“waaah autism speaks sucks they support eugenics!”
- autism speaks has an adult autism diagnosis guide, written by autistic adults for autistic adults (LINK)
- autism speaks has a program to help autistic adults find and keep jobs (LINK)
- autism speaks has housing and residential support for autistic adults and autistic teenagers who are moving away from home (LINK)
- autism speaks has an autism response team (ART) to provide referrals and support for autistic people and the autism community (LINK)
- autistic people on the board of directors include Stephen Shore, who was nonverbal as a child; most other members are parents of autistic people or professionals who study autism (LINK)
- autism speaks has a blog where actually autistic people share their experiences and advocacy (LINK)
- autism speaks works closely with autistic people such as Eileen Lamb in advocacy, awareness, and support for autistic people and families
- autism speaks’ FAQ explains several misconceptions that many autistic people still believe about the organization, such as the video “I am autism,” which was taken down soon after its publishing because of backlash from the community; autism speaks has expressed great regret in the creation and publishing of that video (LINK)
- autism speaks has not had the goal to cure autism since the early 2010s, and the desire to cure autism was removed from their mission statement in 2016 (found in the above link to the FAQ)
I’d like to read the thoughts on this post of other autistic people (OP’s Tumblr indicates being autistic; I am not, but I have an autistic stepson and nephew for whom I want to learn more).
Note: I haven’t been able to check out all of the included links in the post yet. I’m struggling with my chronic illnesses rn, and have very low spoons.
Please be civil. I’m not looking for an argument.
Can you trust an organization that just a few years ago was seriously regarded by most autistic adults as equivalent to the KKK?
I’m generally asking.
Would you trust a group that was deemed that hurtful and harmful just because it had made some progress in recent years?
“Sure, when I was an autistic kid, they did x, y and z. But it’s 10 years later. And they’ve improved!”
I’d say any group that most autistic people themselves - not neurotypical people who know autistic people, but those of us who are autistic and old enough to understand and analyze the harmful things done in our names by the neurotypical people who founded and continue to run said organization, dare I say matter a hell of a lot more than the isolated opinions of anyone else. Even those isolated autistic people who somehow now excuse their history.
The fundamental identity of autism speaks is rooted in neurotypical opinions and people. It was made by them, for them, and never truly meant for us actually autistic people. The fact we’ve convinced them to change their tune so much is because we’ve spoken out so strongly against them. Not because they decided to change for their own good.
They must be purged from existence. They can’t be reformed. They’re a fundamentally neurotypical support group for people trying to force and change neurodivergent people to be like them. They’ve simply developed further and better camouflage as we actually autistic people have refused to back down and accept them as the default advocacy group.
They don’t speak for us. Never have. Never will. I don’t give a damn how much they change. They exist for neurotypicals. Not us. They are not OUR ADVOCATES.
As an individual, you can believe what you want. But the community consensus is what it is for a reason. Don’t try to undermine or alter that because you’ve bought into what they’re currently selling.
Signed, an actually autistic person, aged 39.
holy fucking shit
imagine comparing the only reason USAmerican autistics have any rights at all to the fucking KKK
you know absolutely nothing about autistic people (especially not level 2 and 3 autistic people)
I was there when they were doing the bad things. I’ve partaken in the discourse on autism speaks since before you were born. On behalf of the community, I strongly urge you to benefit from our age and wisdom.
I don’t care what good show they’ve put on, or even if it’s generally legitimate reform: they’re not an autistic advocacy group. Research their past crimes. Do better. You’re young but by gods you also have a wonderful mind and I know you can put it to good work here. You can’t just take whatever they shovel at you for face value, and you can’t just judge them by what they’ve done the last few years under intense pressure from people like me for the last 20 years.
And the comparison isn’t mine, it’s ancient lore from the before times. Flawed I’ll admit but it sure gets the point across. Please put as much research into WHY autism speaks is so denounced as you did in assembling their propaganda links.
Much love,
Your autistic elder Admin 2.
Autism $peaks is a profit based anti-neurodivergent hate group. Why is anyone doubting that or trying to redeem them?