Advocacy Project

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Hi there everybody! I'm in Girl Scouts, and I am working to get my Silver Award, the highest award a Cadette Girl Scout can get. My project is on autism advocacy, and one of the things I need to do is to spread the word on autism. I figured the best way to do this would be via internet. I have most of the information already in a report I'm doing for english, I can make a website easy peasy, and then I will have done a TON of work for this stupid award. There's one problem though.

I need a name for my website. Just something unique and catchy, preferably one that has a cool acronym so people remember it better. Please help me out? I'll be sure to give credit to whoever does.

And I may post the link to the website here later if you want to critique it and stuff. That is if I can figure out how to publish it for free.

Please move this if it's in the wrong forurm; I had no clue where to put it.

You just opened a can of worms and will never be able to make everyone happy with what you say on your website. My suggestion is to do a website about those with severe autism and the day to day needs of specifically children with severe autism. If you are going to use the word cure try and be specific such as for certain symptoms like sensory overload and the inability to speak.

I know, but not everyone can be happy. I am not going to be supporting a cure. The word "cure" suggests that PDDs are a disease that needs to be fixed, or at least that's my opinion. My goals are to raise awareness about autism and Asperger's and other PDDs, help end discrimination against people who have it and to support ways of coping with and not curing autism. Again, it's a Girl Scout thing I have to do. I just chose the topic.

I have autism and support a cure so as long as choice is intact. I believe those opposing a cure have other motives such as abortion politics and are evading human rights in public relations that derive support for scientific research. Making people out to be bigots, hateful or that they are discriminating for trying to help people like finding cures for said symptoms is wrong, counter-productive and evades scientific advancements for individual choices in the law which reflect state and federal laws for the right to treatment. Individuals of certain political opposition don't want to view autism as serious enough to warrant current research for reasons of money as well. It would be fine to just cope if it was your individual choice and others individuals choices that chose simply that but fundamentally any evasion of the right to treatments and treatment advancements are in conflict with federal, state and human rights laws unless a specific treatment or research is against the law.

I guess I'm going to have to politically intervene in public relations given this anti-cure ordeal.

Oh come on dude! I just need help naming some stupid website no one is going to look at so I can get my Silver Award. I had no intention of starting a debate. The whole cure thing isn't a main part of the project!

My main goal (as I thought I said earlier) is to raise awareness. I will not support a cure, nor will I be anti-cure. I chose a neutral ground so I could prevent debates and crap. And I already have mentioned BOTH opinions in the report as a sub topic.

Heck, my original post didn't even mention a cure.

I was not talking about confronting your website. I'm talking about confronting the mentality that evades human rights choices in macro-autism politics. Also I did not begin the debate here. The debate already exists and it seems you have your own opinions. As autism is a disability the pursuit for cures \ new treatments is a given and to oppose that sort of pursuit is political. If your asking for help I'm providing you some input. I started it out with some suggestions but you definitely have your own beliefs so why bother asking if your set in your ways.

I suggest naming the website girlscoutsagainstacureforautismasitisdiscrimination.com.

Seems fitting..

I do not believe you understand me, but it is very well possible I am not understanding this situation we are in. The wesite is not against a cure. Also, I must note that Girl Scouts are NOT anti-cure nor are they pro-cure. They have NOT taken a stand on the issue, and I have no right to use their name to advocate against or for anything.

Once again in big, bold, underlined letters: THE WEBSITE IS NOT ANTI-CURE . All I wanted was a idea for what to call my website.

I was raised to be open-minded and respectful to others and their viewpoints/beliefs, while still hold fast to what I know is true. I understand and respect your opinions on finding a cure, and I thank you for respecting my opinions in return. However, my website is not to be opinionated on either side; it is only to help raise awareness on autism and other PDDs.

Thank you.

It's fine if you want to raise awareness but you were very specific.

"My goals are to raise awareness about autism and Asperger's and other PDDs, help end discrimination against people who have it and to support ways of coping with and not curing autism"

Why would anyone award someone for not trying to cure aspects of me I choose to be changed simply because others do not choose similarly. I dislike the word games. If you want to be neutral the best way to do so is to support human right choices, not even mention the issue and to not evade either choice. Seeking to not cure autism when others choose cure is anti-cure which attempts to evade this choice. If you don't want to be one or the other and want to represent the Girl Scouts to get an award least reflect on Universal Human Rights and U.S Law should you dabble in this awareness.

I don't want to make you feel bad for what you said or like you can get in trouble. Just please respect rights. While autism can be said as genetic the manifestations of said autism are as well neutral and yet itself is indifferent originally to a collective individual. It is human mind which is innate in us all that makes choices to desire change, treatments and or adaptations.

I worded that wrong, as I know can see, and that has lead you to misunderstand what I was trying to get across. It has lead this conversation in a direction I had not expected or wished for it to go.

My views on the cure are simply a person should have a right to the "cure" if they want. However, I personally would not accept the cure, for my Asperger's is part of who I am and I personally don't think that a cure is necessary. Yes, it is important to help those who do not speak communicate and help with sensory overload so that they can connect with the world.

Once again, I simply wanted an idea for what to call my website. That is all. I did not want a debate. I just needed help finding a clever acronym for my website since I couldn't think of one. I am frustrated that you do not appear to be listening to me.

I ask you not to patronize me. I may be only 16, but I am not a child. Also I am, like all other Americans, very aware of my rights and that of my fellow citizens.

Hello. Would you be going for your gold award, too? I was once a girl scout. It was a tragedy, though, because we didn't know we had to complete our silver awards to get a goldie. But, hopefully we touched the lives of teen girls and their moms in southern Erie County.
I think a website is a really good idea!
What about SAS. Scouts Autism Spectrum? It's not GSAS. Or GSOASDs. At least you could pronounce it.

