Aspies For Freedom

Watching a documentary on VH1 Classic, The U.S. vs. John Lennon.  Commercial came on plugging a new "rock autism" initiative.  Here is the website: http://www.vh1.com/partners/vh1classic_rock_autism/

I've not looked things over because I want to watch the documentary.  It may be balanced, or it may not.  I thought perhaps it was old news and you all were fully aware   yada yada

It is difficult for me to imagine some of the musicians in the commercial endorsing anything less than balanced, yet I Autism Speaks is amongst the link and gist seems to be finding a cure.  Let me know. Maybe they simply never heard another POV.

CAN! is there as well which is a worry. I'm not familiar with the other four - Autism Link, Autism One, ARI and ASA.

That page is short on detail but there are links on the page to more info. I don't have time to look at them this trip into the forum though.

Autism Link didn't look too far out there, but ARI, new site is autism.com, is a DAN! site. Autism One boasts a "Roadmap to Recovery."  ASA is more balanced, as everyone knows (even me ).

I drilled down a bit and discovered a little blurb that credit cureautismnow.org for the content of the treatment pages. It indicates that it is part of an ongoing partnership.

If there are other sites that autistics want represented at this site, the VH1 staff should be contacted. There is an email address at the bottom of the page.  Perhaps the first step would be to find out more about how the initiative got started.  Sending angry mail would not help, but educating a third party, such as VH1, is perhaps a good thing.

p.s. interesting to note that the web address that was used for the TV spot, http://autismrocks.vh1classics.com/ is a different page that doesn't appear to have anything about autism on it.

Even me, a norwegian who've just been around this forum for a while, knows that ASA means Autism Society of America.

You've been around a lot longer than I have!!

Anyway, what is a good informational site to send to 3rd parties who could benefit from hearing all perspectives? A person or organization that has only heard one story may think there is a consensus of opinion.  The decision makers at third party orgs, like VH1, are not researchers, they are business people.  If they are allying with a particular group it is because they perceive that that has a financial benefit or improves their image somehow.

can merged with autism speaks a while back, so now they are one in the same.

I sent this comment to VH1 re the Web item above

Autism is a spectrum.  On the very mild end is Asperger's syndrome, which has some challenges, notably social situational awareness, nonverbal communication and related concerns, such as vulnerability to con artists, difficulty in job interviews, or not noticing signals of romantic interest.  However, not only can Asperger's syndrome be mild, it often comes with advantages, because every situation is different.   About.com has a ten advantages list for autism, including the ability to resist peer pressure.  Wired magazine elaborated how Asperger is strongly correlated to abilities in computers, math, and science, and seems to be more prevalent today than it used to in the children of computer professionals in Silicon Valley.  Myself, I have worked eight years in computer programming and Web design, have a brother and uncles in kindred occupations with Asperger traits, so I believe this is true.

Chris Marsh

I left this comment on about.com: higher education and Asperger

Parenting Special Needs
Comments

Very many people with Asperger’s have done college. Many are drawn to majors in math, science, engineering, and computers. I was drawn to the social sciences because an explicit description of human behavior was very helpful for me. After the Master’s the Maryland VR program sent me to computer school through a community college in Baltimore.

A more relevant issue would be “then what?” In the high competition field of applied research I received no offers commensurate to my education. I believe the interviews, about three dozen, went badly, and I also believe that average human beings (NTs in the shop talk we use) prefer their own company unless they must consider other workers for pressing reasons, like in World War II when so many American men were fighting, women needed to work in factories.

That was the solution for me. Web design and computer programming and related occupations such as database design are much less competitive. I have been in that field eight years. It is too late to go back to my old career at a financial loss.

College and graduate school happen all the time to some people with Asperger’s or higher functioning autism. College or graduate school may even attract some people with Asperger’s because they get to indulge their strong academic interests.

Comment by Chris Marsh — August 28, 2007 @ 11:13 am

Well done! Hopefully VH1 hasn't been poisoned to the point of ignorance about the issues by the likes of CAN! and DAN!

Response from VH1

Dear Chris,

Hello, and thanks for your interest in VH1 Classic! We appreciate your input on our Rock Autism campaign, which is geared toward raising awareness within our audience about autism in general by supporting a variety of autism organizations and causes.

We are currently rolling out our initiative with an on-air PSA awareness campaign, and will be looking to see what we can do to help local organizations on the ground in the near future. We are also currently exploring options on how we can get our viewers involved, and will hopefully have updates on our website soon.

Thanks for your email, and keep your eyes on VH1 Classic and http://www.rockautism.vh1classic.com to see what’s to come in the future.



----------
From:   Marsh, Chris R.
Sent:   Tuesday, August 28, 2007 11:16 AM
To:     VH1 Classic Rock Autism
Subject:        one note about autism

  
  
Autism is a spectrum.  On the very mild end is Asperger's syndrome, which has some challenges, notably social situational awareness, nonverbal communication and related concerns, such as vulnerability to con artists, difficulty in job interviews, or not noticing signals of romantic interest.  However, not only can Asperger's syndrome be mild, it often comes with advantages, because every situation is different.   About.com has a ten advantages list for autism, including the ability to resist peer pressure.  Wired magazine elaborated how Asperger is strongly correlated to abilities in computers, math, and science, and seems to be more prevalent today than it used to in the children of computer professionals in Silicon Valley.  Myself, I have worked eight years in computer programming and Web design, have a brother and uncles in kindred occupations with Asperger traits, so I believe this is true.

  
Chris Marsh

Hmmmm.

That could be an encouraging answer. Or it could be a stock one.

Hard to tell.

It is not such a terrible thing to promote autism awareness because it could lead to autism acceptance.  I think we have to let people know that CAN does not help people or families with autism with their funds.  Some bands are fundraising for CAN and I do not support CAN at all.