.
There is no way the organization would receive the high ratings they do if those urban internet myths had credibility. However, if they haven't heard the brand name autism speaks before, it is a potential of another financial supporter for that organization.
Not likely that many people reporting they are financially strapped that actually post here are going to be able to afford that, and it certainly wouldn't be something that an organization supporting those with a potentially disabling disorder would expect.
But, there are many people that visit this site, to learn about autism, not here to post, that have deep enough pockets as potential financial supporters, whom also have family members or friends with autism spectrum disorders that struggle with disabling symptoms of those disorders, making up a target audience of potential supporters.
The last thing that target audience is going to want someone to tell them is that autism is not a potential problem worthy of research, awareness, and educational efforts to help individuals whom do struggle with disabling symptoms and co-morbid conditions, when they see it in real life.
This is the mission that autism speaks funds, through the help of those whom financially support the organization. It is a mainstay of concern among the general public.
Continuing a focus on highlighted topics associated with Autism Speaks, likely has a net benefit per net dollars funded to that organization. The organization is definitely evidenced as doing positive things for individuals with autism spectrum disorders, so it can't hurt to continue the conversation, in indirect support for the organization, through brand name recognition for that larger potential target audience out there browsing through the green highlighted topic threads here.
The organization may appreciate that indirect support you have provided by starting one more of hundreds of threads started here associated with that catchy phrase. The more controversial and hyperbolic the threads are, particularly the topics that grab attention, the longer the potential name brand recognition continues on for one more potential financial supporter for the organization. The topic description you provide is an excellent, and unique one, for continued attention to keep the Autism Speaks conversation and brand name recognition going.
07 Jul 2012, 6:12 pm