Edit for Waffle.

What are you thinking about putting in it?

When I was 16 I owned a business was in the front pages of newspapers for that business and had adult responsibilities. I believe growing adults should be respected as adults otherwise they cannot gain the experience. Therefore as the internet makes me blind I had no idea of your age. I am then treating you as an adult as that is what I expected you to be and that seems like what you desire to be considered.

I was in the boy scouts for a few weeks but when they wanted to give me an award they wanted to put me upside down. They wanted me to go to new places and what not. My autism made these things very difficult and then I refused to go anymore due to sensory and transitional problems. I did not form good relationships with peers or adults and at that time was quite mixed up in the mind.

Scouting With Autism (ASD's) (ScoutingWithAutism.com) (ScoutingWithADS.com)

A good awareness for the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts would be to understand the common symptoms and the extremes of which so that inclusion of people with substantial forms of autism is more possible. I think this kind of awareness would win the award and the favor of those in the autism community and scouting community.

Yes I am going for the Gold as well Thank you for the ideas. I didn't want to name scouting directly, because I don't want to suggest Girl Scouts is running the website when I am. Still, I am glad for the suggestions because they helped me think of some more ideas.

As for what I put in the website, so far I have written mostly general info on PDDs like autism and Asperger's. I am also going to add personal stories from people with PDDs and hopefully help people understand it better. This isn't my project btw; it's just a combo of most of the stuff I need to do before the project

As you can see, these are loaded issues. Know what you really mean and believe before you start writing, because no one can avoid taking sides. In debates like this, one wants to know which side one is on before taking a stand. I understand that you wanted ideas without debate, but this topic, anything you say will make someone angry. I was glad to see you were too smart to get intimidated. I never made it as far as my Silver Award. Good luck.

Controversy to win an award is not a good idea. I think it had been explained (she) is not doing cure or anti-cure politics in the official submission? Both sides intimidate each other but more so anti-cure. Having studied it for some time I know it inside and out. It's an issue of human rights. Both sides may have their violations thereof such as forced institutionalism and the anti-cure folks that wish to de-popularized research are evading fundamental human liberties of individuals who desire treatment advancements which is just a matter of the media being aware of people with autism desiring cure. Anti-cure simply cannot legally win and extreme pro-treatment cannot and that includes special interest institutional organizations as the feds oppose that mentality as well.

Comes down to the ego and the identity which is the self-esteem politics in the middle of all this. The right to dignity does not supersede the universal right to treatments nor the right for research leading to new treatments. The right to choose to not be treated is built into the law so I don't see the fuss.

Nathan Young

I regret having posted this, because now it has lead to an unnecessary debate. I have never been good at saying what I mean, because the language in my head doesn't exactly transulate into proper English, so I will apologize for that. I wasn't aware that "[not] supporting a cure" means "you are completely anti-cure".

THE REASON I am doing this project had nothing to do about a cure. In fact, I honestly couldn't care less about a cure. Yes, I know that is going to spark more flames, but it's the truth. If you want to "cure" yourself, fine. Will I? No. But that isn't the point. I'm doing this project for two reasons, and I might as well say them now so that people stop talking about some silly old cure they haven't even made yet.

1. I have to have some kind of accomplishment outside of school if I ever want to get that college scholarship.

2. A few months ago, I was at this park. My brother, not yet diagnosed with autism, was with me, throwing a tantrum and thrashing around because I had tried to push him on the swing. I didn't know it would scare him so much, but it did. Now there we were fighting on the ground, when all of a sudden a group of some teenagers walked by. One of them squealed and came up and pinched my brother's cheek, telling him to cheer up. He screamed hysterically and ran off to hide. I tried to explain to her he didn't like that, but they looked at me like I spoke another language. She just rolled her eyes, calling him a ret*d and me a freak. Her friends laughed, and they told me I better get my brother before the freak show forgot us.

I don't want my brother to grow up like I did. I don't want people to call him names, tease him, avoid him during recess. I want him to grow up in a place where people understand he has his problems. I want him to have friends, real friends, that don't tease him behind his back or make nasty rumors about him. He's so sweet, he doesn't deserve that. He can't help it; he's too little to already have people calling him names. On that same subject, I'm sick of people calling my buddy Hannah a freak for her autism; they don't seem to care, but she feels pain too. I'm sick of people making fun of Michael for having autism. I'm sick of being called a freak.

I just want to help end this. It's not like I'm even going to be able to do much, if anything, but if one person reads my website, and that one person learns to understand, then my goal has been reached.



I have a name now for the website.

I am an adult girl scout and I also am a high functioning autistic. I just happened to come across this on my autism blog while enjoying some afternoon tea. I must say the actions of both sides is a bit repulsing. As a girl scout you should not be calling your award "stupid". Especially on a site about disabilities. To me, it sounds like you are only doing the project to get an award, not to teach the community and provide something for the community. I understand the difficulties for doing this project seeing as I achieved all of the awards as well. I believe in order to be successful with this, you should reconsider your attitude. Believe me I get it. This project is hard and you just want it over with. Stop and take a deep breath and just relax. Listen and really think about what other people are trying to tell you.

Also, everyone else is too jumpy. I understand you all have your own opinions but she simply asked for help with a website name, not an invasive argument over supporting cure or no cure. I will give my opinion. I believe there is a cure through coping. I also have three godsons who are autistic the twins (age 10) are severely autistic and the youngest (age 6) is high functioning. It is very frustrating not knowing what the twins need. One is nonverbal and communicates through sign and most recently iPad. I think we need to cope in order to cure. It is frustrating but I am helping to teach others about myself and other autistic persons. We all need to learn to evolve with the changing times. Many things are different and autism is more prevalent today than ever before.

Take time to love your autie or aspie today.