Sign the petition - calling on Dr. Tony Attwood and Dr.....

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Sign the petition http://blog.markfoster.name/2009/04/18/ ... -petition/ , First para from petition wording: "calling on Dr. Tony Attwood and Dr. Isabelle Hénault, two respected experts in the world of Autism, to disassociate themselves from hate groups promoting stereotypes and libels that seek to encourage discrimination against Autistic people in family law and relationships. We in the disability community have long suffered from many forms of discrimination, stereotyping and discrimination. Historically, one of the most pervasive forms of this type of discrimination has come from those who use stereotypes and psuedo-science to try and deprive us of one of the most common ways of expressing membership in the human community - the right to have a family, to marry and to raise children on an equal basis with any other citizen. The eugenics movement is one of the most well known examples of this dangerous and unethical means of discriminating against people with disabilities, as is the related idea that disabled people are inherently unfit as spouses or parents. In the name of these kinds of stereotypes, people with disabilities have been deprived of parental rights and discriminated against in divorce and child custody cases for generations. In the Autistic community, we face opponents who seek to propogate these same forms of hatred, often claiming to do so either for our own good or wrapped in the guise of the same types of false science that justified the involuntary sterilization of hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide who were deemed unfit to raise children.......... (see link for more)"

My comment:
My thought AUTISTIC just a word, but for some reason when ever I mention that word I get looked at like an alien - what is wrong with the word autism, autistic if you ask me years of wrong stereo typing and the only way to change that is for us all to speak out, be heard and remind people we are as different and diverse on the autism spectrum as those that are not!

There are people with autism I would not like to see have children. But the problem with these people is, that they are not only suffering from autism. They have other conditions, that are not being mentioned or noticed by most. The problem is that the debate is vague, because of the problem of definitions.

My opinion is that autism should not be the sole dis qualifier for having children, other factors should be seen as well. But by signing petitions like these my fear is that people with multiple conditions will feel themselves strengthened to take children anyway; I have seen too many children in the system because of parents with multiple conditions.

Thanks asplanet for bringing the petition to attention! I've passed it along. I'm noticing that many on the autism spectrum (maybe all?) are not noticing the subtle ways I think we're contributing to the wrong attitude being held against us.

For example, you've said,

Thanks for posting this and I will gladly sign it. FAAAS and similar hate groups are doing incalculable damage to aspies every day and any "professional" who associates with them should be held to account for it. I'm very disappointed that Tony Atwood even buys into any of their BS, much less associates himself with it.

I definitely agree that it's a problem, but I can't see a petition doing any good.

If Tony Baloney had any concern at all about the difficulties aspies face in life and any desire at all to make our lives better, would he have spent even thirty seconds thinking about supporting FAAAS?

Would it have taken him thirty seconds to realize he had a moral and ethical obligation to use his influence to oppose FAAAS?

Like aspies don't already have enough problems?

It doesn't take a PhD to figure out that aspies in family court and family judgment matters have the same problems that an aspie would face in any form of court.

Courts judge people by their ability to make impressions through non-verbal means. They talk about evidence, but if evidence was all that was involved, they could save huge amounts of money by doing the whole process online. Hell, current feminist law says fathers can do parenting online. It really says that.

It was very difficult to get a jury to convict Ted Bundy despite the fact that the evidence against him was overwhelming, because he had such a likable personality. Being an aspie is the opposite of being Ted Bundy.

I can't believe Tony Baloney is too dumb to figure this out. I think he knows exactly what he's doing, advancing his career at our expense.

I think a boycott of his books and seminars and public denunciations would be more effective. If he shows up anywhere near here, I'll be outside the front door holding a sign.

Signed

Past expiry date topic

Mark Foster's blog has expired, so signing is no longer an option.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/AttwoodHenault/

No, it's not. The petition can be signed at the link above.

I hope you realize that online petitions do not work.