Alex Plank / Katie speak at United Nations World Autism day

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Newport Beach Dude

I wrote a clarification about this on the other discussion thread as well. While Ms. Wright did not claim autism was deadly and contagious, she does still insist on comparing autism to disease. Her response specifically mentions the Ad Council's attention to autism as launching "a campaign for a disease". It was this rather telling slip of the tongue I made mention to. (And it was a passing mention at that.) AIDS is something we all wish didn't exist, that we hope is wiped off the planet. Autism is something I hope we learn to embrace. Any comparision between the two, even an inadvertent one, is misleading and harmful.

What's worse aobut her response is that the case she mentioned, Ryan's Case, was about dispelling misconceptions as to what AIDS was and wasn't. The stigma it helped combat was one of AIDS patients as being the cause of constant suffering to those around them. The fact that Autism Speaks is having the exact opposite effect in this awareness effort IS a problem. They portray autism in an exclusively negative light. The use the words "epidemic" "crisis" "disease" and "sufferer" costantly and consistently. To watch their videos and ads you would get the impression that autistics never experience joy, and never share happiness with those around them. To cite Ryan's Case and then promote the campaigns they promote is shameful.

I agree autism awareness needs the same level of aggression, but it needs to raise ACCURATE awareness, not just perpetuate the same old misinformation.

I agree with you, Nick.

Asperger Syndrome is a form of autism. Therefore, aspies are autistics.
There are plenty of non-aspie autistics who are just as 'high-functioning' as aspies are.
Why introduce yourself as a *specific kind* of autistic? Isn't it easier to simply introduce yourself as an autistic?

I agree too. I know nothing of how AS is dealt with/catered for/handled/whatever in the States, or even in the rest of the world for that matter, but what I do know is that there is an unhealthy amount of negative portrayal and comparisons with terminal illnesses. There's no doubt that having any form of autism makes life more difficult, but this does not mean that people should approach it from a solely negative POV.

Well done Alex and Katie on handling such a tough situation.

NicholasGray, thanks for your reply. I'm no longer reading/participating on that other thread, but I'm glad you clarified this here. I see the point you're making. It's the whole "disease" analogy and any references in any context of the sort. Okay. Got it now.

So, I do see your viewpoint. It's a valid point. But, I still think many in the community are misjudging. These people want acceptance as much as anybody else. We all want acceptance. Acceptance is a foregone conclusion. But, they also want to free Autistics of the disabling conditions that keep them from living functional lives. Most of the people here are so high-functioning, they may never benefit from their advocacy. They may not even need their advocacy. But, there are many Autistics who do and their advocacy is really bringing more awareness and understanding. I don't think it's their goal to slight higher functioning Aspies. But, it's got to be known that Autism is disabling and poses hardships...that way insurers, schools, doctors, agencies will provide more to Autistics to help them.

I see how the disease analogy bothers some. There's a cool thread running that I posted on called, "About The D Word," and the majority of people like to call it a "difference," but there are quite a few variances on what others call Aspergers. The semantics thing can be a tough one because everybody sees it differently, has different experiences and varying degrees of severity. It may be okay for people personally to call/define Autistism/Aspegers a "difference," but how would that terminology play in the medical community? It has to be seen as a disorder, disability or disease in order for people to take it seriously enough to allow services to those who need it. Just to call something a "difference" implies nothing medically and is too broad and generic. Example, our insurer provides Autism coverage because they deem it to be a "medically appropriate condition." I seriously doubt they'd do that for something they consider a "difference." And, I doubt people would give money to support Autism if they felt it was just a "difference."

It takes a lot of money to treat Autism. We've got some killer services where I live, but if I had to pay for everything out of pocket and put a dollar figure on it, you're looking well into the six figures. Think about all the families out there who don't live in areas that provide for them. That's why we need marketing campaigns like the Wright's to push their insurers, schools, state/county agencies into action. So, I still support the Wright's verbage because nobody is going to support Autism families if they feel the only thing they're dealing with are "differences," uniqueness," "oddities." Why would anybody contribute a dime to that? The impression is that there's little wrong. The world needs to know that we've got some serious issues going on that require serious intervention which requires serious bucks. To me, the seriousness of this is just as important as HIV/AIDS or any other diseaase.

I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but I think the Autism community needs more bridges. I had no idea there was all of this bitterness between groups until I got on the internet. I'd like to see more helping and cooperation among groups. That's my take.

Last edited by NewportBeachDude on 12 Apr 2008, 3:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

Yes, but I had the impression Alex spoke for World Planet and the Aspie community. I thought I read somewhere that he wanted more Aspie awareness, but I've read so many threads here that I could be wrong. Maybe it was in the article I read about him in Autism magazine. Or, maybe I just imagined it.