Autism Speaks removed their reviews section on Facebook

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Today, Autism Speaks' five star rating dropped to 1.4 stars when autistics began speaking up for themselves and leaving their own reviews on their page.
Autism Speaks promptly removed the reviews so that no one could see how bad their rating was.
What a sorry lot of cowards.
Go to their page https://www.facebook.com/autismspeaks?fref=nf and call them out for their dishonesty (by posting to their page).
Tell them that you know about the reviews.

Today is the day Autism Speaks SILENCED the voice of autistics.

A friend just put up an article about it: http://www.buzzfeed.com/idontneedacuref ... bile_share

I was going to rate it 1 but didn't know how to rate and didn't have time to find out how.

God, they're cowards. They also told me once that if I had nothing good to say about Autism Speaks, to say nothing. I told them that they should have something positive to say about autism. They also lied about the genetic test thing; they said they'd investigate the claim that they were into eugenics, then they said it was unfounded. But it says right on their site that they're into eugenics.

I don't know much about autism speaks but it really sounds like it's doing the opposite of what it should from what I hear here. Has it got any redeeming features? What is it people hate so much about it? All I've seen is their video "autism everyday" or something and it had this mother say she wanted to drive off the bridge, I don't think that's a very positive message to send out really.

Start your own Facebook page and name it something like, Autistics Speak Out About Autism Speaks. Encourage people to leave their reviews about Autism Speaks on your page. This is governed by the right of freedom to speech and they'll have no basis for a lawsuit. It will make them go mad with rage, but I don't care.

I think they feel victimized by these attacks so I don't think it'd do anything other than make them even less likely to listen. Obviously they just delete the criticism instead of responding to it.

There's already a page; a friend formed it yesterday. People are joining and finding their reviews in their own activity log and posting them.

Well of course they do.

Autism Speaks as the victim???

If it changes their minds great, but I don't expect this campaign to do that. I also expect some readers to recoil from us and think we are ungrateful bastards. But I also expect some readers to react like iliketrees earlier in this thread, get curious, look into the issues and start to form a negative opinion of them. Autism Speaks has so many advantages over opponents, but the internet is not one of them. Autistics probably have had a large role in creating it and understand it. Autism Speaks is trying play catch up but I can't see it working for them.

Alex, what do you propose instead of protesting? Doing nothing? Saying nothing? They won't stop if we say and do nothing... they'll just say and do what they're saying and doing doing more. And they will then say, "See? Autistics can't and don't speak for themselves."

I think the job portal Alex posted and the research studying the link between daily living skills and employment on their website today would not have happened without the Autistics protesting that they ignored adults and the wider spectrum. There is still a long way to go as their offensive MSSNG campaign is still on their front page their crude attempts at silencing dissent continue.

Example of a thread on their main Facebook Page
like this.
536 shares

Justin Winters Kind of hypocritical from an organization that treats Autism as a disease
8 · 2 hrs
1 Reply

Noreen Albright The discrimination is crippling. We're unstoppable though and not afraid of anybody.
8 · 4 hrs
2 Replies · 2 hrs

Hope Fry Anthony is amazing!! #GoGreen
1 · 1 hr

Joyce Battaglia Alright, speaking out, awesome news!! !!
49 mins

Elaine Andrzejewski Sparta!!
16 mins

Rachel Day #TeamJax
2 hrs

Sheiri Mekhaiel Amazing!
1 hr

Leah Pederson If autism speaks profiled my story as inspiration porn, I'd be livid.
1 · 2 hrs

Leah Pederson Wow... Backpedal much?
3 hrs

Kathleen F Johnston He's the first person that we know of!
1 hr

Bethany Lander I like seeing how a lot of the comments are from people who don't support Autism $peaks. Keep it up.

#NotBroken #YouDontSpeakForUs #DontNeedToBeCured
6 · 2 hrs

Renata Bishuu Radovanovic hi
2 hrs

Emily Patricia Sandy Perrotta Tufo Marina Hradek He came to Anne Hutch!!
1 · 3 hrs

From mssng's (a collaboration between Google and autism speaks) "about autism speaks":
Autism Speaks is the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization. It is dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism;

K, let's stop right there. Prevention and cure for autism.

Last edited by KaylamiYarne on 14 May 2015, 8:31 am, edited 2 times in total.

...no, let's not. I don't like making judgements based on small amounts of information.

Is it... not a good thing to help? I tore quite a bit of skin off my left hand because someone was coughing, that isn't a positive attribute, right? I'd love a cure to my damn hyposensitivity to noise. If I do anything that needs hospitalization again they won't let me out for a while. I don't understand why people don't want help?

I agree with treating the negative aspects of it, but a cure? We would have no Einstein, no Mozart. Treatment and a cure are two different things. Also,
they have no autistic people on their leader board.
Ironic, isn't it?
Here is a breakdown of their budget:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A5yox1daU4o/T ... Bgraph.jpg

But Einstein and Mozart were only suspected as being Asperger's, not diagnosed. And they're an exception to what is otherwise a disorder. It is not the usual case for someone with Asperger's.

I could come up with many other examples (especially in music), but you're right. We should learn more about an organization before attacking it recklessly. I get overexcited easily...

Me too, I'm learning to stop it though. I try to stop jumping to conclusions. I know people here hate Autism Speaks but I'm not too sure why - suppose I'll learn as I go along.